Kansas City Bicycle Log |
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Posts, email, and ideas related to bicycling and bicycle advocacy. I post these mostly for my own convenience in being able to keep them archived and searchable, but if you get some use of them, more power to you! Among other interesting items here is a fairly complete record of my involvement with the grassroots effort in support of the BikeKC initiative in the Summer of 2002. You can find everything from press releases to letters to the city council to exhortations to other bicyclists to write letters to the editor. See what worked well and what caused us problems in the effort to pass BikeKC. From my point of view, this was almost a picture-perfect grass-roots movement. The result was that BikeKC was passed on August 15th, 2002. Now we have to work to make sure the plan becomes reality! Most of that is in the 8/25/2002-8/31/2002 archive.
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Saturday, August 09, 2003
How to contact MoDOT about a bike/ped issue
MoDOT designs and administers most major highways and thoroughfares in Missouri. This includes a surprising number within the boundaries of towns and cities. If it is a numbered or a lettered route in the state of Missouri, there is a good chance MoDOT has a hand in it. Even if it is more commonly known as "Main Street" or whatever, if Main Street is also 47 Highway, then MoDOT is either running it or will have a strong say in any local decisions that may be made. If it is within a city or town, often MoDOT works with local authorities in making decisions. This can get pretty complicated. The message below was written in response to someone who wanted to know how to report the use of unsafe grates in new construction on a commonly used bicycling street within Kansas City, Missouri. The street happened to be US 24, so that brought MoDOT on board. Here is what I understand is the best way to report such problems--a way that is not guaranteed of success, but which at least has some chance: 1. Go to the MoDOT feedback page at http://www.modot.org/asp/request_information.asp?comments 2. Write a message explaining the problem. Be polite and persuasive. Include basic information such as, exactly where the construction is taking place, the city it's in, etc. 3. Explain why this is an important/often used/necessary bicycle route. Do cyclists (including yourself) often use it? Is it used by commuters, by group rides? Is there a high number of cyclists in this area of town? Is it the only, or the best, or one of the best, through routes in that area of town? Is it near, or does it connect, trip generators like commercial areas, residential areas, parks, schools, etc.? 4. Explain why the current situation is a problem, why it is dangerous, etc. You might propose a solution (in this case, bike-safe grates should be used; you might mention that you have heard that there is a proposal working its way through the MoDOT bureaucracy to use curved-vane grates in this type of situation). But also make it clear that you are not stuck on "your" solution but are willing to look for any workable solution that allows for safe travel by cyclists. 5. I like to include the relevant bits of TEA-21 (the federal transportation bill that funds all of these projects and which MoDOT is supposed to be following):
Then just nicely point out that 6-foot wide bike-eating grates would be a very un-safe feature of this project for bicyclists. Once you have made the case that this road is commonly used by bicyclists, or is an essential link, even if not commonly used, you have just ended the discussion about whether or not consideration of bicycle facilities is "appropriate". If cyclists are currently using the route, or if it is the only reasonable route between important destination, then bicycle facilities must be considered. As you can see, the definition of bicycle facilities is pretty expansive--replacing crappy grates with bike-safe grates would make these curb lanes "improved lanes . . . for use by bicyclists" and therefore a "bicycle transportation facility". Some MoDOT engineers know this, but some don't, or have forgotten. So it is worth jogging their memory. 6. Send the message; remember to keep a copy for yourself. 7. You'll probably hear back, at least an acknowledgement that they received your message, within a few days (MoDOT is really working on "customer service"). It may take some time (several weeks?) to work out the details if they are seriously considering your issue. 8. It can work, but don't expect miracles. The earlier you get involved in the process, the better your chance of success. By the time they are laying down asphalt on the streets, it is very, very late in the process. It CAN happen, but don't count on it. RE: this specific problem with bike-eating grates: For bike-safe grates, the difficulty is that the bike safe designs don't allow as much water flow as the bike-eating grates. So you can't just replace yucko grates with good ones. You have to allow for MORE grates (or at least do a bunch of calculation to figure out whether or not you'll need more). But, still, it's well worth asking. Bike eating grates shouldn't be used, and they need to hear that from us. Over and over, if necessary. MoDOT's bike/ped coordinator is telling them this story, over and over, but it all takes on an entirely new light when it is requested by a regular citizen. 9. If they change the grates, thank them profusely. Even if they don't, thank them for considering it and firmly request that bike-friendly grates be used from now on in our area. 10. Also it is well worth sending the same letter to the relevant city public works department. OR just call them up and have a chat with them about it. In the case of KCMO, here is the contact info: pubworks@kcmo.org. KCMO has a bike/ped coordinator, and you might CC: a copy directly to him: john_stufflebean@kcmo.org. (Information current 8/2003.) Strangely enough, sending your request to the general public feedback address seems to work better in most cases than sending a fancy letter to the head of the department. The reason is that your email message will work its way through their customer service system and end up in the hands of the engineer who is actually working on your project. This is the person who can actually make the changes you want. A fancy letter to the bigwigs often results in a fancy reply that has been carefully vetted to remove any actual content--but little direct action on a specific project. I hope this helps! I just discovered this approach myself. Even though they were already re-paving 350 Hwy when I wrote with my concerns, the engineer actually went back and analyzed ALL the drain grates and also totally re-thought the approach to rumble strips. The result--NO rumble strips and NO problem grates. I about fell off my chair when I read the reply from the project engineer. I'm pretty sure that NOBODY had thought about bike-safe grates for this project before I brought it up, and I'm pretty sure they were also planning on rumble strips for much or all of re-paved section. The grates and rumble-strips could have taken a very decent bicycle route (350 Hwy between Raytown and Lee's Summit) and totally wrecked it. So--don't count on it as guaranteed, but it CAN happen. It's worth sending an email or two! --Brent |