Bike/Walk Alliance for Missoula

Parking Wars in Downtown Missoula

Missoula's downtown faces many of the same problems that most downtowns in America face. One of those problems is dealing with parking. Our cities long term planning envisions big growth for our little city over the next 20 years, especially in our urban core (seen above) where a lot more people will not only come to shop and eat lunch, but also increasingly come to live. To deal with this growth and the subsequent need to accommodate more cars downtown, Missoula's Downtown Master Plan calls for the building of seven new publicly owned multi-story parking structures at the cost of tens of millions of dollars to tax payers and using up precious real estate for the storage of our communities vehicles.

Recently this issue came up in Missoula's city council and discussed further in a great local list serve updated by one of our council members to keep Missoula citizens informed. A possible update to Missoula's parking meter system erupted into the biggest debate I have yet to witness occur over the email list serve. Over 30 emails went back and forth detailing almost all points of view people have on parking downtown.

Visit the Imagine No Cars blog for the full article.

!! Trail Extensions Coming !!

Announced 12/10/09 at the organizational meeting for the new committee to review and update the Missoula Non-motorized Master Plan.

Great news on the proposed Milwaukee Trail extension from Russell to Reserve! After years of work, the necessary easements have been obtained and the project should be underway in 2010! A huge thanks and congratulations to Dave Shaw, Trails Manager, and Jacki Corday, Open Space Program Manager, for their dedication and resultant success!

Riding in the Winter Wonderland!

What does it take to ride year-round? Dedication? Persistence? Running a half bubble off plumb? I'm confident it's some combination of the three - plus preparation and staying especially alert. And slowing down …

I’ve been riding (nearly) year-round for the past ten years, early on from necessity, now from passion. Winter riding mostly brings fun and reinforces the stuff that stirs regular riders to keep pedaling... (click here for the full article) 

August 2009

Another Connection!

Cyclists traveling north over the Orange Street Bridge to Broadway found a nice surprise recently - bike lanes in that dangerous block where parking used to exist! Thanks to all who made this happen. Click Here for more Missoula Bike Lanes.

Curb Extensions (Bulbouts)

Curb extensions that extended a foot or more into the bike lanes on South Higgins Avenue and elsewhere under a "Safe Routes to Schools" grant prompted an immediate outcry from BWAM members and others. Public Works Director Steve King responded by meeting with representatives of BWAM and MAST on the Higgins Avenue site and then working with the Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Board to come up with a plan for re-striping the bike lanes. The BWAM Board agreed that the new striping, which results in unobstructed 5' bike lanes and narrower motor vehicle travel lanes, will be a satisfactory remediation. We have registered our outrage that this occurred and have asked that steps be taken to ensure that nothing like this happens again. City Council member Jon Wilkins has responded to a constituent's request to introduce a Resolution. It should be on the Public Works Committee Agenda soon.

New Parking on Spruce St.

Spruce Street now has 6' bike lanes and back-in angle parking on the south side, where parallel parking existed previously. Back-in angle parking had been discussed in downtown planning meetings that included bicyclists, as well as downtown organizations, and the general feeling seemed to be that it was worth a try. The angle parking increases number of parking spaces in an area where Saturday morning markets sometimes make a parking place difficult to find. Not all Bike advocates like this change, but an informal poll of BWAM Board members indicated most felt the 6' bike lanes gave cyclists enough room to avoid being hit by car doors opening into the lane on the north side, and all agree that back-in angle parking is safer for cyclists than the usual angle parking. All users will need to watch carefully as people learn the new maneuvers and where to watch for each other. Also, cyclists should avoid the temptation to ride two abreast in the larger bike lanes. Always keep a safe car door's distance between yourself and the parked cars, whether here or on Higgins Avenue, or on quiet neighborhood streets without bike lanes.

We encourage cyclists to ride on Spruce Street and let us know what you think at 3PTeam@bikewalkmissoula.org. Spruce Street will be discussed at the September 9 3P Team meeting, noon at the Public Library.

Complete Streets for Missoula!

Thanks to the excellent work of BWAM member and Franklin-to-the-Fort resident Jon Salmonson, Missoula now has a resolution calling for "complete streets" -- in the future, the city will provide facilities for cyclists, pedestrians, motorists, transit, and the disabled on newly constructed and re-constructed streets. The city council approved the resolution by a 9-2-1 vote on August 24. Here's a link to the resolution. Other folks worked on this measure, including the city's Publlic Works Department, the Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Board, and other bike/walk advocates. But Jon was easily the most tenacious supporter of this resolution, especially its provisions to get more sidewalks built around the city. Forward thinker that he is, Jon would still like to see timelines set to complete our sidewalk network. For a nice story about the resolution and Jon see the Independent.

New Bike Lanes on Higgins!

It’s hard to believe but brand new bike lanes have just been laid down on North Higgins Avenue, thanks to the efforts of the Bike/Walk Alliance for Missoula and many others. The new lanes stretch from the Higgins Bridge to Broadway. Eventually, the lanes will stretch to the XXXs near the old depot, though it remains to be seen if these are traditional painted lanes or separated “cycletracks.” The bottom line is that lanes are here on Missoula’s main street in downtown! There’s more information about the new lanes at New West and Missoula Red Tape. Special thanks to the Montana Department of Transportation, including new district chief Doug Moeller, and the downtown business community for making this happen. Make sure you get out there and test them out!

More information about the new lanes in a Missoulian article.

42Ride Pedals Challenge to Benefit Alliance for Biking and Walking

Washington, DC - June 19, 2009 Forty-two bike enthusiasts taking off this month across the country, are pedaling a challenge to people along to way to support grassroots biking and walking advocacy. The 42Ride, sponsored by 42BELOW Vodka, wants tweeters to follow the ride on Twitter. If 100,000 sign up as followers on Twitter, 42BELOW will make a $42,000 donation to the Alliance for Biking & Walking, 42 cents per person. Learn more at www.PeoplePoweredMovement.org/42below

Tips For New Bike Commuters

Bill Schneider at New West has a good list of tips for people who want to learn how to commute by bike. He's been riding for more than 30 years but recently asked other folks why they don't ride. In response, he created the list at this link. With gas prices rising again, make sure to share this with your friends!

New bike lanes on Stephens

Good news on a busy road: the Montana Department of Transportattion (MDT) has repaved the section of Stephens between Brooks and Mount and added nice new 5 foot wide bike lanes! To do that, MDT narrowed the "travel lanes" from 13 feet wide to either 10 or 11 feet. The result is a nicer passage way for cyclists on this important north-south route. Thanks to Doug Moeller (the new MDT district director) and his crew for making these changes -- and to BWAM members and Bob Giordano at MIST for requesting the lanes.

Bike Lanes: Orange Street

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 and others are 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 MDT has painted a "fog line" 4 feet from the face of the curb on Orange Street. This has created a symbolic division for cyclists without providing any of the legal protections afforded by a designted bike lane. While this may be better than nothing, we continue to advocate for 5 foot bike lanes, especially when more permanent lanes are striped later this year. BWAM sent a letter to MDT.

At issue now is a very firm statement by MDT that the motor vehicle travel lanes will not be reduced below 10'. This will preclude the establishment of two 5' bike lanes on this section of Orange St. Options that have been mentioned and are under examination:

1. Leave the fog line markings and live with the current situation.
2. Remove the fog line and paint "sharrows" on the road and add additional bike route signs to help educate all travelers that this is a shared road.
3. Provide and mark one bike lane northbound, shifting lanes as necessary to provide 2 10' northbound, 11' center left turn lane, 10' inner southbound, and 13' outer southbound with "sharrows" and signs to indicated a shared lane.

We need to provide a united voice to the City and MDT regarding the best way to encourage safe cycling through this important corridor. Please share your thoughts by sending them to Bike/Walk Alliance for Missoula 3Pteam@bikewalkmissoula.org

7th Annual Ride of Silence

UPDATE: Thanks to the 20 cyclists who attended the 2nd Missoula Ride of Silence. We consider the ride very successful with great cooperation from most of the motor vehicle drivers who passed us during the ride.  Most drivers allowed a significant safety space as they went by.

BWAM is organizing the Ride of Silence in Missoula for the second year. The Ride Of Silence is an International free ride that asks its cyclists to ride no faster than 12 mph and remain silent during the ride. There is no brochure, no sponsors and no registration fees. The ride, which is held during Bike Safety month, aims to raise the awareness of motorists, police and city officials that cyclists have a legal right to the public roadways. The ride is also a chance to show respect for those who have been killed or injured.

The Missoula Ride of Silence will begin in Caras Park at 7:00 PM. Please arrive by 6:45 PM. The ride will last approximately 1 hour. For more details click to MIM Social Network Events.

Click for more information about the world wide Ride of Silence.

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!

Lewis 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.

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