Thanks y'all! Riding Strong through the Suburbs!

Thanks to everyone for another great ride. join us next month, when we will ride into our urban wetlands and beaches.

We rode 70 strong into metry, lakeview, and through the city park neighborhoods. Although we avoided all the bourgie mansions I wanted to pass en masse, we still fulfilled dreams and broke hearts by cruising down Veterans Blvd. Thanks to our friends who rode the LA Swift Bus from Baton Rouge to ride with us! I didn't know you could throw your bike on the bus--we'll have to return the favor sometime.





A reminder that our friends at RHUBARB need help closing down their current location by July 10th. fear not! Liz is looking for a new space already.

Check out the possible locations for next month (this is long):

Where we were this time out:

If you want to help with flyers, new spoke cards, posters, and route plans, let's meet up this coming wednesday, uptown at Rue at Oak and Carrolton. 6 sound good? I knew it would.

send all photos / photo links to
criticalmassnolainfo@gmail.com, and i promise a reporter next month.
look pretty for the cameras.


props to all corkers.

scott

Our good friends at RUBARB need your help!

This was sent to me from Liz of RUBARB. If you can help in anyway, please contact them!

*********************************

dear fans and friends of RUBARB--

we are closing down!! st mary of the angels, where we have been for over
4 years and have evolved into something quite wonderful, has asked us to
leave their property. they want us to get some crazy insurance we can't
afford and want us out by JULY 10th. we are respecting their request,
ending operation on that day and are planning to spend the following week
moving everything out. prior to that, on JUNE 26th, we will be having a
"repair-a-thon" and a farewell party. we want to get rid of some bikes
that remain, raise money, reflect on some great years, thank the church
and entire community, and most importantly... have fun!

so we need your help!

now more than ever. we need to find a temporary space to store our stuff
(if you can think of a potential spot, please let me know). we eventually
need a place to relocate to (we want to stay in the 9th w/d). we need
folks who would want to help repair bikes during the "repair-a-thon." we
could use people to perform during the party. we need people to help
break down the shop on JULY 10th and eventually help us move out by JULY
17th. we sound so needy, but it's true!

the most important thing to me, is the kids. i've seen a lot of them grow
up in that place, maturing, learning, playing, having a safe positive
environment to just BE. it's sad to think that they'll have no place to
go, esp on saturdays when we're crawling with kids (i'm hoping we can set
up on a corner somewhere while we're temporarily closed, to let kids fix
flats, make little adjustments, hang out).

we know everything will work out in the end, it always does. it's taken
hundreds of people from around the city and country to get to where we got
to, and no doubt that will happen again. change is challenging, but
change is good.

thanks for listening! holla at me if you want to lend a hand in any way.
spread this email around. send any contributions to:

RUBARB Community Bike Shop
PO BOX 770340
New Orleans LA 70177

check out our website for updates: www.rubarbike.org

with love and pedal power,
liz

Rim and Spoke: Downtown is not Uptown.

Hey, it's been a while. I've been busy helping promote Critical Mass in the wake of the oil disaster. Hope you've made it out. But you should know that I'm going to step back my involvement with Mass a bit in the coming months.

Anyone want to ride out to Delacroix Island, soon?



This series is and was a longer-term project to re-think cycling in New Orleans, to introduce new cyclists to a cyclist's geography, and provide the basis for some introductory, sneaky routes for tired or intimidated cyclists. So let's begin again.

Downtown is not Uptown

Previously, we discussed how the River is a potential aid to cyclists and how minding it tells us how to shorten a ride. The example was going from Uptown to Downtown, through most of Uptown. For the Downtown example, let's note what the Uptown street network has that Downtown doesn't: Broadmoor and Mid-City, two places where Spoke streets meet. Downtown, N. Peters through the Quarter is the equivalent to Claiborne Ave, in that it provides the tightest contiguous turn, the route with the least vector change. Broad, Miro, and Galvez are the Tchoupitoulii, the longer Rim streets to take when navigating out of Gentilly, the Eighth, and the Ninth. But there is no analog to Broadmoor: the Quarter is on the River.

So when we navigate Downtown to Uptown, we are more limited in our options. If we travel from MLK Jr., on Caffin Ave, to drink at the Deutsches Haus (while it's still there), we want to more toward the River, just as we want to move away from the River if Uptown. But the street logic is much more coherent, and the options are limited by our need to cross the industrial canal (IHNC).

In this way, Downtown New Orleans is more like cities in the rest of Southeast Louisiana: the urban area is very linear, and the waterways dominate the navigable landscape. Downtown also has less canopy cover, given that Downtown is not only poorer, but also more industrial than Uptown, which was conceived from original suburbs and swallowed satellite villages.

St. Claude becomes the choice of cyclists, despite that the bridge can hardly be called a bicycle "facility." There is no shoulder, and a patchy latticework forms the lifting section of the bridge, increasing the damage to tyres and tubes. but we'll return to the subject of bridges one at a time... The other options are Claiborne Ave Bridge, which is scary, and the Florida Ave bridge, which is operated or not operated inscrutably.

The Test: MLK to Deutsches Haus


So I devised a test of my previous theory: will hugging the river downtown produce the shortest route? Remember, the previous shortest route from Oak st to the Marigny was the route furthest from the river.



It seems that Downtown is a different world, because the quickest route from MLK to Deutsches house is the "straight shot": Claiborne. Although I wouldn't bike over the Seeber bridge--I'd take St. Claude over the industrial canal--it is the shortest route by half a mile. Our choices downtown are constrained by how we cross the canal.

So this test of our River Rule is interesting in how it fails.

This case is more like the one I was trying to make for Uptown--the safest, best route is not the shortest. But hugging the river actually makes for the third longest route--partly due to the course correction of 1.12miles, to get back to Galvez, which overrides the gain from following the river. The River route is still shorter than riding to Florida ave and then to Miro and Galvez more directly, but it's not the best option, because of the bridges.

Next time: Wormholes! quick but deadly! I promise.

Critical Mass: victory. Dead Pelicans Ride Monday 5pm Jackson Sq

Thanks corkers! Thanks everyone! an amazingly fun ride, yeah.


150 in number, we rode down canal to the cheers of onlookers. After one hiccup at City Park Ave, we strolled down Metairie Rd, broke, then took a left on Airline.

Because of a slight miscommunication, we ended up on the original route, Shrewsbury. which unfortunately is only formerly a street. (apologies to the woman who told me we weren't going to Central. you were right.) The sight of all those bikes portaging over the tracks is a memorable one, and unfortunately a practice required too often for cyclists in JP.





we did manage to lose our police escort at this point, only to be rejoined as we turned onto Jeff Hwy and back home via Leonidas. Jeff Parish was slightly more aggressive, but only to clear one lane of three. well, we can give them a lane.

The Dead Pelicans ride 5pm tomorrow. Dress Black, Ride Slow
-anyone have a mobile drum?

Kat is taking route suggestions. meet early, 4:30pm to talk routes.

This is only a beginning. the oil gusher won't end until the relief wells are done, probably around August. bigger and better, onward and upward.

So what are we doing for June? How can we support the demands of our rally? let's get together for planning and to contact media.

June 9th Rue on Oak and Carrollton 6:30pm
June 10th Sound Cafe 6:30pm

think floats.

ride safe!

scott


#######################

OUR DEMANDS

This a list of ten demands we are making of the federal government.

Note we are speaking to the federal government, NOT BP. BP’s chance to have any say or authority in this process should be long past. BP has proven itself a criminal enterprise concerned only with profit, recklessly and indifferently murdering its employees and the entire Gulf coast.

We demand the Federal Government intervene immediately to stop the BP Oil Flood and:

1. Declare the BP Oil Flood a national disaster so that Louisiana can finally begin getting federal assistance.

2. Stop BP’s use of “Corexit” and other chemical dispersants that present significant danger to health and safety.

3. Under a state of emergency, employ all resources (including Navy) of the government at every level – Federal, State, local, and parish — to defend our coast, our livelihoods, and our culture.

4. Suspend all BP contracts by means of the EPA’s discretionary debarment act and seize all of BP’s assets, including BP Atlantis and other operational offshore rigs, to assure that all costs of cleanup and remediation are covered.

5. Strongly enforce all regulations for workplace health and safety:
Cleanup crews must be supplied with and allowed to use full-face respirators, not paper masks.

6. Undertake immediate, full, and ongoing 3rd-party verified air-quality and toxicity testing in all affected areas, including New Orleans, and objective close monitoring of the oil leak to determine the true extent of the catastrophe.

7. End all deepwater offshore oil drilling.

8. Institute a temporary moratorium on non-deepwater offshore drilling (both current and new operations) and require each operation pass a stringent independent safety review before they can resume operation. Those that fail inspection stay shut down and are heavily fined until they comply or are debarred.

9. Keep all lawsuits related to the BP Oil Flood and its aftermath in Louisiana, and instruct the DOJ and States’ Attorney General to hold BP, Halliburton and Transocean accountable to the furthest extent possible under the law.

10. Found a two-decade TVA-Style Gulf Coast Authority that rebuilds sea walls, levees, coastlines, and wetlands, with a dedicated fund for fishermen and related industries to provide economic relief for those put out of work because of the disaster.

Street Bucklin' Heat, Y'all

From the nola.com feed:
http://www.nola.com/traffic/index.ssf/2010/05/five_kenner_streets_buckle_in_intense_heat.html

one wonders why we pave the GMO with materials that can't withstand the environment and compact the soil.

By Mary Sparacello, The Times-Picayune

May 25, 2010, 5:13PM

At least five locations on Kenner streets have buckled during the hot temperatures of the past four days, City Hall said Tuesday.

The Public Works Department said streets failed at:

-- 1500 38th St. near Greenlawn Terrace Elementary School
-- 661 Mayfair St. in the Holly Heights subdivision
-- 3600 Loyola Drive in University City
-- 3419 Florida Ave. in Greenlawn Terrace
-- 2400 Tifton St. in Veterans Heights.

Banner Making this Tuesday 7pm @Nowe Miasto

No need to Drill, no need to Spill or Kill:

let's make Banners, to help set the tone for our ride this Friday, May 28th, 6pm.

We are meeting at Nowe Miasto, at the end of Jane Place, off Broad and Banks in MidCity. The time is 7pm Tuesday, the 25th.

Please bring

Bamboo
craft wire
Old Campaign Signs
White Bedsheets
Paint
Markers

or any materials that will help us construct mobile signage.

see you there!
scott
scott@nolacycle.com

TOMORROW (SATURDAY) - ANNUAL BICYCLE SECOND LINE PARADE!!!!

Twitter @mbcnola, #Bike2ndLine
---------------------------------------
http://www.mbcnola.org/SecondLine.html

WHAT: 2010 Bicycle Second-Line

WHO: Featuring the Crescent City Stompers

WHEN: Saturday, May 22nd, 2010 formation at 10:00am; departure at 10:30am

WHERE: Commencement at Magazine Street and Zoo Drive; After party at Avenger Field (Tchoupitoulas and Exposition Blvd.)


View Bicycle Second Line in a larger map

WHY: To show cycling enthusiasm for New Orleans, and learn about cycling improvements in the city

WITH: New Orleans EMS and the National Safety Council hosting a Bicycle Rodeo starting at 8am. Rodeo held at Audubon Charter School (428 Broadway). The first 50 families to either join or renew MBC will receive free helmets for their children.


View Larger Map

ALSO:
$25 for membership or membership renewal and 1 free t-shirt *note: free t-shirt is for full paying members only, not discounted student memberships
$15 for just a t-shirt, and
$5 for an existing member who wants a t-shirt

Link to download the latest NolaCycle poster

Last month, Scott, Rob, and I presented the NolaCycle project at the national American Planning Association Conference, hosted right here in New Orleans. Here is the link to download a copy of our poster.

Rim and Spoke: the River Built Everything

The River Builds Everything

The first lesson, then, to New Orleans is to forget your compass and follow the River. Uptown is the direction Upriver; Downtown is the direction Downriver. Don't move north and south, but to the River or away from the River. While you are in the city, away from the River always means toward to the Lake, Lake Pontchartrain.

You can blame all of New Orleans on the Mississippi River, because it built the soggy land we ride on. It built the streets crooked to confuse midwesterners. It built it flat so that you won't wear your knees out pedaling that beat up cruiser bike. It built it wet, so that the pavement sinks, settles, and slides at different rates, making potholes, sinkholes, and buckled pavement. It built it low so that you have take bridges to get out of town. And when we stopped it from building New Orleans, we started to lose it to the Gulf of Mexico.

Re-establishing the ecological function of the river is the only way to stave off coastal land loss and the destruction of New Orleans. Those are called Diversions, and apparently, they are also handy during incredibly bad industrial accidents, like Oil Rivers flowing at us from the Gulf bottom. The River is the cyclist's ally in the fight against fossil fuels.

Being mindful of the river and its curve can also get you where you're going faster.

For example, if you work on oak st, and live in the marigny, you might think it's easiest to ride annunciation, since you might drive tchoupitoulas (to avoid traffic at carrollton, 'natch). But if you ride that rim, it's the longest possible route--which matters for a cyclist, especially one carrying a load on her back.

There are several shorter ways than annunciation, which is probably the longest way, since it is the rim farthest from the "hub" of broadmoor. Whether or not these ways are quicker depends somewhat on your riding style, but let's examine the route length to start.

In the red, a route through the park, onto prytania. a cool 8.2 miles, but one on a well-paved, well-shaded street. If you take prytania, you won't have to make too many decisions about where to turn, but you'll take extra time getting to where you're going. And then, you usually have to bike back.

Moving closer to the hub of broadmoor, the blue line is a "Liberty" rim route, with a few more jukes to avoid one ways and bad streets. It measures around 7 miles. This is a route that takes advantage of our nolacycle data, pointing to the decenly paved streets often overlooked.

Note that all of these routes, once they hit the CBD, try to hug the "hub" of the marigny riverbend: the change in the river course means that riding close to the river as it turns away from the city is shorter than riding close to the river as it turns in.

Going nine blocks away from the river shortens the rim route by a mile. Get away from the River Uptown, hug the River Downtown into St Bernard, or when going into Metairie.

[click to expand]

The shortest rim route is a "Claiborne" route in green. Here, I tried to choose a route that would be equal in distance to the "Liberty" route. I thought it would be longer because of the long stretches spent correcting the course on spoke streets to avoid the deathly Claiborne overpass and to return to the river at the CBD. But the route closest to the hub in Broadmoor totals 6.67 miles, shorter than the Liberty route, with fewer jukes and better pavement for increased speed--it's clearly the fastest route. The traffic on Claiborne can be intimidating, but it's by no means a killer for an experienced rider.

This rule of navigation can even help you save time in a car; the highways through New Orleans are also an exception to it, as traffic managers made efforts to subvert the river-based logic that built the original grid.

Next time, we'll touch upon these "Wormholes"; where they are useful and where they can destroy you.

scott

Public meeting on transportation this Thursday at the Regional Planning Commission

Public input is extremely important in crafting effective planning documents. I strongly encourage everyone who cares about seeing multi-modal transportation improvements implemented to come to this Thursday.

Details from Walter Brooks at RPC:


Public Meeting - Metropolitan Transportation Plan

The Regional Planning Commission is inviting the public to participate
in a transportation planning workshop. Interested citizens are being
invited to discuss their community's transportation needs and to help
shape a better integrated land use and transportation plan for the New
Orleans region.

The RPC is currently updating the region's long-range Metropolitan
Transportation Plan (MTP) and short-range Transportation Improvement
Program (TIP). Citizens will be asked to identify their ideas for
improving the region's transportation systems as well as ways to foster
livable communities and environmental sustainability.

RPC wants to know about transportation problems, needs, or priorities in
your community. All ideas or suggested projects will be reviewed and
evaluated by RPC staff for possible inclusion in the Plan or TIP. RPC
will also provide you with the opportunity to stay informed about
transportation plans and projects that relate to your neighborhood or
community.

The workshop will be held at the Regional Traffic Management Center/RPC
offices located at 10 Veterans Memorial Blvd. in New Orleans on
Thursday, April 22, 2010 from 6:30-8:00 P.M. The building is ADA
accessible and parking is available on site. For special accommodations
for this meeting, please contact our ADA Coordinator by telephone
(504-483-8528) at least one week in advance. Upon request, RPC will
provide appropriate aids for qualified persons with disabilities so they
can participate, including interpreters for persons with limited English
proficiency.


Walter Brooks

Executive Director, New Orleans Regional Planning Commission

New Orleanians are bad at (road) diets

If you've been up on Gentilly Blvd lately, you might have noticed something different. The street is now on a diet - a road diet! This is a common traffic calming treatment "given to an urban roadway in which the number of lanes is reduced, and the freed space converted to parking, bike lanes, landscaping, walkways, or medians. Road Diets are implemented to provide additional pavement and safety for bicyclists and pedestrians, reduce speeding, and to make room for parking" (via the Streetsblog wiki).

Gentilly Blvd. through Gentilly, is now 2 lanes in each direction (instead of 3) and includes a bike lane with a striped buffer between the furthest right car travel lane and the bike lane. The idea behind the buffer is reduce the number of lanes of car traffic (since 3 was too many for how many car trips the road sees on average daily) which encourages more careful (and hopefully slower) driving behavior and reduces the number of lanes pedestrians must travel through to cross the road.

Here are some pictures I stole from Tim Eskew of Bicycle Michael's. This shows the bike lane and buffer (which changes size based on available space) at a few points along the road. Some diagonal striping has also been added in some sections, though not seen in these pictures.




Portland has started using this type of bike lane (called enhanced bicycle lanes), finding it works better than bike lanes with raised buffers or landscaped barriers (called Cycle Tracks). Here's some Q & A from the Portland Bureau of Transportation via The Oregonian about this kind of design:

What is an enhanced bicycle lane?

An enhanced bicycle lane is designed so that it provides a more protected and comfortable space for cyclists than a conventional bike lane and does not have the same barriers to sight lines as a Cycle Track - where view of cyclists may be obstructed by parked cars.

Why are we constructing enhanced bicycle lanes (i.e., what's wrong with these streets the way they are now)?

These streets currently work fine for people who are comfortable riding bicycles in mixed traffic. However, our designs are intended to make bicycling more comfortable for the majority of Portlanders who are not comfortable riding under such conditions. Our analysis indicates that most Portlanders would use a bicycle much more often than they currently do if they didn't have to mix so much with automobiles. A buffered bicycle lane provides that opportunity.

Why not use a simple bicycle lane?

Because the enhanced bicycle lane, with the added shy zones, offers a more comfortable riding environment that we believe it is more consistent with our efforts to make bicycling a part of daily life in Portland.

How does an enhanced bike lane provide more protection for cyclists than a bike lane?

Enhanced bike lanes provide more protection for cyclists by providing 'shy' or buffered zones on either side of the cyclist.

What will drivers notice that is different about driving on a street with an enhanced bike lane?

There isn't much of a change for drivers. They will still need to watch carefully for cyclists when they are turning right at cross-streets or driveways. They will also need to take care when parking on-street which is accomplished by crossing the enhanced bicycle lane. Cyclists will always be clearly visible to drivers because, unlike a Cycle Track, the buffered bicycle lane does not have the barrier of parked cars between the bicycle lane and the travel lane.

New York City cyclists are also big fans of this design, according to Streetblog New York City. A study was done finding most cyclists felt more comfortable biking on buffered lanes than non-buffered lanes.

So all in all, looks like these new buffered bike lanes should be pretty awesome for New Orleanian cyclists. Hopefully they'll encourage more people to bike instead of drive. I haven't rode them myself yet, but Jennifer Ruley at Department of Public Works has given them the first hand thumbs-up and Tim is pretty happy as well.

I did, however, drive down Gentilly Blvd today on my way back from Lakeview. I wanted to figure out how many miles it was from my house to the Fairground if I traveled St. Claude Ave. to Franklin Ave. (newly resurfaced and looking lovely - but no bike improvements, yet at least), to Gentilly Blvd. It's really not too far, considering it will allow me to avoid the insanity of Mid-City during Jazz Fest. But I saw something pretty disgusting on my way home:

Between Elysian Fields, past Franklin Avenue, I saw at least 3 cars travel in the buffered bike lane! Obviously, New Orleanians aren't really sure how to do a road diet. In all fairness, there are no signs explaining cars must stay out of the buffer zone, though anyone with a drivers license should know diagonal white strips don't equal a car travel lane. Also, I haven't seen anyone bike Gentilly the two times I've driven down it since the lane went in.

If you're biking down Gentilly Blvd., keep an eye out for cars in your bike lane! If you can, write down the plate number and report it to the police. Hopefully as more people start biking on Gentilly, less cars will try to use the bike lane as a short cut around traffic. Also, if enough people report these acts to the police, maybe they'll start monitoring the area.

New Orleans drivers are going to need more help, beyond just striping, if they're going to be successful with this new diet.

But hey, Gentilly Blvd, 4 lanes looks good on you. You we're kinda chubby back when you were a 6. I don't mean to be a jerk, but I really didn't want to go on a bike ride date with you back then. I think you look pretty hot now. Want to be my bike route?

Low-cost, one-day course in bicycle infrastructure design this Wednesday

The New Orleans Regional Planning Commission is hosting a 3-day course titled "Designing for Pedestrian & Bicycle Safety," which started today and runs until Wednesday. The first two days focus on pedestrian infrastructure, and Wednesday will cover designing for bicycles. Today's session was very informative, so I'd strongly encourage anyone interested in learning design standards and best practices to attend. (Sorry for not posting this sooner - I didn't learn about it until Sunday.)

Registration is officially closed, but if you contact Dan Jatres via e-mail (djatres@norpc.org) or phone (504-483-8505), you may still be able to reserve a spot for Wednesday's bicycle course. The cost is only $20 for public sector employees and members of community groups. If you work for a private sector firm (real estate, construction, planning, architecture, engineering, etc.), the fee is $100.

Topics to be covered at Wednesday's bicycle workshop

• Principles of bicycling and designing for bicycling
• On-road bikeway designs
• Intersection design for bicycles
• Signing and marking facilities
• Shared use path design

Attends will receive

• AASHTO Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities ($45 value)
• Professional development credit: LAPELS, ASLA, APA

The course is designed as a professional development workshop for traffic engineers and urban planners, but students and people involved in advocacy, real estate development, architecture, and public health could really benefit from this as well. As public demand for bicycle considerations continues to build, more and more private developments will need to incorporate biking paths, lanes, and parking. Therefore, developers and architects should be familiar with basic bicycle facility design elements. Community members and public health professionals can better advocate for bicycle considerations when they understand how they are designed and built.

Do you know how to put together and take apart a bike? Are you free this weekend?

Our friends at Contemplatives in Action need some volunteers this weekend to help put together and take apart some bikes. Jocelyn will feed you awesome homemade food for your time. If you have questions or would like to sign up, e-mail her at info@contemplativesinaction.org or call 504.891.8483.

Thanks!

Rim and Spoke: Navigating New Orleans by Bike

Welcome to a series of posts on cycling in New Orleans intended to help you navigate on two wheels. It's named after roads in the old part of town, which, when you look at a map, look like parts of your bike wheel.

There are a few types of geographical quirks to New Orleans. Some we have in common with our sister cities in southeast Louisiana--others are unique to our estuarine, industrialized metro area. There are many tricks to navigating by bicycle--especially for those of us who are small, inexperienced, or just don't want to deal with cars. I hope to introduce new cyclists, or new New Orleans cyclists to the city and its tricks so we can all ride a little lighter on our sinking roads.

Rim and Spoke

You can use these parts of your bike, the rim and the spoke, as a schematic to the older parts of the city. The city was originally designed along the French "arpent" system, which assigns lots perpendicular to the River, rather than the "township and range" system used in most cities in the U.S. as well as the newer, lower, more American New Orleans.

The Arpent system is why there are many streets that "disappear" as you ride from the River to the Lake while uptown, and many streets that come from nowhere as you ride River to Lake when downtown. Because the river meanders this way and that, the grid shifts direction. Carrollton meets Esplanade at the park, despite the fact that they both run River to Lake. Tchoupitoulas begins pointing south from Canal St, and ends up uptown pointing west into Audubon Park.

"Rim" streets are St. Charles, Claiborne, and Tchoupitoulas, (as well as Liberty, Prytania, St. Claude, and Laurel) and "Spoke" streets are Carrollton, Jefferson, and Jackson (don't forget Joseph, Leonidas, Franklin, and Washington).

As you decipher the city's curves, you can use this schema to juke around without getting disoriented if you have to avoid a familar street for the cars.

Unless you're in Broadmoor. Then you're lost.

scott eustis

Next Time: The River Built Everything
*You can learn more about this from city geographers like Craig Colton and Richard Campanella.