Fox4 News,
I hope you will consider giving the BikeKC issue some support and airtime (see informational press release below).
BikeKC has surprisingly strong grass-roots support in the Kansas City area--hundreds have shown up at City Council committee meetings discussing the issue (rather surprising city council members, who assumed there isn't much support for alternative transportation in Kansas City).
BikeKC doesn't have large corporate sponsors or big money behind it--the support really does come from the grass roots, from bicycle clubs and bicycle riders talking together on the internet. As you will see in the press release, the opposition does have some deep pockets. That's why some media coverage of this story could really help turn the tide and make difference.
We could easily find a visually interesting bike event in the area that would give you some visuals to help out a story--just let me know.
Bicycling is a safe, healthy, and quick mode of transportation even in today's Kansas City. With BikeKC, it will be even safer, healthier, and quicker.
Alternative transportation plans like BikeKC are vital in making Kansas City a more vibrant and liveable community. Other cities that are bigger, smaller, more spread out, hotter, colder, wetter, snowier, icier, busier, hillier, and have more of every other kind of -er than Kansas City, have tried bicycling and made it work. Now (with your help!) it can be Kansas City's turn.
--Dr. Brent Hugh
bhugh@mwsc.edu
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BikeKC Press Release
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BikeKC is a proposal to create a network of on-street bike lanes and routes and reserve a little more right-of-way in future developments for pedestrian and biking facilities. Details about the plan can be found at www.bikekc.org.
Bicycle riders, groups, clubs, and shops around the area strongly support BikeKC and have worked hard to get it passed. BikeKC has real grass-roots support.
BikeKC has been tabled since September. Apparently some deep-pocketed developers oppose the plan because they will have to reserve a little more of their real estate in new developments for wider roadways that will include space for bicycle and pedestrian facilities.
Thanks to a grass-roots effort and at the request of Mayor Barnes and Councilman Charles Eddy, on July 31st BikeKC will again come for consideration before the Kansas City Planning and Zoning Commission.
If you would like to see KC become a more bikeable city, now is the time to let your City Council member know about your feelings.
Why should Kansas Citians support BikeKC?
* The availability of transportation alternatives will make Kansas City a more thriving, modern, liveable city.
* New developments will be planned from the beginning to allow for bicycle and pedestrian access. This sort of planning costs a little in the short run but makes development more attractive and ultimately, more valuable to those who live there. People like to live where they can bike and walk.
* Studies show that on-street bike paths and routes such as those proposed in BikeKC increase bicycle safety, reduce friction between bicycles and autos, and are effective in increasing bicycle use.
* Bicycling, even just a few miles a week to work, school, the store or the park, is a healthy and eco-friendly alternative. Example: People who switched from auto to bicycle commuting lowered their overall mortality rate by 40% (that's a lot!). BikeKC will make utility bicycling, like commuting, more practical for more people.
* Millions of federal dollars are available to smooth streets, replace grates, and repair curbs and gutters on bike routes. Let's get BikeKC in place use our fair share of those dollars before they're gone.
I urge Kansas City road users to let the Kansas City Council members know that you support BikeKC. Grass-roots effort has been important in getting BikeKC as far as it has, and more is needed to push it over the top.
Please be polite and persuasive when you write the City Council, 24th Floor, 414 E. 12th St., KCMO 64106, call (816) 513-1625, or email (find email addresses at www.kcmo.org).
Please consider attending the meeting of the Planning, Zoning, and Economic Development Committee when BikeKC will be considered. The meeting is July 31st, 2002, at 1:30PM, in the Council Chambers, 26th Floor of City Hall, 414 East 12th Street.
Council members on the Planning, Zoning, and Economic Development Committee (who most need to hear from you on this issue) are Ed Ford, Troy Nash, Bonnie Sue Cooper, and Mary Williams-Neal.
posted by Brent Hugh at
Sunday, August 25, 2002 |
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