Advocacy & Safety - Chesapeake Steel Bridge Project (Dominion Bl.) Bike Access

Bike and pedestrian access on the new Dominion Blvd. bridge in Chesapeake is seriously threatened. Despite strong support for bike/ped access from VDOT, the Chesapeake city council is trying to kill the inclusion of a multi-use path that would add a mere 4% ($16M) to the total cost of the project (~$400M). Eliminating bike/ped access would be a great blow to cyclists and pedestrians in Chesapeake, severing important connections and eliminating important routes.

Bruce Drees and the Tidewater Bicycling Association have prepared an article and position paper on the issue:

http://www.vabike.org/chesapeake-steel-bridge-project-dominion-blvd-bike-access/ (http://www.vabike.org/chesapeake-steel-bridge-project-dominion-blvd-bike-access/)

This could turn out to be an important, precedent-setting issue, with statewide ramifications. Please keep an eye out for newpaper articles like the one referenced in the above article. Write letters and comments in support of the bridge, and in rebuttal to the anti-bridge, anti-bike comments. Those who can offer further help are encouraged to contact Bruce and the TBA (contact info at the end of the article).

In some states a project that does not include provisions for cyclists and pedestrians do not, by law, get state funding. Though the provisions may not be well designed, this is a significant help.

There was more about the Steel Bridge in last weekend's Virginian-Pilot:

http://www.vabike.org/more-on-chesapeakes-dominion-blvd-steel-bridge/ (http://www.vabike.org/more-on-chesapeakes-dominion-blvd-steel-bridge/)

Of course I blogged it at the VBF site:

http://www.vabike.org/more-on-chesapeakes-dominion-blvd-steel-bridge/ (http://www.vabike.org/more-on-chesapeakes-dominion-blvd-steel-bridge/)

Please help by writing your letters to the editor, and sharing your comments and helpful links at the above websites. There's no reason to argue with idiots. But if we let them say their piece without saying ours, they win.

"80 percent of success is showing up." --Woody Allen

In California, officials would not be allowed to sever an existing bicycling link for which there is no reasonable alternative.