So little so late

Last night Derek, Zacher and I skipped the ride to go to the Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Commission presentation outlining the city's plans for the 20 years. They've been working on this thing for 2 years trying to figure out where the city needs to work harder to make be more bicycle and pedestrian friendly. Needless to say we were all kind of interested to see what the city had planned on 20 years down the road. The result?



eh...



It was less than awe inspiring to say the least. The plan basically consisted of making the city better accommodating to bicycles and pedestrians. Not necessarily welcoming, just kind of allowing us to get around a little easier. It is hard to criticize these people because I'm well aware that their hearts are in the right places, but really? 20 years from now all we are supposed to look forward to is a couple new bike trails and sidewalks. Maybe a few new bicycle lanes. Keep in mind this is on the low end of the estimated time frame as well. So by the time I am 45 I can expect Eau Claire to be "kind of" bicycle friendly? I understand budget constraints and planning problems, but I also understand that right now the general population is at it's peak of environmental consciousness and that there is probably no better time to imagine planning a comprehensive bike network.

Derek recomended I look at what happened in Boulder Colarado over a 20 year span, so I did via Craig Brauns blog. And you should too.

Boulder Bike Story from Bikes Belong on Vimeo.

On the upside it was pretty cool to see a bunch of people who have been riding in Eau Claire for years and years(We were probably the only ones under the age of 40) talk about the streets and routes to get around like most people talk about sitcoms. They know every facet of every street in the city and thats really inspirational to see. I doubt most people who have been driving around Eau Claire for 15 years know half of the ways around the city that cyclists learn after half that amount of time.

It was also validating to hear people who have been working on a plan for years say that one of the biggest obstacles to creating a positive cycling community is gaining acceptance as a valid for of transportation by the majority. Most of the time I think BPAC send a message that bicycling is just one big happy fun fair. It's not. It's not fun to have people drive by and yell faggot at you when you are trying to get home from work, or run to the store. No one should have to deal with that no matter what.

I only wish that I brought up the fact that the certain members of our police force have that same adversarial attitude towards cyclists. A certain recent episode with a police officer pulling us over to warn us to "respect the vehicles" and drive away. But the second the police force is critiqued you are branded as some sort of radical militant who throws blind orphans in front of cars.

In any case, I implore you to look at the lack-luster plan online and send BPAC an e-mail with your ideas. Stay dry.