Bike/Walk Alliance for Missoula
Please consider a donation
to BWAM!
Click
the "DONATE" button to be linked to the
JustGive web site to make your donation. JustGive will securely process
your donation via your selected payment method and forward
your
donation to us less their 3% processing fee to
cover processing
costs.
Follow the link above to shop at REI, and BWAM will receive 7% commission from your total purchase. Shop now and support BWAM!
Bike Walk Bus Week
Missoula's annual celebration of biking and walking is fast approaching April 25 thru May 2, 2009. Check out the BWAM organized events:Sunday, 4/26 1:00pm -2:00pm - Safe Trail Biking for Kids. Leader: Ethel MacDonald
Monday, 4/27 12noon -1:00pm - BWAM Celebrates a safer West Broadway with a lunchtime bike ride. Leader: Jim Sayer
Tuesday, 4/28 5:30pm - 6:30 pm - Discovering best bike routes: The XXXs to the Missoula Community Food Co-op. Leader: Erin
Wednesday, 4/29 5:15pm -7:00pm - Discovering best bike routes: Jacobs Island to the west limits of the city. Leader: Ethel
Thursday, 4/30 4:30pm - 6:30pm - Discovering best bike routes: bridges and tunnels of Missoula demystified. Leader: Geraldine
See all of the details at the Bike Walk Bus Week web site.Spring Cycling Party
Everyone is welcome to participate in the annual Spring Cycling Party at Missoula Bicycle Works 708 S. Higgins Ave on Thursday April 16 at 6:00pm.The Missoula Greater Downtown Master Plan is nearing completion.
Working together, Bike-Ped advocates achieved a small goal at the Missoula Redevelopment Agency board meeting on Wednesday, March 18! Representatives from BWAM, MIST, MAST, Bike-Ped Board and UM Transportation voiced their concerns about the Broadway Street language in the Greater Missoula Downtown Plan to the MRA board and were heard! After an extended discussion, the MRA board members passed a resolution to support the Downtown Plan with the exception that the Broadway Street language be changed from the specific 4-lane option to a continued public discussion provision. Thanks to the MRA board members for listening to our concerns and taking appropriate action. The public comment meeting previously scheduled for April 7 has been moved up to probably May. Keep informed on developments, and plan to come.
BWAM Member goes CarLESS!
March 2009Lewis Kelley has committed to being without a car for the next year. Follow his blog to see how he navigates Missoula via biking, walking, and transit.
Missoula Downtown Master Plan (cont.)
In addition to our concern over the 4-lane Broadway proposal, there is also a great deal of concern because late last year the planners had promised the bike/ped community a continued dialogue about potential Higgins and Broadway bike-lane vs. protected bikeway configurations that the plan would ultimately reflect. Unfortunately that promise has been ignored and the plan is being moved ahead with recommendations that may be a big step backward with protected bikeways as the recommended alternative. Click to see the plan. Help BWAM, MAST and MIST help Missoula and make your voice heard at the following public meetings, when the draft Greater Downtown Master Plan will be discussed and potentially recommended for approval:
Tuesday March 17, 3:00 p.m. Board Meeting of the Business Improvement District in the ALPS Board Room (Florence Bldg, upstairs, hard to find), 111 N Higgins.
Wednesday, March 18, 12:00 noon, Board Meeting of the Missoula Redevelopment Agency in the MRA conference room (next to Sean Kelley's).
Most Important: Public Hearing at Planning Board: Tuesday. April 7th, 7:00pm RESCHEDULED: TO BE ANNOUNCED in City Council Chambers (next to Sean Kelley's).
City Council- Watch for the final vote on the Greater Missoula Downtown Plan which will be held probably in late April or May.
If you cannot attend, but you want to send emails or notes to these entities, please let us know via e-mail 3Pteam@bikewalkmissoula.org and we'll send you their contact information or we'll read your letters aloud. But we really need your support by showing up in-person if at all possible.
Bike Lanes: Orange Street and Hearing March 4th, 2009
As many of us know, Missoula has some bike lane issues. There are critical gaps in the system and at times maintenance could be better. There’s one gap BWAM is trying to close on Orange Street, between the bridge over the Clark Fork River and 6th Street (where bike lanes resume on Stephens). With prodding from BWAM and others, the city and Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) have painted a "fog line" 4 feet from the face of the curb on Orange Street. This has created a symbolic division for cyclists. While this is better than nothing, we continue to advocate for 5 foot bike lanes, especially when more permanent lanes are striped later this year. BWAM just sent a letter to MDT. You can add your voice to the chorus by contacting Doug Moeller, MDT district administrator. Let him know that bicyclists deserve safe bike lanes on Orange Street.
Also, thanks to the persistent efforts of BWAM member Kevin Hyde, the Missoula City Council’s Public Safety Committee will hold a hearing on bike lane maintenance on Wednesday, March 4th at 9:00 am in city council chambers. More information is here. Please come and express your views on how the city and state can better maintain the city’s bike lanes, from snow and debris clearance to removing autos that park in bike lanes. You can ask Kevin about lane maintenance via e-mail.