Bicycle Board Addresses Statewide MPO Conference

By Frank Gmeindl.

On October 27, 2010, the Morgantown Bicycle Board with support from the Parkersburg Bicycle Advisory Committee and the Mountain State Wheelers presented Accommodating Bicyclists, that shows what bicyclists' need and how to plan and design for it.
Following is a link to the PDF of the presentation- Accommodating Bicyclists

After the presentation, participants, mostly WVDOH employees commented that the presentation increased their awareness that facility designs must enable bicyclists to maximize their visibility and predictability. Some commented that the presentation made them aware that roadway and facility designs need to enable bicyclists to take the proper lane position for straight-thru and left turning movements, especially at crossings. Some participants also expressed surprise that the average distance a Monongalia County school bus passenger travels from home to school is only 1 mile. The $2.6M that Mon County spends on bussing in a year could build 50 miles of bike lanes or 5 miles of sidewalks.

Following the morning's presentations, the Bicycle Board Chairman and a representative of the Morgantown Pedestrian Safety Board took 18 conference attendees on a "mobile lab" (busride) tour of Morgantown to point out typical WV bicycling and pedestrian issues. The bus stopped at some in-line drainage grates and the BB Chairman passed out photos of a recent crash in which a cyclist's front wheel was trapped and the cyclist went over the bars. The participants were noticeably disturbed. Along the route, the BB Chairman indicated the need for widening up hill lanes and for shared lane markings and signage ahead of blind curves and hill crests.

After the Wednesday proceedings, five members of the Morgantown Bicycle Board led several WVDOH conference attendees and the Mountain State Wheelers Rep on a short ride from the Hotel Morgan conference venue to the Marilla Park cookout. They rode to Mon Blvd. and Eighth St. to view the location of the proposed Mon Blvd. bicycle climbing lane. Along the way, Bicycle Board members who are also League Cycling Instructors gave vehicular cycling instruction and discussed the pros and cons of driving your bicycle as a vehicle. All admirably resisted the temptation to pass on the right or take a short cut through a parking lot instead of waiting in the typical Beechurst rush-hour traffic. Near Marilla at the trail crossings of Deckers Creek Blvd., all discussed the perils of trail/roadway crossings and possible improvements. A short visit to Positive Spin's new location in Marilla Park included a WVDOH manager mastering a tall bike.

The cookout was superb with local CXers providing the entertainment to country music singing from a parked SUV while WVDOH engineers grilled and all ate excellent barbecue, burgers, dogs, salads, chips, dessert and of course, an assortment of copious good beers all accompanied by the kind of shop talk all of us would probably enjoy.