The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released draft guidelines on school siting.  These guidelines are intended to assist communities and community members in making the best possible school siting decisions in order to protect and improve the health of students and school staff. A 90-day public comment period runs until February 18, 2011.  For more information and to read the report and submit comments, visit the EPA website.

According to the local online newspaper, MySuburbanLife.com, the Lemont Village Board of Trustees voted unanimously last month to approve two resolutions rejecting the inclusion of bicycle facilities at two McCarthy Road intersections that will be renovated in the next few years.  The intersections are: McCarthy and Walker Roads, andthe “triangle” intersection at McCarthy, Derby Road, and Archer Avenue.

These resolutions were needed in order for Lemont to “opt out” of IDOT’s Complete Streets law, which mandates that IDOT must accommodate all users, including bicyclists and pedestrians, when designing, building, or rebuilding state or state-maintained roads.

According to the newspaper article, Lemont Trustee Jeanette Virgilio, who identifies herself as an avid cyclist, said, “I want us to look at future projects that we can accommodate this law,  Unfortunately, the timing of these projects did not allow us to accommodate this.”

After a year of construction, bicyclists and pedestrians on the Prairie Path can again safely and easily cross the Union Pacific railroad tracks near downtown Wheaton.  The Illinois Prairie Path bridge, which connects Liberty and Front Streets, near the Wheaton Metra station, reopened earlier this month.  The bridge has been redesigned to include a wider and longer platform, higher elevation, and new decorative lighting and fencing. For a press release announcing the bridge reopening, visit the City of Wheaton’s website.

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) recently completed and published a Pedestrian Safety Strategic Plan.  This is a 15-year plan for pedestrian safety research and technology transfer.  The plan was developed to address pedestrian safety concerns and equip professionals and other stakeholders with proper knowledge, resources, and information needed to identify problems and implement solutions related to the roadway environment.

This plan will be of interest to engineers, planners, researchers, and practitioners, as well as city, state, and local agency officials, who have an interest in or responsibility for public safety.  In addition to the plan itself, there is a background report, which provides the knowledge base behind the Strategic Plan and documents the activities and findings of the project that support the development of the Plan.

The Association of Bicycle and Pedestrian Professionals (APBP) will host a webinar on “Bike Boxes” on December 15, 2010, from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. CDT.

A bike box is a colored or striped area at a signalized intersection that allows bicyclists to pull in front of waiting traffic.  Designed to be used only at red lights, the box is intended to reduce car-bike conflicts, increase cyclist visibility, and provide bicyclists with a small head start when the light turns green.  The concept is gaining popularity in cities across the U.S.  In Copenhagen, Denmark – where cyclist intersection safety has been studied longest and in the most depth – bike boxes have been demonstrated to improve bicyclist safety.

The cost is $50 per site for APBP members and $75 per site for non-APBP members.  Register online.  For more information, contact Debra Goeks (262-228-7025 or deb@apbp.org).

The Transportation Research Board’s (TRB) National Cooperative Research Program (NCHRP) issued the report, “Guidance for the Design and Application of Shoulder and Centerline Rumble Strips.”  The report provides guidance for the design and application of shoulder and centerline rumble strips as a crash reduction measure, while minimizing adverse effects for motorcyclists, bicyclists, and nearby residents.  The report is of special interest to engineers and safety practitioners with responsibility for roadway design.

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) have jointly developed and published the Livability in Transportation Guidebook: Planning Approaches that Promote Livability. The guidebook, working mostly through case studies, provides planning and policy practices, design and implementation strategies, and applications that have been developed to promote livability.  The Guidebook illustrates livability in transportation planning, programming, and project design.

The Chicago Architecture Foundation, in partnership with CEOs for Cities, presents a reception and lecture by the renowned Danish architect and urban planner, Jan Gehl on Wednesday, December 8, 2010.  A reception is scheduled for 5:30 p.m., with the lecture to follow at 6:00 p.m.  For more than forty years, Gehl has helped to transform urban environments around the world – including the Times Square pedestrian mall in New York City.  Gehl will describe his strategies for creating high quality, functional, people-friendly places and cycling- and pedestrian-friendly cities around the globe, using his latest book, Cities for People, as a point of departure.

This event is part of CEOs for Cities’ Give a Minute, and Change Your City campaign.  Give a Minute is a new kind of public dialogue about how to make Chicago an easier place to get around without owning a car.

The New Zealand Transport Agency released a report examining and recommending best practices for the lighting of pedestrian areas.  The report, “Public lighting for safe and attractive pedestrian areas,” seeks to provide the basis for reviewing pedestrian lighting plans through a survey of recommended practices.  It is based on literature review findings incorporated with information from the lighting industry.

The University of North Carolina’s Highway Safety Research Center released a report that provides examples of potentially effective policies and implementing programs designed to enhance pedestrian and bicyclist safety and mobility.  It is based on a recommendation resulting from a 2009 international scan that explored approaches used in Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom to improve pedestrian and bicyclist safety and mobility.  The report was released in cooperation with the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) and the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP), with the sponsorship of U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and its International Technology Scanning Program.

As part of its Safe Cycling in Chicago program, the City of Chicago Department of Transportation released a video entitled “Use a Headlamp When You Bike at Night.”  The 90-second video, demonstrates the need for cyclists to use a headlamp and a rear red reflector or lamp at night.  The video was funded by the Illinois Department of Transportation’s Division of Traffic Safety.

The Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals (APBP) released a report analyzing the results of a survey to determine the factors that would encourage more women to bicycle as a means of transportation.  The survey was conducted via an online questionnaire and was advertised through various bicycling websites – which, it should be noted, may have produced results that are biased due to self-selection. The survey included 37 questions pertaining to demographics, cycling behavior, safety/infrastructure concerns, and open-ended inquiries. The survey received responses from over 13,000 participants.

The Association of Bicycle and Pedestrian Professionals (APBP) will host a webinar on the connection between Smart Growth and bicycle/pedestrian plans on November 17, 2010, from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. CDT.

Presenters will explore the ways in which communities are incorporating livable streets, aging in place, safe routes to school, and active transportation into local Smart Growth/comprehensive plans. Participants will learn how ideas like walkable urbanism and Trail Oriented Development (TrOD) underscore the economic value of proximity between home, services, and work.

 The cost is $50 per site for APBP members and $75 per site for non-APBP members.  Register online.  For more information, contact Debra Goeks (262-228-7025 or deb@apbp.org).

The U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) released a report which examines the safety effectiveness of the High Intensity Activated Crosswalk (HAWK) pedestrian beacon through the use of a before-after empirical (Bayesian) evaluation approach.

The report’s conclusions include:

• 29 percent reduction in total crashes, which is statistically significant at the 95 percent confidence level.
• 69 percent reduction in pedestrian crashes, which is statistically significant at the 95 percent confidence level.
• 15 percent reduction in severe crashes, which is not statistically significant at the 95 percent confidence level.

A summary Tech Brief on the report is available, as is the full report.

 The Cook County Department of Public Health (CCDPH), in partnership with the Public Health Institute of Metropolitan Chicago, announced the availability of up to $4 million through the Model Communities grant program.  This is one initiative from the $16 million award that CCDPH received through the federal government’s Communities Putting Prevention to Work (CPPW) program (see our blog entry from March 25, 2010, for more information on the program).

The goal of the Model Communities funding opportunity is to increase the accessibility of healthy foods, make unhealthy foods less available, and to create safe places to be physically active.  Grants will be awarded to local governments, community organizations, and school districts/local education agencies who are interested in changing policy to make it easier for suburban Cook County residents and families to live healthy, active lives.

For more information and instructions on how to apply, visit the CCDPH website.  Important dates to keep in mind are:

• Early November Request for proposal (RFP) released on CCDPH website www.cookcountypublichealth.org
• November 16 and 18 RFP Information Session
• November 22 Letter of intent due
• December 10 Proposals due

NOTE: Model Communities Request for Proposal is now out and an RFP packet is available.  Visit the CCDPH website for more information and to download proposal forms.

On November 6, the Chicago Humanities Festival, in partnership with CMAP, will present a panel discussion on the cultural and political history of bicycling.  The discussion will consider the recent history of urban bicycling, and examine how it competes with, complements, and contrasts with other uses of our public spaces and infrastructure investment.  The panel will be moderated by John O’Neal, a planner at CMAP, and will include participants Harry Wray, professor at DePaul and author of Pedal Power: The Quiet Rise of the Bicycle in American Public Life; Randy Neufeld of SRAM Corporation and board chair of Active Transportation Alliance; Julie Hochstadter, co-founder of TheChainlink.org; and Greg Borzo, author of Where to Bike: Chicago.

The event will take place this Saturday, November 6, from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church at the Chicago Temple, 77 W. Washington St., Chicago.  Tickets are $5.00 (teachers and students free) and can be purchased online or on the day of the event at the door.

Part 7 (of 8) in the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center (PBIC) webinar series, “Designing for Pedestrian Safety,” will take place tomorrow, Wednesday, November 3 at 1:00 p.m. CDT.  The webinar is on “Road Diets” and will include a presentation by Peter Lagerway of Toole Design Group.  The webinar will provide participants with an up-to-date overview of design considerations for "road diets," as well as background information that can be used to justify lane reductions. Special attention will be given to research that has evaluated the effectiveness of road diets in decreasing crashes for both pedestrians and automobiles. Finally, participants will be presented with design tips for allocating space for all road users.

The webinar is free and online registration is available.  For more information, email webinars@hsrc.unc.edu.

The State of Illinois, in partnership with the League of Illinois Bicyclists, now offers for purchase permanent, year-round “Share the Road” specialty license plates.  These plates deliver the “Share the Road – Same Rights, Same Rules” message, while supporting bicyclist and motorist education efforts by the League of Illinois Bicyclists. The incremental $22 annual license plate fee will go to a new state “Share the Road Fund.”  The plates will be produced when a total of1500 reservation forms have been received.  To learn more, see the plate design, and to download the license plate order form, visit LIB’s website.

Following the recent launch of Walk Friendly Communities (WFC), the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center (PBIC) has made available for download a webinar describing the WFC program.  The webinar provides an overview and details of the application process.  It also describes the WFC Community Assessment Tool, which was developed to provide an objective measurement method to recognize communities that have achieved high levels of walking and low rates of pedestrian crashes, while also acknowledging communities that are making progress in achieving these goals through policies, projects, and programs.

Earlier this month, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) announced its Park and Recreation Facility Construction Program (PARC).  For FY2011, a total of $25 million in grants are available through funding provided by the Illinois Jobs Now! capital program.  The maximum grant award for qualifying projects is $2.5 million. The application cycle runs from October 15 to November 29, 2010.

PARC was enacted in 2009 to provide grants to eligible local governments for park and recreation unit construction projects.  A qualifying park or recreation unit construction project could be the acquisition, development, construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation, improvements, architectural planning, and installation of capital facilities consisting, but not limited to, buildings, structures, and land for park and recreation purposes and open spaces and natural areas.

Eligibility requirements mirror the OSLAD grant program.  Units of local government that are authorized by Illinois law to expend public funds for the acquisition and development of land for public indoor/outdoor park, recreation or conservation purposes are eligible to apply.The PARC program will reimburse grant recipients up to 75 percent of approved project costs (up to 90 percent reimbursement will be available to local governments defined as disadvantaged).

For more information and to apply, visit the IDNR website.