Highland Park recommends repealing single file bicycle code

The Highland Park Traffic Commission met June 23 to discuss local bicycling issues. Dozens of cycling enthusiast also showed up to see the Commission in action and make sure cycling issues are being handled appropriately.

A Commission meeting to focus on bicycling was apparently as a result of motorists complaints of cyclists, particularly groups of cyclists who ride through Highland Park on weekend mornings which do not observe stop signs. Also mentioned was the difficulty of motorists passing cyclists on Sheridan Road.

The Commission discussed Highland Park's eight pages of bicycle codes and noted there are provisions in the code that are no longer being observed such as mandatory bicycle registration and single file cycling restrictions. The Commission voted to recommend the City Council repeal the Highland Park bicycling codes that might be confusing to cyclists and are not consistent with state code such as the single file provision.

There were also discussions of how to create more effective bicycle routes through town by marking or striping certain roadways. However the Commission recommended to the City Council to adopt a Complete Streets policy nearly a year ago (see August 31, 2009 entry below) since a Complete Streets policy would systematically review all such considerations. The Commission expressed concern the City Council has not adopted Complete Streets and voted once again to recommend the City Council adopt a Complete Streets policy.

For more information also see Pioneer Press reporter Charles Berman's good coverage of the meeting from the July 6 Highland Park News.

BP Gulf Oil Spill Disaster Protest

The Chicago Tribune published a letter today from Jay Goldstein, a board Member of Active Transportation Alliance about how we might collectively protest the BP Gulf oil spill disaster. This is the full text of that letter:

Personal Protest

I agree that if we want to protest the BP oil spill, the answer is not to boycott BP gas stations. (“Bypassing BP station won’t KO oil giant” June 18, 2010) Instead I plan on making my own personal “BP Protest” by walking cycling or taking public transit for at least one trip a week I would normally drive. Transit studies have shown that amazingly 90% of all trips in the US between 1 and 3 miles are driven and only 31% of trips under one mile are made by foot or bike. And if we all went so far to substitute our driving for walking or cycling merely equal to our recommended daily exercise, we could collectively reduce U.S. dependence on oil by between 35% and 38%--almost all the oil we import! So leave the car behind at least one trip a week and help save the Gulf, lose some weight, relax and save money--now that’s my kind of protest.