Meet Bob Beane

Bob Beane

Bob is the Coalition's President. 
My first memories of riding were on a green tricycle when I was two or three years old. Next, I was riding a 20” J C Penny bike when the training wheels came off at about age 5. Before long, my mother was giving me a quarter to ride to a local grocery in our Indiana small town to pick up a gallon of milk or a loaf of bread (I had a basket on the front, so this was as easy as it was fun).
In my later grade school years, my brother and I went everywhere by bike. We also did the equivalent of mountain biking over construction-related dirt piles on our fatter-tire 26” Sears bikes. I broke an axle doing that, so I think that qualifies as serious MTB-ing (for kids).

Hearing on Arizona Stop-as-yield bill scheduled

50th 2nd regular session (2012) HB2211; this bill would allow cyclists (16 years and older) to treat stop signs as yield, similar to the law in Idaho.

HEARING SCHEDULED Thursday 1/26/2012 at 9AM (NOT 9 pm as was erroneously stated... sorry) PM by the House Transportation committee. All video is archived, in case you miss it live -- simply go to that link and look for House Trans committee for 1/26.

UPDATE: BILL PASSES out of the Transportation Committee 1/26/2012, on an 6-2 vote. It was passed "DP" (do pass. i.e. passed without any amendment). If you didn't see it live, you can catch it on archived, but it looks like there is a day or two delay...

Lots of background info at azbikelaw.org/blog/tag/stop/

CAzB Member Discount

Welcome to CAzB Member's Discount Program.
The Coalition is pleased to announce a new benefit, exclusively for our members; we're teaming up with area bike shops across Arizona to bring you discounts. Simply show your current CAzB membership card and receive special discounts. Not a member? Join the Coalition now.

Thanks to Domenic's, Adventure Bicycle Company, Round Trip Bike Shop, Bicycle Vibe, Two-Wheel Jones, Junction Bicycle, Paragon Cycling, Ajo Bike, and Fairwheel Bikes for being on board with the initial rollout, and supporting the Coalition in its goal of improving conditions for cyclists across Arizona.

Is your favorite shop not listed? Have them contact Chris at cazbike@cazbike.org .... and get on board! All Arizona shops are eligible, and signup is easy and FREE.

We're adding shops all the time, so check back often.

CLICK HERE to see the current shop list.

Phoenix places SLMs and BMUFL signs 48th and Guadalupe

In very late 2011/ very early 2012, the city of Phoenix has placed some SLM (Shared Lane Marking, a.k.a. "Sharrow") and BMUFL signs (Bikes May Use Full Lane; technically called R4-11) along 48th Street North of Piedmont; this then turns into Guadalupe Road which bends due east and continues over I-10. This is perhaps a bit more than 1/2 mile.

Because of some peculiar geography, the road represents one of the only ways to enter/exit the Ahwatukee (section of Phoenix) and get to e.g. Greater Phoenix, or Tempe. It is the ONLY connection that does not involve I-10. See http://azbikelaw.org/blog/48th-street-piedmont-to-guadalupe/ for more background and pictures.

As of right now, the signs are all up. The markings, however, have not been placed/painted yet on the southern part of the project, and the markings that were placed on the northern half were erroneously painted too far to the right.

The Coalition will continue to monitor the situation, and would like to thank the City of Phoenix and staff engineers Kerry Wilcoxon and (bike coordinator) Joe Perez for the project, and wish for a speedy completion; which is currently being held up while thermoplastic markings are procured... see update

Sent: Tuesday, January 17, 2012 2:35 PM 
Ed, 
We are in the process of purchasing thermo plastic sharrow markings. These are expensive but should wear like leather and will last longer than the asphalt they are being installed on. When the thermo symbols come in we will have them applied in the center of the curb lane in both directions and will black out the painted sharrows on the right side of the road now. There is also a portion of Guadalupe between 48th Street and the end of City Right of Way near the bridge over I-10 that is scheduled to be repaved in the next year or so. When we install the thermo markings on 48th Street we will correct the markings on Guadalupe in paint and then once the overlay is complete we will install new thermo markings on Guadalupe up to the bridge. On a curvy road like 48th Street and Guadalupe I would much rather have a dedicated bike lane but that would require dropping a thru lane which is not something we have authorization to do at this point.
I hope this helps. 
Thanks. 
Kerry Wilcoxon, 
P.E. City of Phoenix Street Transportation Dept Safety and Neighborhood Traffic Section 
Ph.: 602-262-4613 
e-mail: kerry.wilcoxon@phoenix.gov

Central Ave Phoenix gets a Road Diet

Over the weekend, the City of Phoenix successfully completed the addition of bike lanes along Central Avenue from Camelback Road to Bethany Home Road as part of a "Road Diet".
Sunday afternoon, January 8th, there were many bicyclists already enjoying the addition. The Coalition commends and appreciates the efforts of the city of Phoenix and all authorities that continue to work to make forward progress in providing better, safer routes for bicyclists all over Arizona.

The roadway formerly had 3 lanes in each direction, and no specific bicyclist facility; after the "diet" there are 2 lanes in each direction plus a buffer-separated bike lane. There is detailed information from city staff linked at azbikelaw.org including specific engineering data, traffic counts, etc.

Meet Robert Jenson

Bob Jenson

Bob is the Coalition's Vice-President. 
Robert started riding a bicycle about ten years of age, and was inseparable from it through grade school and even University.
He volunteered for several years in the Phoenix Recycles Bicycles program rebuilding bicycles for homeless, schools, job transportation and special needs until the program was shut down by the city as being too expensive. He rode for several years for the MS Society in the Parker Dam Ride, and commuted to work for over thirty years. He was involved in the last two bike maps that were published by Wide World of Maps, and has since been involved in the updating of the MAG bike maps.
Along with Peter Mather, he has been the driving force behind the Coalition of Arizona Bicyclists swap meet for the past twelve years, and is now turning over the reins to another group. He has been active in attempting to get more cyclist involvement in the design and building of new facilities that would have previously been designed strictly for motorized travel with no cycling facilities. An active cyclist, heʼs out on the road usually three days a week now since retirement instead of the five while gainfully employed.
He joined the Coalition of Arizona Bicyclists many years ago because of a desire to improve conditions for cyclists and to help cyclists learn how to behave on our roadways. We have too many injuries and fatalities, and the CAzB organization is here to help curb these issues.

Flagstaff modernizes their city bike codes

The Flagstaff City Council gave final approval to Ordinance No. 2011-26, which makes a number of revisions to Title 9, Chapter 5 of the Flagstaff City Code, which regulates the operation of bicycles.
The changes include the following…