I stumbled on this super resource for adapting for Bike-Ped transportation.
I was most interested in – Lesson 20: Restriping Existing Roads With Bike Lanes,
which gives us many options on how to work with what we have.
Federal Highway Administration
Course on Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Lesson 1: The Need for Bicycle and Pedestrian Mobility (PDF, 269 Kb)
Lesson 2: Bicycling and Walking in the United States Today (PDF, 179 Kb)
Lesson 3: Bicycle and Pedestrian Planning Overview (PDF, 387 Kb)
Lesson 4: Pedestrian and Bicycle Crash Types (PDF, 1.65 Mb)
Lesson 5: Adapting Suburban Communities for Bicycle and Pedestrian Travel (PDF, 181 Kb)
Lesson 6: Neo-Traditional Neighborhood Design (PDF, 678 Kb)
Lesson 7: Using Land-Use Regulations to Encourage Non-Motorized Travel (PDF, 3.5 Mb)
Lesson 8: Tort Liability and Risk Management (PDF, 149 Kb)
Lesson 9: Bicycle and Pedestrian Connections to Transit (PDF, 250 Kb)
Lesson 10: Off-Road Trails (PDF, 105 Kb)
Lesson 11: Traffic Calming (PDF, 1.13 Mb)
Lesson 12: Pedestrian and Bicycle Facilities in Work Zones (PDF, 108 Kb)
Lesson 13: Walkways,Sidewalks and Public Spaces (PDF, 273 Kb)
Lesson 14: Pedestrian Signing and Pavement Markings (PDF, 195 Kb)
Lesson 15: Pedestrian Accommodations at Intersections (PDF, 327 Kb)
Lesson 16: Mid-Block Crossings (PDF, 453 Kb)
Lesson 17: Pedestrians With Disabilities (PDF, 72 Kb)
Lesson 18: Shared Roadways (PDF, 1.2 Mb)
Lesson 19: Bike Lanes (PDF, 460 Kb)
Lesson 20: Restriping Existing Roads With Bike Lanes (PDF, 341 Kb)
Lesson 21: Bicycle Facility Maintenance (PDF, 69 Kb)
Lesson 22: Bicycle Parking and Storage (PDF, 178 Kb)
Lesson 23: European Approaches to Bicycle and Pedestrian Facility Design (PDF, 212 Kb)
Lesson 24: Education,Encouragement, and Enforcement (PDF, 153 Kb)
PDF of the entire 282pages (12.4mb)
Tags: Cycling, health, walking
American Heart Association Announces Start! Fit-Friendly Companies
Last update: 5:08 a.m. EDT Sept. 25, 2008
Survey of Employees Proves Worksite Wellness Programs Work
More than 900 businesses across the nation have been recognized by the American Heart Association’s Start! Fit-Friendly Companies Program for promoting physical activity and health in the work place — a 20 percent increase over last year. Start! is the American Heart Association’s national initiative to get Americans walking. Most adult Americans spend a majority of their waking hours at work — many in sedentary careers — increasing their risk for medical problems such as obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes.
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Wellness programs have increased in popularity in recent years because they are economical and efficient ways to help offset increasing employee healthcare costs, according to an American Heart Association survey.
(continue)
Tags: health
From the Boston Globe:
Walk-to-school movement afoot across Mass.
By James Vaznis Globe Staff / September 19, 2008
. . . “The current effort is taking root in densely-populated suburbs as well as cities, where elementary schools often serve many pupils who live within a mile walk.
Newton, Brockton, Stoneham, and Watertown this year hired townwide walking coordinators. In Newton, the coordinator helped the 15 elementary schools plot the residence of each child on a map and outline the safest route to school, noting the crossing guards along the way.
Later this year, the state transportation department will issue Abington, Worcester, and several other municipalities its first-ever recommendations about making the walk to school safer, after studying each area’s sidewalks, crosswalks, and signage. The locations are among 65 communities vying for millions of dollars in safety funds from the federal Safe Routes To School program, which fosters walking programs.”
(continue reading)
The piece does neglect to mention the National Safe Routes to School program.
“Community leaders, parents and schools across the U.S. are using Safe Routes to School programs to encourage and enable more children to safely walk and bike to school. The National Center for Safe Routes to School aims to assist these communities in developing successful Safe Routes programs and strategies. The Center offers a centralized resource of information on how to start and sustain a Safe Routes to School program, case studies of successful programs as well as many other resources for training and technical assistance.”
The city, along with the Mass Historical Commission, US Dept of the Interior, National Park Service and nameless others have gone in to produce this nice little full color map-let. This 16 page booklet with attached map goes beyond the previous incarnation of the Methuen historical place map; instead of depicting one walk around downtown, it has TWO separate routes with a write up on what’s left of our historically interesting landscape.
This heavily illustrated item is worth picking up when you find it. It should be available at the library and town offices. I got mine at the planning office in city hall.
(click the images for a closer look)
Tags: maps, Methuen, walking
