Traditional urbanism, smart growth, transit, bicycles, sustainability

A Look at Bike Fort Worth

Bike Fort Worth, the ambitious new bicycle transportation plan, will be voted for adoption tomorrow at the City Council meeting.  Bike Fort Worth aims to create a Fort Worth that is massively more bike-friendly than at present, and thereby increase the number of bicycle users in the city.

Bike Fort Worth’s primary goals are:

• Increasing bicycling in Fort Worth.  Double the rate of cycling for all trip purposes and triple the bicycle commuter rate from 0.2% (approx. 645 daily commuters) at present to 0.6% (approx. 2,000 daily commuters) by the year 2020.
• Improve bicyclist safety.  Establish a system to track bike crashes, and reduce the rate of crashes by ten percent by 2020.
• National recognition.  Earn a “Bicycle Friendly Community” designation from the League of American Bicyclists by 2015 (Austin is currently the only city in Texas with such a designation).

The Bike Fort Worth draft, available on the city’s web site, is a large and dense document.  We’ve pulled some interesting bits from it (especially those that pertain to the Fort Worthology subject matter of the city’s urban core and smart growth) for your perusal.

On the impact of land use planning on bicycle usage:

Suburban style, lower density land uses can discourage alternative transportation modes because of the large amount of land necessary for development. Because development is spread out over a larger area, automobile travel is usually necessary for mobility. While development is anticipated to continue in the suburbs, recent development trends have indicated a renewed interest in urban living. Promoting higher density, infill and mixed-use development increases efficiency of bicycling and walking for transportation.

On Fort Worth cyclist safety concerns:

Cyclists expressed concern over the safe interaction with motorists while riding on streets. Sixty percent of respondents to the 2007 bicycle survey reported that they limited the amount that they bicycle due to inattentive or aggressive drivers. A similar percentage indicated they would be more encouraged to commute by bicycle if there was stronger enforcement of traffic violations.

Most bicycle-related crashes are the result of a traffic violation by either the motorist or the bicyclist. Motorists often complain that bicyclists do not follow traffic laws and behave unpredictably. Many motorists are unaware that bicyclists have the same rights and responsibilities on the road as vehicles, and some refuse to share the road.

On the current state of bridges in Fort Worth:

Bridges can be an obstacle to bicycling in Fort Worth. Bicyclists often have to ride on raised, narrow sidewalks along the bridge or share a narrow outside lane with high-speed, high-volume vehicular traffic. Many local bicyclists shared frustrations over the lack of safe crossings of barriers such as rivers, streams, highways and railroads. More than half of survey respondents indicated that bicycle accommodations on bridges would encourage them to bicycle more frequently.

On the design of city streets, and urban grids vs. suburban pods:

The City’s existing street network influences bikeability. Older parts of the City have well-connected street grids that create many options for cyclists to get to their destinations, although poor pavement conditions can decrease safety. Newly developed areas of Fort Worth often have poorly connected streets that detours traffic onto high capacity collector and arterial streets. Often these roads have no accommodation for bicyclists.

On the fractured current state of bike infrastructure in Fort Worth:

Existing on-street bikeways are often discontinuous or have abrupt beginnings and endings. The 2007 bicycling survey indicated support of construction of on- and off-street bicycle facilities throughout the City.

On the lack of bike parking and design of bike racks:

The lack of secure parking facilities can discourage people from commuting by bicycle. When no parking facilities are available, many will leave their bicycle unattended, unlocked, or will use structures that might not be safe. Many voiced concerns about the design, visibility, usability or recognition of existing bike racks.

On Fort Worth’s climate:

Fort Worth’s climate conditions are ideal for outdoor activities during a majority of the year. With the exception of the three or four hottest months and the occasional winter weather, Fort Worth’s climate is ideal for bicycling. Weather extremes should not be an impediment to cycling in Fort Worth if adequate facilities are in place. Austin, Tucson, Minneapolis and Portland all report high bicycle commuting numbers despite weather extremes.

Currently, Fort Worth’s bicycle transportation system (such as it is) totals 102.6 miles.  57.3 miles are off-street trails (think the Trinity Trails, etc.), a scant 6.4 miles are on-street bike lanes, and 38.9 miles are on-street signed routes (the existing green “bike route” signs and on-street sharrow icons).

Under Bike Fort Worth, it is proposed that the bicycle transportation network be radically enlarged, and a much greater focus be given to on-street infrastructure.  Under the proposal, Fort Worth’s bicycle transportation network would increase from the existing 102.6 miles to 924.7 miles.  224.7 miles of that would be off-street paths & trails, with the other 700 miles being dedicated to on-street infrastructure:  480.3 miles of on-street dedicated bike lanes, 218.3 miles of on-street signed routes (sharrow routes), and 1.4 miles of bus & bike-only lanes in Downtown Fort Worth.

On choosing the on-street facility for each case:

The most appropriate facility network for on-street facilities should be determined by the volume and speed of vehicles. At low speeds and low volumes, bicyclists and motorists can comfortably travel in the same lane. As speeds or volumes increase, it becomes more desirable to separate vehicular and bicycle travel.

On the creation of new sharrow routes:

Signed bike routes are on-street bikeways that assist bicyclists with wayfinding. Pavement markings indicate to motorists that they should expect to see cyclists sharing the road. Routes were proposed on the following types of roadways:

- Local/Residential streets

- Collector streets with traffic volumes under 3,000 vehicles per day

-Arterial streets where constrained by available right of way, land uses, natural features, etc.

On the creation of new bike lanes:

A bike lane is for the exclusive or preferential use by cyclists on a roadway identified through signage, striping and other pavement markings. Lanes were proposed on the following types of roadways:

- Collector streets with traffic volumes greater than 3,000 vehicles per day and observed speeds of greater than 30 mph

- Arterial streets

Bike lanes are intended to provide separation and encourage proper behavior between bicyclists and motor vehicles. Additional benefits provided by bike lanes:

- Incent less-experienced adult bicyclists to ride where they otherwise would not

- Increase the comfort of bicyclists and motorists on roadways

- Indicate the appropriate location to ride on the roadway with respect tomoving traffic and parked cars, both at mid-block locations andapproaching intersections

- Increase the capacity of roadways that carry mixed bicycle and motorvehicle traffic

- Increase predictability of bicyclist and motorist movements

- Increase drivers’ awareness of bicyclists while driving and when openingdoors from an on-street parking space

On sidewalks:

Bicycling on sidewalks is highly discouraged in the Bike Fort Worth plan. Except where meeting the definition of sidepaths, this plan does not support the designation of sidewalks as bikeway facilities.

Downtown Fort Worth would gain many new sharrow routes, and the conversion of the existing bus-only lanes on Houston and Throckmorton into bus & bike-only lanes.

The Near Southside design standards proposes more bike lanes in that district than Bike Fort Worth does.  Bike Fort Worth states that its Near Southside recommendations are a minimum and that the Near Southside can install more bike lanes than shown in the draft.

On cyclist interactions with traffic signals:

The greatest risk to bicyclists traveling through intersections is during the clearance interval and actuated phases of low traffic flow. A bicyclist needs enough time to react, accelerate and cross the intersection within the allotted green phase. It is recommended that Fort Worth install and calibrate equipment (loop detectors, cameras, etc.) to detect bicyclists at traffic signals along the City’s existing and proposed bikeways.

For traffic signals where bicyclists are having difficulty being detected, bicyclists should be directed by pavement markings to the spot above the loop where a bicyclist should be positioned to trip the signal. Consideration should be given to bicyclists in the timing of the traffic signal to provide an adequate clearance interval for bicyclists who enter the intersection at the end of a green phase. The AASHTO guide provides guidance on determining the amount of time needed for bicyclist clearance intervals and start-up green phases.

New bridges on a proposed bikeway should include a wide outside lane or dedicated bike lanes in addition pedestrian sidewalks. Wide (minimum 10 foot) sidewalks physically separated from vehicular travel lanes may also be provided as facilities for shared use by bicyclists and pedestrians, though it should be recognized that many cyclists prefer to remain in the travel lanes. Where bicyclists will be traveling next to a handrail, it should have a minimum height of 54”.

Recommended bike rack designs have common factors that include supporting the bicycle frame in at least two contact points and accommodating the most widely used locking devices such as U-locks. Ribbon-style racks and racks that only secure the bike by the front wheel are discouraged. Racks should have a protective coating that will preserve the rack material and limit replacement needs. Cyclists and the public should easily recognize preferred bike racks.

Bicycle Rack siting should be planned with the convenience and security of bicyclists in mind.

The City should explore the possibility of providing a small fleet of bicycles for City staff. A number of cities nationwide have established bicycle fleets. This program is consistent with the City’s sustainability efforts. It could be used a model for local businesses that might benefit from a similar program.

Many cities report a measurable increase in bicycle trips following the creation of bicycle parking requirements. City staff should review zoning regulations adopted by other cities to develop regulations for Fort Worth.

- Require motorists to provide a minimum of three feet clearance while overtaking a bicycle.

- Prohibit motorists from opening a vehicle door into oncoming traffic.

- Prohibit parking in designated bike lanes.

- Require motorists to yield to oncoming bicyclists when turning left – to prevent the left hook crash.

- Prohibit motorists from overcoming and then turning right in front of a bicyclist – to prevent right hook crashes.

- Prohibit bicyclists from riding on standard-width sidewalks in areas with high pedestrian traffic or a history of bicycling crashes on sidewalks.

There’s much more, but that’s a taste.  Check out our image gallery (including some detail maps) at the top of this post, and check the city’s site for the full draft plan.  Don’t forget as well the Bike Friendly Fort Worth ride tomorrow evening to City Hall to show support for the proposal.

Massad House Moved

The Massad House, a large home-turned-office-space that had lived on W. 7th Street for years, has been relocated to its new home on Montgomery Street near the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History and the Fort Worth Community Arts Center.  The home was moved this past Saturday, transported in one piece.  These photos of the move come to us courtesy of Phillip Poole of local development firm TownSite Company.

The move of the Massad House clears a major obstacle in the path of the next phases of the Museum Place mixed-use development.  With the historic home now out of the way, the only buildings left standing on the site of what will be a new mixed-use building featuring apartments over ground-floor retail are the former JJ’s Hideaway and Norma Baker Antiques buildings (the old Post Office, floral shop, and strip mall previously located on the site have of course already been demolished).  Two more sites for Museum Place development adjacent to this site are already cleared.

Bike Friendly Fort Worth Ride to City Hall

As we’ve noted before, this Tuesday the City Council will vote whether to adopt the ambitious Bike Fort Worth plan for creating a real on-and-off-street bicycle transportation network throughout the city of Fort Worth.

Of late, bike efforts in Dallas have been aided by the actions of a group of bike & urbanism advocates from Oak Cliff, dubbed “Bike Friendly Oak Cliff.”  Their efforts, including organized group rides to Dallas council meetings, have helped start new conversations about the importance of bicycle infrastructure in our neighbor to the east.  Now, a sister organization is starting up here in Fort Worth, and are kicking things off with a similar organized ride.

The new organization, Bike Friendly Fort Worth, unsurprisingly springs from the Near Southside area, and is being headed up by Brad Blessing and longtime Fort Worth cycling advocate Bernie Scheffler.  They’ve organized a group ride to City Hall this Tuesday to show support for the Bike Fort Worth plan.

The ride will meet at the Trinity Trails trailhead at University & Riverfront, next to the Hoffbrau steakhouse, this Tuesday at 6:00 PM.  Shortly after 6:00, the group will roll out for a leisurely 4-mile bike ride via the Trinity Trails and city streets to City Hall for the council meeting.  They are emphasizing that this is not a high-speed “spandex warrior” sort of thing – anybody can join up, nobody will be left behind.  It’s about getting together en masse and showing support for real bicycle transportation infrastructure in Fort Worth.

The route, seen above or in this interactive form here, starts out on the Trinity Trails and then transitions to a big, high-visibility statement as it heads straight down W. 7th Street into Downtown.  The ride will pause and regroup on Foch in the West 7th area before heading down 7th, to ensure a safe and visible group while riding down the street and across the 7th Street bridge.

The organizers also mention:

It would be great if we could all dress in a manner that makes it clear that we are there to support Bike Fort Worth. That said, we will be in City Council Chambers, so leave your lycra at home. But positive, pro-bike T-shirts are more than welcome. At the very least, taking your helmet into the meeting with you will mark you as a supportive cyclist. Don’t wear it (The Fort Worth P.D. will ask you to remove it– no hats!), but keep it tucked under your arm.

Finally, it would be great if the City Council heard positive and encouraging comments from area cyclists about the plan, and how much we appreciate the planning staff’s efforts. If you’re not afraid of public speaking, fill out a speaker’s card when you enter the Council Chambers. They’ll let you go on for up to 3 minutes, but 1 or 2 minutes of why you support the plan will make just as big an impact.

We hope a lot of folks get together for the first Bike Friendly Fort Worth ride to show the city government that times are changing in the Panther City, and we can’t ignore bicycle transportation any longer.  This will be a significant event as the Fort Worth City Council votes on charting the course for a Fort Worth more supportive of more and varied transportation methods.

Bike Fort Worth Public Meeting Next Tuesday

The City of Fort Worth will be requesting adoption of the Bike Fort Worth plan, the City’s Bicycle Transportation Plan to City Council.  To view the draft Bike Fort Worth plan and recommended bicycle network, please visit http://www.fortworthgov.org/sustainability/default.aspx?id=10392.

City Council Meeting

February 9, 2010, 7:00 PM

City Council Chambers

City Hall, 1000 Throckmorton Street

Bike Fort Worth is the City’s guide for developing a bicycle friendly environment complete with facilities, programs, and policies; ultimately, assisting residents by providing a safe and attractive alternative mode of transportation.  Please join us to support adoption of this plan if you are able.

We will be posting a look into the draft Bike Fort Worth Plan a little later in the week.

Coming Up: “Andy Warhol: The Last Decade” at the Modern

Running from February 14 through May 16, the Modern will be host to a major new exhibit focusing on the later part of Andy Warhol’s output:

Andy Warhol: The Last Decade is the first U.S. museum survey exhibition to explore the work that this seminal American artist produced during the final eight years of his life. Warhol entered a period of renewed vigor and enthusiasm in the 1980s that resulted in what was arguably the most productive period of his career.

The exhibition includes approximately 55 works lent by private collections and institutions such as The Museum of Modern Art, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Baltimore Museum of Art, and Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh. Along with an introduction to Warhol, it is divided into thematic sections based on significant Warhol series: abstract works; collaborations (featuring Jean-Michel Basquiat); black-and-white ads; works surrounding death and religion; self-portraits; camouflage patterns; and a concluding section of the artist’s Last Supper series.

The Modern’s blog has an interview up with Andrea Karnes, the Modern’s curator, about the prep work leading up to the new Warhol exhibit.

Yofé Fresh Fruit & Yogurt Cafe Now Open

We finally had the chance to check out Yofé Fresh Fruit & Yogurt Cafe, freshly opened in the ground floor of one of the buildings of the West 7th mixed-use development.

One of the complaints about the Cultural District’s mixed-use developments is that their ground-floor tenants are almost all national chains or Dallas-based outfits.  There’s a lot of that, sure (we argue that the most important step is to first get the form of the buildings correct in a walkable style, and that the tenant mix shakes out over time), but it’s not all big names.

Yofé is, in fact, a Fort Worth-born-and-raised business.  Yofé aims to offer a fresh, healthy alternative to the typical ice cream, gelato, or Pinkberry knock-off by serving up real yogurt, fresh fruit, and more.  The main attraction is their live, active probiotic yogurt, available in three varieties – vanilla, fat-free vanilla, and plain.  The stars of the yogurt menu are undoubtedly the parfaits, available in three size with a wide variety of ingredients like mixed seasonal berries, blueberries, bananas, strawberries, vanilla wafers, honeydew and cantaloupe, and more.  Order up a pre-sorted style or create your own.  We tried the “banana pudding” parfait, with fat-free vanilla, bananas, and vanilla wafers, and we topped it off with granola.  The granola is in fact a Fort Worth-produced brand.  It was very flavorful and fresh-tasting, and a refreshingly unique change from the six million Pinkberry frozen yogurt knock-offs that crowd for attention these days.

If you do want frozen yogurt, they’ve got that as well.  Beyond the yogurts, there are breakfast options like cold cereal and oatmeal with fruit toppings, specialty smoothies ranging from chocolate & peanut butter to banana, orange, and pineapple, fresh soups & salads, sandwiches (though, disappointingly, none of the sandwiches are vegetarian), fruit & veggie cups, coffee, and a wide assortment of other drinks such as various teas and coconut water.

Yofé is located at 817 Currie, just around the corner from Movie Tavern in the West 7th development.  They’re open Monday through Thursday from 6:30 AM to 9:30 PM, on Fridays from 6:30 AM to 11:00 PM, on Saturdays from 10:00 AM to 11:00 PM, and on Sundays from 11:00 AM to 9:30 PM.

Haiti Benefit Concert March 27th in Near Southside

There’s going to be a big benefit concert for Haiti in the Near Southside on March 27th.  To be held at Magnolia Green Park, Fort Worth Sings for Haiti will donate 100% of all money raised to Haitian relief efforts via Doctors Without Borders.

The artist lineup is being finalized, and will concentrate on Fort Worth-local talent.  The organizers met yesterday with Fort Worth South, Inc. and Red Oak Realty and have secured the use of Magnolia Green Park, located on Lipscomb between Magnolia and Rosedale in the Near Southside.  Early discussions we’ve heard point to this being a sizable event.

Plenty of details to come – for example, there are some plans for valet bicycle parking for attendees taking advantage of the site’s urban location (we were happy to help get those discussions underway with the promoters).  This ought to turn out to be a cool event for a great cause.

Fort Worth Sings can be contacted via e-mail.  Their web site currently loads a temporary blog while the full site is put together.  The effort is being led by a group of volunteers, led by co-founders Chris Maunder (owner of The Moon bar) and Christopher Lenzini.  Additional details can also be found on the organization’s Facebook page.

More TRE Double Tracking Coming

One piece of good rail news for the area did emerge yesterday – the Trinity Railway Express is getting $7.2 million to double-track the line between the CentrePort and West Irving stations.  The TRE’s already done a good amount of converting their line from single to double track, so this will really bring it all together.

What good does the TRE double tracking get us?  Robert Wilonsky in the Dallas Observer’s Unfair Park blog has a nice summary – more efficiency for the Texas Eagle, along with the potential for expanded capacity and service (including Sunday service) on the TRE:

So, then, simple question: Why the need for the expansion from one track to two? Well, says Lyons, “Amtrak’s on the Union Pacific corridor, and that’s a real busy corridor. They’d like to move to our corridor, and a lot of the freight lines would like them to move to our corridor. We really can’t have them do that now — we don’t have the room. But by adding that second track, there’s room for them to bring their trains onto the track. Also, itcould make it possible for us to expand TRE service. One reason we can’t run Sunday service on a regular basis is, when a lot of the track is single track, you need to be able to work on it. This gives you flexibility.”

Friday Comic: Let’s Build A Snowma…err, Snow Peloton

Friday comic time – today’s installment of Yehuda Moon and the Kickstand Cyclery:

National News: High-Speed Rail Money Awarded

The federal government has started to back up its vision of a national high-speed rail initiative with the awarding of around $8 billion in grants to states for their high-speed rail projects.

The Transport Politic has more.  The big winners?  California, Florida, and Illinois.

As has been expected, California, Florida, and Illinois are the big winners, with more than one billion in spending proposed for each. But other states with less visible projects, including Wisconsin, North Carolina, and Washington will also get huge grants and begin offering relatively fast trains on their respective corridors within five years. The distribution of dollars is well thought-out and reasonable: it provides money to regions across the nation and prioritizes states that have made a commitment of their own to a fast train program.

“Made a commitment” – aye, there’s the rub.  Despite all manner of very well-thought-out proposals here in Texas such as the unfortunately-named Texas T-Bone or the French proposal, the state government has essentially done nothing at all to show a real commitment to it.  As a result:

Iowa and Texas will get small grants to fund minor improvements for their systems. Texas’ huge T-Bone project has not received any funds, for two clear reasons: there is no political advantage in funding a project in a state unlikely to vote Democratic at the national level for the next decade at the least, and the state government has done nothing to fund the project independently — or even approve its exact route.

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