Bekologist

link-cities for cycling article at bike portland


"An exciting new coalition of America's largest cities has joined together to push for more innovative bikeway design guidelines. Cities for Cycling, which will formally launch in Washington D.C. on December 8th, will look to break the shackles of rigid federal roadway design guidelines that have long had a stifling impact on bikeway innovation in the United States.
The new coalition was the brainchild of two Portlanders former city bike coordinator and now planning consultant Mia Birk and current City of Portland Traffic Engineer Rob Burchfield. The impetus comes from a realization that current federal design guidelines for bikeway development are outdated and incomplete.


The goal of Cities for Cycling is to provide support for urban transportation planners looking for guidance in building the next generation of bikeway networks guidance that the highway-oriented federal government is not willing to provide. The coalition will also create a new manual of bikeway designs that includes technical information and best practices gleaned from what has proven to work in the world's most bike friendly cities......"

jputnam

I wish them well, but have some trepidation about reducing the authority of AASHTO/MUTCD standards.

For every city that wants to install innovative new designs, there are a dozen that want to use eleven-foot outside lanes with a bidirectional one-sided bike lane because it's cheaper and gets bikes out of the way.

Some of the AASHTO/MUTCD guidelines represent a livable compromise between those factions. I hope these cities don't start a turf war with AASHTO/MUTCD unless they've got the lobbying budget to win it.