In light of dwindling sales tax revenue, Tempe has been forced to scale back its public transportation service, including aspects of the service that TBAG members strongly advocated for several years ago. There are two rounds of public meetings coming up, where Tempe residents can learn about proposed changes that will take effect in July of 2010, and provide public input. Attending these meetings and providing input sends a message to Tempe’s City Council that public transportation is important, especially for people with limited mobility options. Help shape what public transportation Tempe has, by attending the meetings and voicing your opinion!

More information about the meetings is available through Tempe’s website, here.

Meeting dates:
Round 1:
Tuesday, February 23 @ 6 pm, Don Cassano Room, Tempe Transportation Center
Monday, March 1 @ 6 pm, Pyle Adult Recreation Center, 655 E. Southern Ave.

Round 2:
Monday, March 29 @ 6 pm, Pyle Adult Recreation Center
Tuesday, March 30 @ Don Cassano Room

Learn more about Tempe’s current Capital Improvement Projects for bicycles.

The next Action Team meeting will be held Tuesday, April 28 at 6 p.m. in the Don Cassano Community Room located at 200 E. Fifth Street, 2nd floor.

The next City of Tempe public meeting will be held Monday, May 18 at 6 p.m. in the Don Cassano Community Room located at 200 E. Fifth Street, 2nd floor. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss the progress of this project . The agenda will include reviewing public comments, reviewing the traffic study, reviewing design concepts, and discussing next steps.

For more info on the project, see: http://www.tempe.gov/Tim/Traffic/broadwayroad.htm

(for those who don’t know, I attend the monthly Tempe Transportation Commission Multi-Modal Transportation Planning & Project Review Committee meetings)

There was a lot to discuss at this month’s Transit Committee meeting. Some highlights, in order from least to most exciting:

1. Traffic calming projects: Mitchell Park East-West is headed for construction. Maple-Ash is headed for another neighborhood meeting to discuss some potential closure points (suggested about a year ago; dropped from plan; resurrected again). Here’s Tempe’s report on those projects. College Ave is also heading towards construction–we had some discussion about reviewing the striping of the intersection at College and Southern; I’ll try to keep everyone posted on the status of that project.

2. Bike Month: It’s coming up soon! Tempe has just released their Bike Month flyer, which lists a slew of events for the month–pick up a copy at the Transportation Center or look for it around town. Check Tempe’s Bike Month website for details on all events. Two highlights include Bikeapalooza, a biking festival where TBAG will lead a community bike ride, and Bike to Work and School Day, where TBAG’s bicycle commuters will lead rides from each of the 4 other breakfast sites towards the Tempe Transportation Center and beyond to Phoenix and Scottsdale. Stay tuned for more information about TBAG’s involvement in those events and how you can help/participate.

3. **Broadway Road Restructuring Project**: For those who have asked about this for YEARS…Tempe has funding to modify Broadway between Rural Ave and Mill Ave with bike/pedestrian enhancements.

Here are 2 upcoming dates: On Saturday, March 14, from 9-12, there will be a walk-through along Broadway as part of the early planning phase. On Wednesday, March 18, at 6 pm, there will be a meeting in the Community Room at the Transit Center to review several concepts for the modification (i.e. several ideas for how to change things). Right now, Broadway is 3 lanes eastbound, 2 lanes westbound, with a center turn lane. Two potential concepts to reduce lanes and free up space for bicycles/pedestrians: remove 1 eastbound lane, or remove the center turn lane. One complication, however, will be handling the frontage road on the north side of Broadway.

The Bike Commuters website has a very nice profile of Tempe bicycle commuter Paul Emerson. Paul works at ASU and commutes up and down College Ave. daily. I don’t know Paul personally, but as someone who also rode College daily to ASU, I definitely recognize him and his nice collection of Surlys – including a sweet Xtracycle!

Ride on Paul!

Check out Paul’s profile HERE

Those of you who ride in northern Tempe have probably noticed the new red bike lanes at the intersections of College and Apache, and Ash and University that were installed a little over a week ago.

The red “treatment” is a test and these two intersections were targeted due to their high bicycle use and unique automotive traffic restrictions (southbound traffic at both intersections is not permitted). Here is what Eric Iwersen, City of Tempe Transportation Planner, has to say about the new red lanes:

City of Tempe installed a new colorized surface treatment in the bike lanes at the intersections of Ash & University and College & Apache to increase the visibility of the bike lane and to emphasize and support compliance with the unique vehicle lane striping at these sites. The colorized treatment is an experiment and will be reviewed by the city for possible broader use in the community.

Tempe has issued an official press release on the new bike lanes, and Eric also appeared on Channel 3 (you may have to register to see the video) at the crack of dawn on Friday morning to discuss the new lanes.

Although I wish the lanes were a more bold shade of red (and reflective), I think they are a step in the correct direction. It is great to see Tempe testing new ways to increase visibility and safety for cyclists.

What do you think about the new red bike lanes at these intersections? Where else in Tempe would similar highlighting of the bike lane through the intersection help to improve cyclist’s safety?

The City of Tempe has released concept maps for the College Ave. traffic calming and pedestrian / bicycle improvements project. These maps were first presented at the October 18th neighborhood meeting and are now available for download [PDF]. The planned traffic calming measures will significantly alter the feel of College Ave by introducing narrower streets and improved “streetscaping“. The end result should be slower traffic speeds on College and greater safety for cyclists and pedestrians.

The City of Tempe is still accepting comments on the College Ave. project, so please take a moment to review the concept maps and get involved in the process by commenting (either for or against) on this important redesign of Tempe’s busiest bicycle artery. Also available on the website is a compilation of the comments [PDF] that have already been submitted.

The City of Tempe is in the design phase of a project to improve bicycle and pedestrian facilities, enhance streetscape and calm traffic on College Avenue between Apache and US60. Given that College Ave. is an important north-south artery and the busiest bicycle route in the city, cyclists should be very interested in this project. The meeting is open to the public but targeted largely at residents who live south of Apache, north of US60, west of Rural and east of Mill Ave.

The meeting is an excellent opportunity to see the latest design concepts and learn about the process and timeline. It’s also a great chance to provide feedback.

Meeting Details:
Thursday, October 18, 2007
6 – 8:30 pm
Tempe Public Library

Last night the Tempe City Council voted to approve all of the proposed free shuttle routes! This includes the one down College Ave that inspired some controversy. The City Council decision will make College Ave safer for bicyclists and pedestrians, as well as make downtown Tempe and the new light rail more accessible to the many city residents who realize that life is better when not tethered to cars.

Congratulations and thanks to everyone who helped lobby for this decision!

As many of you know, the City of Tempe is trying to expand their free shuttle program to include College Avenue. The Tempe Bicycle Action Group thinks this is a great idea for lots of reasons – decreased traffic, more aware drivers (the shuttle drivers, that is), easy access to the light rail and downtown, opportunity for bike/bus commute combos, etc.

View TBAG’s open letter to the community explaining why it’s critical that we support Tempe’s free bus route expansions. Then read our fact sheet about the proposed routes.

A small but vocal group of cranky College Ave residents has decided that this program is a bad idea. Many of them are using cycling as a scapegoat for their opposition, which we think (based on their published comments to the city) really involves concern about the shuttles bringing in the “wrong” type of people into their neighborhood.

The final decision will be made at a city council meeting this Thursday. We need your help. The mayor and City Council strongly support this program, but need to hear from vocal cyclists and community members to counter the opponents.

This is where you can help. Please join us at the City Council meeting this Thursday, June 28th at 6 pm at the upside-down pyramid on 5th St, just East of Mill. If you would like to make a statement, that would be great. We can give you some talking points, but it’s best to just speak openly about your personal reasons for wanting the shuttle. If you’re uncomfortable speaking, please still join us. It is possible that the Council will ask the audience for a show of hands in support of the project. First round of beers to celebrate the new shuttle is on us!

Let us know if you plan to make it (m...@biketempe.org). If you do show up, wear a bicycle shirt if you have one. Carrying in your helmet’s probably not a bad idea either. Bonus points (and beer) for supportive signs.

Please spread the word and bring friends on Thursday. This may end up being a numbers game.

Please support this great program on Thursday!

Tempe Bicycle Action Group Board of Directors
Chris Crosby
Kate Darby
Stan Klonowksi
Mark Neff
Scott Nowicki