Friday, April 24, 2009

Flagstaff's First Traffic Skills 101 class

Flagstaff's first Traffic Skills 101 Bicycle Course will be held on Saturday, May 2, 2009 from 7:00 am to 5:00 pm at the Thorpe Park Community Center at 245 North Thorpe Road.
The course will include some riding (limited to the parking lot) during the day, so bring your bicycle, make sure it's in good working condition; and dress for the weather.
For lunch, we will be taking a collection of $10 and having lunch brought in (House of Bread sandwiches?). If you would rather, feel free to bring your own lunch.
Feel free to email me if you have any questions.
We have a good group, and it should be fun.
Martin Ince
Multi-Modal Transportation Planner
Flagstaff Metropolitan Planning Organization/City of Flagstaff
211 West Aspen Avenue
Flagstaff, Arizona 86001
928 226 4850
928 213 4825 fax

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Complete Streets Presentation -- May 18th

[Although no RSVP is required for attendance, RSVPs would be appreciated to: Michael Sanders, ADOT Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator, MSanders@azdot.gov; 602-712-8141 or Michael Colety, mike.colety@kimley-horn.com; 602-944-5500]

You are invited to an Overview Presentation on Complete Streets, Monday, May 18, 2009, 2:30 PM - 4:30 PM, ASU Phoenix Urban Research Laboratory, 234 North Central Avenue, 8th Floor, Phoenix. Presentation will be by national expert, John LaPlante, P.E., PTOE, National Complete Streets CoalitionView Flyer
Complete Streets are planned, designed, and operated to enable safe access for all users. Pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists, and transit riders of all ages and abilities should be able to safely travel along and across any street.
This Overview Presentation will provide a background on the benefits of Complete Streets, dispel myths, explain how existing streets can easily be retrofitted into Complete Streets, and detail how a Complete Streets policy can even save you money. This presentation is appropriate for elected officials, transportation agency leaders, transportation and land use planners, traffic engineers, roadway designers, planning and engineering consultants, transit providers, pedestrian and bicycle advocates, health service and older adult providers, and any others who are interested. This Presentation is funded through a grant from the Governors Office of Highway Safety to the Arizona Department of Transportation in coordination with the Maricopa Association of Governments and Arizona State University. One of the Top Priorities identified at the Arizona Transportation Authorization Summit was "Pursue smart growth policies" including "emphasize complete streets".

BACKGROUND INFO ON "Complete Streets":

In addition to the Arizona Transportation Authorization Summit mentioned above, discussion is occurring at ADOT Framework Policy Committee meetings ( and here).
"Framework Studies" (http://www.bqaz.gov/) are precursor to the update of our long-range statewide transportation plan.
And the Complete Streets Act of 2009 has been introduced into the US Senate and House, plus the "Sense of Congress regarding use of complete streets design techniques" was included in PL 110-140 Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (refer to Subtitle D - Highways SEC. 1133 )

CALTRANS has now adopted State DOT policy.
Locally, City of Scottsdale has adopted policy.
Some technical background on Complete Streets from our presenter, Mr. LaPlante.

Michael Sanders
Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator
Multimodal Planning Division
Arizona Department of Transportation