Michiana has joined a national effort to collect biking and walking usage data. Volunteers are needed to maintain this effort, and make South Bend and Michiana a leader in healthful recreation and non-motorized transportation. The next count dates are Sept 11, 12 & 13. Volunteers for one or all three dates are welcome.
The latest (May, 2012) BMC bicycle maps are now available. If you didn’t get one during Bike to Work Week, they should soon be showing up in your local bike shop if they aren’t already there. If you’d like, you may also download a high-quality PDF of the map HERE, but note that it is a 4.2-MB download.
The City of South Bend, along with bicycle advocates has begun the process of collecting non-motorized traffic counts. On June 14, from 5:00 until 7:00 pm, eight volunteers joined the South Bend Bicycle Coordinator staff in conducting the counts at eight sites in and around South Bend.
All of the count sites were in South Bend, except for Juniper Road, which is in St. Joseph County, just north of the Notre Dame campus. All of the South Bend sites are on a Bike/Ped path or on a street with striped bike lanes; Juniper road was selected, largely because it is slated to be upgraded for safer bicycle traffic in the near future, and this count will make a good baseline. These same sites will be counted periodically, and additional sites will be added in the future. Volunteer counters were recruited from the Bike Michiana Coalition, Bike the Bend, and Indiana University at South Bend. In order to expand the program, additional volunteers will be needed.
With this count, Michiana is partnering and sharing data with the National Bicycle and Pedestrian Project whose effort provides a consistent model of ongoing data collection for use by planners, governments, and bicycle and pedestrian professionals.
More than 500,000 American employees now work at a Bicycle Friendly Business (BFB), thanks to visionary leadership in the private and public sector. On April 18, the League of American Bicyclists announced 67 new BFBs, who joined the ranks of the 412 local businesses, government agencies and Fortune 500 companies that are transforming the American workplace. Over 3,000 of those employees and 3 of the businesses are located in Michiana.
Michiana Bike to Work Week 2012, on the heels of Bike the Bend, kicks off Monday, May 21st and continues into the Memorial Day weekend through Sunday, May 27th throughout the Michiana area. Events for the week include activities for commuting adults, competitive teams, school children, a ride-in luncheon, and an organic blueberry pancake breakfast.
About 70 cyclists, along with over a dozen walkers/runners, and motor vehicles joined in the procession meant to draw attention to the need for all users to share the roadway and crosswalks. The procession concluded at the County-City building in downtown South Bend where there was a press conference, and short speeches by local dignitaries. The gathered crowd seemed especially inspired by the words of Yatish Yoshi, the chairman of the event. I am re-printing his speech below, and it is well worth reading.
A few years back (2005 if my memory serves me correctly), area cyclists joined the National Bike to Work week with a local event centered at the College Football Hall of Fame. Organizers provided coffee, Danish pastry, and a selection of healthful fruits as bikers stopped off on their way to work. Since then…wow. The activities during Bike Month have exploded. Below, I am listing the Michiana events that come to mind, and I’m asking readers to add those I was not aware of, or have overlooked.
The St. Joseph County Parks Foundation and the Friends of the Pumpkinvine have each received $1,000 from the BMC to support development of their trails.
The Parks Foundation will use the funds for development of the IN-MI Trail, to help fill in the gap between Niles, Mich. and Roseland, Ind. The Park’s segment of this trail, the LaSalle Trail, has not yet started construction, and the BMC donation will be added to their trust fund earmarked for the trail.
The Pumpkinvine Nature Trail meanders between Goshen, Middlebury and Shipshewana in Elkhart County: they will use the funds to help close gaps in the trail. Currently under construction is a 1.2 mile section near Middlebury.
A coalition of local citizens seeking to promote road-sharing awareness and enhance area transportation safety announces its inaugural Share the Road….Every Life Counts procession, Wednesday, May 2. This event is the first of its kind featuring a positive, proactive approach to urge road-sharing awareness. All citizens are encouraged to join the Share the Road….Every Life Counts procession.
A special press conference will be held, and the center of the news will be bicycles! The announcement will take place at Noon, April 24th at Jon Hunt Plaza (in front of the Morris Performing Arts Center). Please save the date and bring your bike. If this press conference is like the ones held in the past, the TV stations will want footage of people on bikes, and the more bikes, the better.
The purpose of the announcement is to: proclaim May 2012 as bike month in South Bend, announce upcoming events in May, including Bike the Bend (May 20) and Bike to Work Week (May 21-25), and note other recent City of South Bend bicycling related accomplishments.