Today's the day that Raleigh's Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission will take public comments on the temporary bike lane striping on Hillsborough Street. Got an opinion? Show up and voice it. 
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| This picture was stolen from Dr. Keith. I'm glad he's a doctor and not a lawyer who might sue me for a copyright violation. |
The City of Raleigh is seeking public feedback regarding the bicycle lanes that were recently installed along Hillsborough Street between Gardner Street and Enterprise Street. The City will receive public comments until Oct. 7.And while I'm at it -- Raleigh Bike Resources:
The Hillsborough Street Streetscape Project - Phase I was developed to fit within the existing right-of-way with the goal of improving conditions for all users. The City's Comprehensive Bicycle Plan recommends the installation of shared-lane markings, or "sharrows," to direct both motorists and cyclists to share the travel lane along Hillsborough Street.
In 2010, local cyclists organized a campaign to petition the City to install striped bicycle lanes instead of sharrows to provide a designated space for cyclists on Hillsborough Street. The Raleigh City Council endorsed this position and made a request to the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) to allow the City to install bicycle lanes on the street. NCDOT approved the request as a pilot project on a temporary basis, with an observation period of two to six months.
Citizens are being asked to submit comments to help the City and NCDOT determine the safety and effectiveness of these bicycle lanes. The comment period will be open until 5 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 7. Comments can be sent via e-mail to RaleighBPAC@raleighnc.gov or by mail to the City of Raleigh Office of Transportation Planning, PO Box 590, Raleigh, NC 27602.
Whether selected as the country's "Most Sustainable Midsize Community" by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce or "No. 1 Best City in America" by Bloomberg Businessweek, Raleigh's rise to the top of almost any survey as "The Best Place to Live" should not be seen as something that happened by chance, but through strong leadership, clear vision and a road map towards the future.
Recognizing that these accolades do not go unnoticed, there is wide acceptance that we will double in size in the next 20 years. Therefore, the question facing us as a city is, how do we double in size while improving our quality of life?
Raleigh's $40 million transportation bond issue will go a long way towards that journey by recognizing that the best way to ensure our continued economic development, while protecting our quality of life, is by investing in our community:
The transportation bond issue starts by first fixing what we already have with a $10 million investment in maintaining our existing streets with timely resurfacing, thus reducing costly repairs down the road - and those pesky potholes.
The final unfunded section of our greenway system is also in the bond issue, as the final link in the city's100-plus miles of interconnected greenways. This new section along Walnut Creek will connect downtown to the Neuse River Greenway, completing one of the finest such systems in the country and extending from Raleigh through Cary and Apex into Durham to the west and connecting to Clayton, Knightdale and Wake Forest towards the east.
In addition, bike lanes will be expanded to improve our "bikeability," which means adding to our designation as a "Bike Friendly Community"and attracting many of the creative class of young professionals who choose to live here because of our variety of transportation options.
Sidewalks are also a part of the bond issue, as we now realize that sidewalks are part of our transportation system. The city's new policy recognizes this by no longer requiring property owners to share in the cost of new sidewalk construction or sidewalk repairs on their property.
Any real 21st century city must provide a variety of transit options, and so the continued funding of our transit system is also part of the transportation bond issue. Bus shelters and benches will be added to make the wait for transit more desirable, while upgrades and improvements to the Moore Square Transit Station are also part of the plan.
Most exciting is the leveraging of the bond funds with federal funds through the state DOT's Rail Division to remake an old Dillon Supply building in the downtown warehouse district into the new "Union Station" for Amtrak, commuter rail and the future high-speed rail. This $3 million of the transportation bond investment would leverage $20-plus million of federal and state DOT funds, creating a historically renovated new downtown station that will ultimately re-create the downtown's warehouse district into the next Fayetteville Street or Glenwood South, which means increased property values and tax revenues.
It's an exciting time for our city and most citizens will agree that Raleigh is one of the greatest places to live in America. By voting "Yes" to the transportation bonds on Tuesday, we will be well on our way to keeping it that way.
If you ride a retro randonneur bike people assume you are American or that you grabbed the wrong bike at the last checkpoint and you should return it to the bikeless American ASAP.
Of the forty million dollars that his network has spent in the past decade, thirty-five million has gone to half a dozen ostensibly nonpartisan policy groups, which he has been instrumental in creating and directing. Pope claims that these organizations are independent of his control, but, on average, the Pope family foundation supplies them with more than eighty-five per cent of their funds. Though these groups are officially defined as philanthropic, almost all parts of the Pope enterprise push the same aggressively pro-business, anti-government message.The groups include the John Locke Foundation, the Civitas Institute, Americans for Prosperity North Carolina. When you see those groups quoted in the press, be aware that Pope is behind the message.
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Even some North Carolinians associated with Jesse Helms think that Pope has gone too far. Jim Goodmon, the president and C.E.O. of Capitol Broadcasting Company, which owns the CBS and Fox television affiliates in Raleigh, says, “I was a Republican, but I’m embarrassed to be one in North Carolina because of Art Pope.” Goodmon’s grandfather A. J. Fletcher was among Helms’s biggest backers, having launched him as a radio and television commentator. Goodmon describes Pope’s forces as “anti-community,” adding, “The way they’ve come to power is to say that government is bad. Their only answer is to cut taxes.” Goodmon believes that Pope’s agenda is not even good for business, because the education cuts he’s helped bring about will undermine the workforce. “If you want to create good jobs, you need good schools,” he says. “We’re close to the bottom out of the fifty states in education spending, and if they could take it down further they would.” He says of Pope, “It’s never about making things better. It’s all about tearing the other side down.”Also on the Art Pope front: a tip of the hat to grads of my law school, NCCU Central, for getting the school to reject a chunk of money from an Art Pope group for a constitutional law center.
