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The FLCC has’t taken much formal part in shaping policy or advocating for improvements for bicycling and bicyclists. However there has been continuing activity in this area by a number of individuals — most connected with the Ithaca Bicycle Action Group. We’ve invited Dave Nutter to provide the club with a report on what’s currently going on. Also, see the Bicycle Safety Education Initiative proposal from Dana Paul. Ed.

Octopus Reconstruction

NYSDOT has declared the Octopus complete without completely addressing bike safety and access in the project. Several matters are unresolved, but there has been a little progress. NYSDOT suggests we now take issues to the Ithaca-Tompkins County Transportation Council. The ITCTC project approval and budgeting process, over which NYSDOT has veto power, could take years during which NYSDOT’s newly created bike hazards would remain in Ithaca’s west end. The following issues remain, some of which could be quickly solved by NYSDOT.

Signals that Never Turn Green for Bikes Alone

 NYSDOT has offered to meet with representatives of the bicycling community to adjust the sensors as best they can. Please report to me specifically what problems you have had where, and with what type of bike. Also let me know if you would like to help NYSDOT adjust their sensors. NYSDOT claims that "most bicycles will be detected if they are riding steel framed bicycles". They suggest stopping in the center of the lane slightly behind the stop line, and "to enhance performance ...lay the bicycle over at a 45 degree angle to the ground..." Riders of bikes without sufficient steel "must dismount and place a call to the traffic signal controller via a pedestrian pushbutton. My understanding is that other communities have bike detectors or convenient labeled buttons for bike users at intersections. Readers who have experience with bike detectors, please let me know where and how well they work so we can tell NYSDOT.

 Drain Grates Whose Grooves Grab Bike Tires

NYSDOT used two types of drain grates, one of which is flush and innocuous, while the other type has grooves which, while not stopping bike tires, strictly guide them, prevent steering and could affect balance. The Mayor wrote to NYSDOT to say that the grooved grates are not acceptable. NYSDOT replied insisting "the types of grates used are able to accommodate bicycles." and "Since the grates provided are considered bicycle safe, we cannot make a substitution without incurring a betterment cost to the City." In other words NYSDOT wants the City to pay for any changes.

 Stencils to Mark Merges and Offset Decptive Crosswalks

Where shoulders end and bikes must merge left, NYSDOT has painted crosswalks angling to the right connecting the shoulders to curb cuts and sidewalks. This will encourage illegal sidewalk riding and give drivers the impression that bikes will move away, making legal merges that much more dangerous and difficult. The NYSDOT regional director, Charles Moynihan, rejects stencils, because there is no agreement to maintain them. However, he is asking NYSDOT’s statewide bicycle coordinator to evaluate the "hybrid" lane stencils suggested by the proposed bike plan. A dozen people have indicated they would be willing to help paint legal bike stencils to help the City implement and maintain a bike plan at low cost.

 Dual Turning Lanes Trapping Bicyclists

In a couple of places turning is allowed from a center lane as well as the curb lane. This makes for difficult choices for bike users as to what part of the road is safest to use either to go straight or to turn. Indeed I have frequently seen drivers nearly collide with each other in them as well. NYSDOT advises, "Bicyclists must exercise good judgement when proceeding in a dual turning situation." They did not elaborate. I think a less ambiguous design would be safer for everyone and could actually take bike users’ needs into account. Let me know what you think of the dual turning lanes turning right from Seneca onto Meadow and left from Meadow onto Buffalo.

Cars Driving on the Bike Path between Park Road and Route 89

NYSDOT has put some metal posts around the pavement edge at the end of Park Road which may act as a partial deterrent, but has not ended the problem, as shown by tire tracks and ruts in the mud. NYSDOT also now intends to add bollards. Bollards if improperly placed, can be bike hazards themselves, and I don’t know whether this has been taken into acount by NYSDOT.

 Drop-Offs from Bike Path into Drink

NYSDOT has agreed to add another section of fence alongside the Flood Control Channel where a culvert empties close beside the bike path. They have refused to protect another dropoff of similar height (5-6') into rocks and water. They say their cut-off for protection is 5 feet proximity. The site they refuse to protect, a culvert west of the new Route 89 bridge, is 7 feet from the path, although with erosion it is getting closer. As the parent of a child learning to ride on this path I intend to persevere.

I think problems of the type we are experiencing would be less likely if NYSDOT had an office in Tompkins County as they do in nearly all other counties, if our region of NYSDOT had a bike coordinator, who used a bike and was trained and empowered to include appropriate engineering in NYSDOT’s work, and if the City of Ithaca had a similar bike coordinator.

Transportation Council

What is the future of transportation immediately east of the City of Ithaca? A year-long project is underway to help decide. It’s sponsored by our Metropolitan Planning Organization (called the Ithaca-Tompkins County Transportation Council, which determines federal and state funding) and the municipalities within the area: Towns of Ithaca and Dryden, Villages of Lansing and Cayuga Heights, Tompkins County, and Cornell University

The area covered is roughly rectangular, about 5 x 12 miles, The approximate boundaries are: Slaterville Road (NYS 79) on the south; Midline, Sheldon, Ellis Hollow, Baker Hill, Pinckney on the east; Peruville Road (NYS 34B) on the north; and to the Ithaca City/Town line, including Pine Tree, Judd Falls and (North) Triphammer Roads on the west.

Problems to be addressed include handling growth, congestion, safety, pollution, etc. There is a commitment to multimodalism, including bicycles. Historically the study is an outgrowth of calls over the years for a major highway, an "east Ithaca bypass", but there is no commitment now to that or any other "solution".

ITCTC has empaneled a committee of citizens to make recommendations and serve as liaisons with the public. The entire list is available through ITCTC at the Tompkins County Planning Department. Their monthly meetings are open to the public, and there will be a couple of special public information meetings as well. Among the 16 members are several people known for using bicycles or facilitating their use. They’re job is to take your input:

 Dana Paul, bike commuter, musician, and award-winning car mechanic 533-7312; dpaul@aol.com; 1 Maple Ave, Lansing, NY 14882

Lois Chaplin, NY state bike safety expert 255-4080, 255-2498; lec4@cornell.edu; 7 Penny Lane Ithaca, NY 14850

Dwight Mengel, TCAT’s planner, initiated the bikes-on-buses program 277-9551, 277-9388x520; 120 Linn St Ithaca, NY 14850

Dennis Reinhart, Village of Lansing Superintendent of Public Works, paved many road shoulders to accommodate bicycles & pedestrians. 257-0226, 257-6280; 30 Etna Road

Dave Nutter

The Ithaca Bicycle Action Group meets on the 4th Monday of the month at 7pm in the conference room at Greenstar. This is a grassroots group working to make the Ithaca area more bike friendly. To get on IBAG's e-mail listserve for announcements and discussion, send e-mail to listproc@cornell.edu with the text "subscribe IBAG-L"

For more information contact:
 Sandy Wold, 277-3814; slw15@cornell.edu; 128 Rachel Carson Way, Ithaca.
 Dave Nutter, 277-6201; 104607.365@compuserve.com; 235 Cliff St, Ithaca.