22 Jan
BRT–Now Atlantic and Yadkin
The stretch of rail to trail conversion that I have previously referred to as the Battleground Rail Trail will officially be called the Atlantic and Yadkin trail. Also, the existing trail to the north will also be renamed the Atlantic and Yadkin. And finally, the section of trail from the paved ending north of Strawberry road to the right of way for US 220 is slated to be paved before the US 220 widening. This last is an urgent project because if the path runs up to US 220 when US 220 reconstruction begins then NCDOT will factor the trail crossing into their design, most likely with a tunnel. All this news dropped at the January BIG (Bicycling in Greensboro) meeting last night.
On a side note–It has been asked that everyone stay clear of the Cone Blvd tunnel until the trail is officially opened (sometime in April or May depending on the weather). The tunnel is not safe to use at this time and all the rain just raises the risk factors.
On Yer Bike!
13 Jan
More on Distracted Driving
Focus Driven is an advocacy group that is attempting to raise awareness to the lethality of distracted driving. The US Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood, is promoting the group on the Federal Department of Transportation website. It would appear that anti-distracted driving efforts are indeed Federal level policy.
On Yer Bike!
2 Dec
Texting While Driving IV
Wonder of wonders! The NC Legislature took the hint from the US Department of Transportation and they have instituted a Texting while Driving ban. (The News and Record has bizarre priorities–they mixed in new reptile laws with a story on the new distracted drving law). As has been noted before, this new law won’t do much in itself to stop distracted driving as it will be somewhat difficult to enforce. What it will do however, is make the more serious offenses that distracted driving produces easier to prosecute. If an officer/DA suspects the person may have been texting they need only subpoena the transaction records from the device provider to establish the truth of the matter. With distracted driving proved, this opens up the options for prosecuting the consequences of the distracted driving such as vehicular homicide. Hopefully there will be some active enforcement of this law to raise awareness and we can see the crash levels fall as people do what they are supposed to doing when behind the wheel, driving.
On Yer Bike!
2 Nov
Twice as Many
I was reviewing some polls on Greensboro Gas Prices and I found this one from a month ago that asked the user what their usual commuting method was. As expected the overwhelming majority of site users were single occupant car/truck users. What surprised me was the result of bike commuters–twice as many poll answers favored bike commuting over motorcycle commuting.
29 Oct
Get the Msg
The US Secretary of Transportation gets the message. The US Senate appears to get the message. When will the US public get the message? While waiting at a light at Bluford and Dudley yesterday I watched what every driver was doing as they attempted to pilot their motor vehicle down the road. Nine out of ten where on the phone. For all I know the tenth one was on the phone but had a hands-free device. What is so important that people must increase their crash risk by 400%?
Hang up and drive!
20 Oct
Confirmed–GSO Gets Bronze
An e-mail to the League of American Bicyclists has confirmed it. Greensboro, NC is now a Bronze Cycling Community.
On Yer Bike!
20 Oct
Breaking News
I haven’t been able to verify this through the League of American Bicyclists yet but the Bicycle Retail and Industry News reports that Greensboro, NC has earned bronze community certification. I will continue to try to get verification on this story.
On Yer Bike!
19 Oct
Detached Bike Parking
I finally closed on my condo in central MD last week and immediately turned around and made an offer (which was accepted with some modification) on a nice home with a detached garage. This will put a bit of a crimp in my style regarding reporting on progress on the BRT as once I move it will no longer be along the way on my route to work but I still intend to go out of my way once in a while to keep up on the progress. Looks like major work on the Cone Rd tunnel is complete although they filled in the ends of the tunnel until the rest of the trail is ready, at least that’s my guess as to why they filled it back in.
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| From Wrenwood Dr |
On Yer Bike!
7 Oct
BRT Update 7 Oct 09
An update on the progress on the BRT. It’s getting harder (actually pretty much impossible) to shoot during the morning now that the sun rises around 7:30. This first shot was taken in the afternoon.
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| From Battleground Rail Trail |
This is the trail south of Martinsville Rd. Since this shot soil has been dropped on top of the gravel to the level of the retaining wall bricks. I’ve not seen this style of grading before so I’m not sure what the goal is.
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| From Battleground Rail Trail |
Another odd shot–They filled in the south end of the Cone Rd tunnel. My guess is they are trying to keep people out of an unstable environment while they work on the north end. They may also be trying to build up the soil on the walls of the ramp before they install the retaining walls.
On Yer Bike!
