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Posts Tagged ‘Maryland’

Tell the Maryland SHA to build a sidewalk on Wisconsin Avenue between Friendship Heights and Bethesda on Jan. 28th.

Do you live in Friendship Heights or Bethesda, near Wisconsin Avenue?

The Maryland State Highway Administration has proposed a six-foot-wide sidewalk along the east side of Wisconsin Ave., which connects the north end of Friendship Heights with the south end of Bethesda. This sidewalk would stretch .7 miles alongside a six-lane road with a speed limit of 35 miles per hour. While too narrow to be considered a shared-use path, the sidewalk would provide a safe place for pedestrians to access the three bus stops on the east side of Wisconsin Avenue. In addition, bicyclists who do not feel comfortable riding on the road could carefully use the sidewalk. With Capital Bikeshare expanding in both Washington, D.C. and Bethesda, a safe place to ride along Wisconsin Ave. is especially important.

The Little Falls Watershed Association is actively organizing to oppose this sidewalk, which could cost $1.5 million. There will be an informational meeting on Jan. 28 at 7:30 to discuss the project. Maryland state engineers will present the latest plans for the sidewalk, and members of Montgomery County Council have been invited to attend.

Please attend this informational meeting to support building a safe route for pedestrians and bicyclists. It is on Jan. 28 from 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at Somerset Town Hall, 4510 Cumberland Ave., Chevy Chase, Md.

We’ll update you here on any needs for subsequent action.

A few things are coming up at our office:

Tomorrow night, Tues., Jan. 15, be trained to be a D.C. bike ambassador. Bike ambassadors reach out to and educate cyclists, pedestrians, and drivers about what it means to ride a bike in the D.C. area. To learn more about what bike ambassadors do and how the program spreads the good word of bicycling, click here. Sign up for bike ambassador orientation here. It’ll run from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.

On Wed., Jan. 23, we’ll host an open house to talk about major transportation planing processes that are about to get underway in D.C. and Maryland. The District’s MoveDC is the city’s first master transportation plan, and the state of Maryland is updating its bicycle and pedestrian master plan. Come to the WABA office from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. to get an understanding of what the plans will mean for cyclists and learn how to testify or present at public meetings. You’ll get to meet fellow cyclists and discuss relevant talking points. Please sign up for the open house here.

Our Adams Morgan office is located at 2599 Ontario Road NW.

Two of the most important planning processes for the future of biking in our region will be taking place simultaneously this year. Your input, presence, opinions, and comments will be needed to ensure that bike infrastructure is acknowledged and included.

Beginning in February, the District Department of Transportation will begin work on D.C.’s first multimodal transportation plan, called MoveDC. Also, beginning this spring, the Maryland Department of Transportation will begin seeking public input as it updates the state’s Bicycle & Pedestrian Master Plan for the first time since 2002.

Both plans present significant opportunities to alter how people get around, and in subsequent posts we’ll provide more detailed information on each. What matters most right now is that both processes are being designed to maximally integrate public input into the planning of our transportation future. While WABA will be actively involved as an organization, it’s also critical that people—like you!—who value biking as a way of getting around and want to see it encouraged in the future participate.

On Wed., Jan. 23, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., we will be hosting an open house at our office in Adams Morgan. This will be a low-key opportunity for people interested in participating in these processes and testifying or presenting at public meetings to meet their fellow bicyclists, review background materials, ask questions, and get a better understanding of what’s going on in D.C. and Maryland.

Changes are coming, and your input is essential. We hope to see you on Jan. 23!

Artwork by www.thelajohnson.com/

Mark you calendars! WABA’s Annual Member Holiday Party is just around the bend. Celebrate the season and jingle and mingle around with fellow members and WABA staff.  Not a member? Not to worry, JOIN NOW and support WABA’s work to make your life on a bike– that much more safe and enjoyable.

Date:  Wednesday, December 12th
Time: 7pm to 11pm
Location: Smith Commons
Address: 1245 H St. NE, Washington DC
Cost: $5 suggested donation for members.
For more information check out our event page and be sure to share with your friends.

Want to lend a hand during the party and work towards a free WABA membership? Sign up here: http://bit.ly/UB1i4j

Get a glimpse of our Holiday follies, check out pictures from last year:

Big thanks to Smith Commons, our Holiday hosts, and to LA Johnson for her very beary nice artwork!

Today is the LAST DAY of the Fall Membership Drive! Thanks to everyone who joined or referred-a-friend this week! Your support keeps our advocacy wheels rolling forward!

Haven’t joined yet? There’s still time! Join today to receive a discounted 1-year individual and 1-year family membership ($10 off). Each new member who joins during the membership drive also gets a free WABA water bottle or WABA sunglasses along with a WABA patch kit or tire levers set (while supplies last).

A BIG THANKS to…

… all our volunteers who stood at busy intersections throughout the week, promoting bicycling and WABA while handing out free bike maps!

… City Bikes, for donating awesome bike prizes for our refer-a-friend drawing!

… BikeArlington, for providing coffee and granola bars and then helping pass them out!

During this week’s Fall Membership Drive, we have been asking WABA members to support us by referring-a-friend to join WABA. If every WABA member refers just one co-worker, friend, family member, or fellow bike commuter to join, our reach will be twice as big! That’s two times as many people working to ensure bicyclists’ needs are represented. We all benefit when this happens.

To convey our appreciation, we will be entering each referrer into a drawing for cool bike prizes. Thanks to our friends at City Bikes, we will be giving away a Specialized helmet, OnGuard Pitbull bike lock, and Planet Bike Blaze Superflash light set. In addition, our top five referrers will receive a free 1-year WABA membership or membership extension.

Use this customizable, “refer-a-friend” email to refer up to 20 friends to join. Feel free to change or personalize the message, but remember to leave the join link so they can receive 1-year individual and 1-year family discounted memberships ($10 off). Just make certain your friends fill in your name (in the “referred by a friend” field) when they join so you can get credit.

Not a member? You can still refer-a-friend. Or join yourself!

Supporting WABA to sustain our on-going bicycle advocacy in the Washington region is a wonderful benefit in and of itself. Our advocacy ensures that the bike lanes get striped (or painted green), the trails get funded and built, the bicycle education classes get taught, and the bike racks installed.

But the additional member benefits are also worth JOINING for! As a WABA member, you have access to a whole slate of benefits including:

• Discounts at 50 area bike shops
• Discounts on WABA events and rides (i.e. VASA, BikeFest, Bike Prom, 50 States, etc.)
• Discounts from many community business partners like ZipCar
• Subscription to the quarterly WABA newsletter, RideOn
• Use of WABA’s complimentary bike “boxes” when you travel
• Up-to-date information on current bicycle advocacy issues and how you can take action on them

And the benefits keep growing. Earlier this month, Lunar Massage became WABA’s newest discount partner, offering free membership to their massage studios (a $40 up front savings!). After a long day of riding, what could be better than a nice, healing massage?

Join during WABA’s Fall Membership Drive, October 22nd-26th, and secure these benefits for yourself! We are offering our 1-year individual and 1-year family memberships at a discount ($10 off each). Each new and renewing member who joins during the drive also gets a free WABA water bottle or WABA sunglasses along with a WABA patch kit and tire levers set (while supplies last).

Every year, WABA teaches thousands of children and hundreds of adults how to get around their neighborhoods safely by bike through our Adult Learn to Ride classes, Bike Commuter seminars, Confident City Cycling classes, and bike skills events. Help WABA get more kids and adults on bikes by joining during our Fall Membership Drive.

This week, October 22nd-26th, we are offering our 1-year individual and 1-year family memberships at a discounted rate. Each new member who joins during the drive also receives a free WABA water bottle or pair of WABA sunglasses along with a WABA patch kit and tire levers set (while supplies last).

Last week, WABA met with representatives of Montgomery Preservation Inc. (MPI), the County Executive, Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT), and the offices of Councilmembers Riemer and Ervin to work to resolve the impasse on the trail alignment as it crosses Georgia Avenue and passes the historic B&O Train Station that serves as a headquarters and event space for MPI.  At this meeting, MCDOT officials stated that the agency, the County Executive, and the County Council were committed to the Master Plan Trail Alignment and to a grade separated crossing of Georgia Avenue, and that design work is beginning.

Thanks to the hundreds of WABA members and supporters who wrote to County leaders to prompt this movement, and special thank to Councilmember Ervin for attending last week’s meeting and remaining personally involved in this important trail project in her District.

There is still much work to be done to ensure that the trail is well-designed to serve the expected usage, as this trail will be a major point of access to the Silver Spring Transit Center as well as a key commuter and recreation route.  MPI remains committed to ensuring that the historic character of the train station is maintained and enhanced.  WABA remains committed to ensuring that the trail is a safe, functional trail for riders of all ages and abilities.  These commitments are not incompatible.

With the question of alignment resolved, our work is now to ensure that the work progresses expeditiously toward a Metropolitan Branch Trail that will meet deliver on its promise as a transportation and recreational amenity and be an asset to the entire community.

Both MPI and WABA sent letters to MCDOT Deputy Director Gonzalez providing feedback on Friday’s meeting.  They are shared below.

 
WABA Letter to MCDOT re: MBT 10.19.2012

MPI’s Letter to Deputy Director Edgar Gonzalez

In the last post, Greg Billing explained the steps Arlington and DC have made in recent days to bring green lanes to these jurisdictions.  At the same time, Montgomery County legislators have been doing their part to ensure that the County works to become more bike-friendly as well.

Because much of this work has been done behind the scenes, I wanted to take the opportunity to thank two members of Montgomery  County’s Transportation and Environment Committee–Council President Roger Berliner and Councilmember Nancy Floreen–for their recent steps in support of bicycle facility improvements.

We have met with both councilmembers to discuss their approaches to better integrating bicycling into Montgomery Count’s transportation priorities, and both have responded in support of these efforts.

The first letter below is Council President Berliner’s letter in support of the Capital Crescent Trail.  The second is Councilmember Floreen’s letter specifying preference for buffered bike lanes and suggesting numerous opportunities for biking improvements downcounty in advance of bikeshare.

CCT WiscAve Crossing Sept2012

Bicycle Letter – Mobley