The DuPage County Division of Transportation will begin construction on a new pedestrian and bicyclist bridge along the Illinois Prairie Path. The bridge will carry pedestrians and cyclists over the EJ&E/Canadian National rail line in Wayne, IL.

Construction of the 330-ft bridge will begin later this month and should last three months. During that time the Prairie Path will be closed from Army Trail Road to Smith Road.

The new bridge will be a major safety improvement for that section of the trail, particularly because freight traffic there is expected to increase, according to Deborah Jan Fagan, Chief Planner and County Trail System Coordinator for the DuPage County Department of Economic Development and Planning.

The $1.2 million project is coordinated and funded by DuPage County with IDOT ARRA funding and a $960,000 federal High Priority Project grant for construction costs sponsored by former U.S. Rep. Dennis Hastert.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010, is “.”  Crossing guards play a critical role in our communities and help make streets safer for children going to and from school.  There are many ways you can show appreciation for your crossing guards including some ideas from the Active Transportation Alliance. The Alliance would also like to hear your stories about crossing guards who deserve recognition for their work.  Tell your story by completing their Crossing Guard Nomination form, and you may be featured in Active Transportation’s monthly newsletter.

As a reminder, the U.S. Federal Highway Administration established new standards and guidance for adult school crossing guards in Part 7 (Traffic Control for School Areas) of the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD). Review the standards and guidance in Section 7D.

In its May 2010 issue, Bicycling magazine lists the fifty most bike-friendly cities in the United States.  Chicago comes in at number ten. The top nine spots, in order, are Minneapolis, MN; Portland, OR; Boulder, CO; Seattle, WA; Eugene, OR; San Francisco, CA; Madison, WI; New York, NY; and Tucson, AZ.

Chicago, in large part due to Mayor Daley’s own enthusiasm for cycling, stood out among cities for its expanding network of bike lanes, paths, and shared lanes, as well as its bike parking facilities and on-going education and encouragement programs.

This year’s list of Bicycling's Best Cities “proves that great things can happen in short periods of time, even in the largest metropolitan areas," said Loren Mooney, Editor-in-Chief of Bicycling, and “is evidence that a much needed, far reaching pro-bike movement is in full swing, all across the country."

Bicycle parking programs are essential for communities striving to encourage bicycling for Transportation as well as recreation. Convenient, easy to use, and secure bicycle parking encourages people to bike and helps legitimize cycling as a Transportation mode by providing parking opportunities equal to motorized modes.

On April 21, from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m., the Association of Bicycle and Pedestrian Professionals (APBP) is offering a webinar on bicycle parking best practices.  APBP board member Eric Anderson will present APBP’s newly updated Bicycle Parking Guidelines, with special emphasis on two hot topics: in-street bicycle parking and implementing bicycle parking programs.

The registration cost for the webinar is $50 per site for APBP members, $75 per site for non-APBP members. Each registration includes one complimentary download of the Bicycle Parking Guidelines (priced at $20 for APBP members, $45 for non-APBP members).

To register, visit the APBP website. For questions, contact Debra Goeks (262-228-7025 or info@apbp.org).

CMAP staff prepared a report on vehicle availability and related data for the Chicago region through 2007.  The report reviews data trends for household vehicle availability, driver licensing, and vehicle registrations, and compares counties and large communities over time.  Data used in the report indicates that household vehicle availability in the Chicago region recently increased from 1.54 vehicles per household in 2000 to 1.62 vehicles per household in 2007. In 2007, the number of vehicles per household was lower in the City of Chicago (1.15) than in the remainder of Cook County (1.69).  In the collar counties, there were nearly 2 vehicles per household as of 2007.

The report also looks at vehicle registration and driver licensing data.  Passenger vehicle registrations rose 4.2 percent from 2000 to 2007, slower than the 5.5 percent rate of population growth for the same time period. The rate of driver licensing, calculated using FHWA estimates, has been falling, particularly among young adults and 16-year-olds now subject to the new graduated driver license system.  Only one-third of 16-year-olds had driver licenses in 2008.  Lower licensing rates for 16- and 17- year olds points to the need to provide safe routes not just to primary schools, but to high schools as well.

On April 21, 2010, the Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC) is hosting a roundtable on the need for Chicago and other cities to create walkable, safe streets and public places.  The roundtable will feature examples from cities around the world that are creating healthy communities through the good design and skillful use of streets and shared spaces.  The roundtable is from noon to 1:30 p.m. at MPC offices. Registration, which includes lunch, is $15 for MPC donors and $30 for all others. For more information and to register online, visit www.metroplanning.org/news-events/event/53.

Active design can support broader goals of sustainability while also playing a crucial role in combating the rapidly growing public health issue of obesity and its impact on related chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and some cancers.

New York City has recently published Active Design Guidelines: Promoting Physical Activity and Health in Design. The manual provide planners, architects, engineers, and urban designers with strategies for creating neighborhoods, streets, and outdoor spaces that encourage walking, bicycling, and active Transportation and recreation.

The manual can be downloaded for free on New York City’s Department of Design and Construction website.

The Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center (PBIC) has announced the next webinar in its Livable Communities Webinar Series, “Impact of the New MUTCD on Pedestrians and Bicyclists.” The webinar will review the significant revisions to traffic control that affect pedestrians and bicyclists. These changes appear in the most recent update to the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), released by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) in December 2009.

Traffic control devices are the signs, traffic signals, and pavement markings that guide motorists, pedestrians, and bicyclists. The MUTCD defines the standards used by road managers in the U.S. to install and maintain traffic control devices on all streets and highways.

The webinar will be held Thursday, April 15, 2010, from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. CDT.  Presenters include Bruce Friedman, a Transportation specialist, and Scott Wainwright, a highway engineer, both of whom work for FHWA.

For more information and to register, please visit www2.gotomeeting.com/register/529240787.

This weekend, local and national experts -- including Active Transportation Alliance’s senior planner Carolyn Helmke -- will meet to discuss opportunities for integrating Transportation, place making, and sustainable development. Sponsored by the Sierra Club’s Green Transportation Campaign and Building Healthy Communities Team, Natural Resources Defense Council, and Transportation for America, this one-day symposium will address the following questions:

• How do we plan for vibrant communities that create a sense of place, allow for many Transportation choices, and protect lands from development?
• How do we invest in high-quality Transportation infrastructure to elevate pedestrian, bicycle, and public transit options?
• How do we design efficiency into communities to meet everyday needs within a rich fabric of building and Transportation choices?

The symposium will be on Saturday, April 10, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Catalyst Ranch, 656 W. Randolph, Suite 3W, Chicago, IL. The cost, which includes lunch, is $25 at the door ($15 for students).  For more information and to RSVP, please visit www.sierraclub.org/Transportation/Chicago.

The City of Chicago and the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) are asking you for suggestions on possible locations for a pilot program to develop the City’s first bicycle boulevard.  What are bicycle boulevards?  They are local streets that have been optimized for bicycling and which provide direct, attractive, safe routes for cyclists.  They do so primarily by slowing traffic and reducing traffic volume, achieved through various traffic calming designs that maintain access for local traffic but prevent or inhibit cut-through and high-speed drivers. Want to learn more? Watch a video of a bicycle boulevard in Portland, OR.

Please keep in mind the following criteria (published by CDOT) when proposing a location for a bicycle boulevard:

• Minimum one-mile stretch
• Controlled crossing at all intersections – stop sign or traffic signal
• Residential roadway
• Low motor vehicle traffic
• High number of cyclists using the route and in the neighborhood
• Aldermanic support

Please send your ideas to adolfo@activetrans.org by Friday April 9, 2010 with "Bike Boulevard" in the subject line.

CMAP has posted a memorandum briefing the region’s Council of Mayors Executive Committee on the proposed implementation process for “Complete Streets.” CMAP created this review to assist councils and local communities in preparing comments on the proposed policy. Councils and local communities may submit their comments to IDOT for consideration.

The American Planning Association (APA), in partnership with the National Complete Streets Coalition and Public Health Law and Policy, has released a new Planning Advisory Service (PAS) report, Complete Streets: Best Policy and Implementation Practices (PAS 559).

Complete streets accommodate pedestrians, bicyclists, transit, and cars, creating multimodal Transportation networks. But how do communities achieve complete streets? What are the policies and programs that need to be put into place? What are the best practices?

Drawing on lessons learned from more than 30 communities around the country, this report provides insight into successful policy and implementation practices that have resulted in complete streets. Readers will learn how to build support for complete streets, adopt a policy, and integrate complete street concepts into plans, processes, and standards. This report also provides insight into design issues, handling costs, and ways of working with various stakeholders. Case studies highlight communities that have adopted and implemented complete streets, as well as model policy language that provides guidance to communities interested in writing and adopting a complete streets policy.

New ITE / CNU urban roadway design manual

The Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) and the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) have issued a new manual for recommend urban roadway design practice, Designing Walkable Urban Thoroughfares: A Context Sensitive Approach. The manual advances the successful use of Context Sensitive Solutions (CSS) in the planning and design of major urban thoroughfares for walkable communities. The manual provides guidance and demonstrates for practitioners how CSS concepts and principles may be applied in roadway improvement projects that are consistent with their physical settings. The report's chapters are focused on applying the principles of CSS in Transportation planning and in the design of roadway improvement projects in places where community objectives support liveable, walkable communities – compact development, mixed land uses, and support for pedestrians and bicyclists.

The Cook County Department of Public Health (CCDPH) and its partner the Public Health Institute of Metropolitan Chicago (PHIMC) were awarded $16 million in stimulus funding from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 (for more on this award, visit our Recovery blog.) The grant award is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Communities Putting Prevention to Work Initiative aimed at reducing obesity, increasing physical activity, improving nutrition, and decreasing smoking. To learn more about this initiative, please visit the CCDPH website. More information will be provided during an upcoming Suburban Cook County Chronic Disease Prevention Network meeting on Thursday, May 6, 2010 from 10:00 a.m. to noon (location TBD).

As part of this Initiative, the CCDPH is seeking applications to the Model Communities Mini-Grant Pilot Program. This program will award grants to local governments and community organizations interested in making policy an environmental changes to support individuals and families in their efforts to lead healthy, active lives.

Please note: Anyone interested in applying to the Model Communities Mini-Grant Pilot Program is required to participate in a web conference, either on Tuesday, April 6, from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. or Thursday, April 8 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. For information on how to register or if you have other questions, please contact Gina Massuda Barnett at 708-492-2901 or gmassud@cookcountygov.com.

One of the greatest challenges for many schools and neighborhoods is finding the appropriate measures to slow traffic in the areas where pedestrians cross the street. Which devices or engineering measures are most effective? What are the costs? What are the maintenance requirements? Are there liability issues? In the webinar “What does it take to get drivers to yield: Engineering Measures that Work,” scheduled for Tuesday, March 30 p.m. from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. CDT, engineering experts Charlie Zegeer and Mike Cynecki will share their extensive knowledge and understanding of pedestrian safety and traffic control devices to address these questions. They will discuss innovative tools and the latest research on their effectiveness as well as more standard devices and their appropriate use.

The webinar is part of the Safe Routes Coaching Action Network Webinar series, developed by America Walks and the National Center for Safe Routes to School.

For more information please contact Michelle Gulley at mgulley@americawalks.org.

An article entitled “Infrastructure, programs, and policies to increase bicycling: An international review” was published in January 2010 in the journal Preventive Medicine. The article assesses “existing research on the effects of various interventions on levels of bicycling. Interventions include infrastructure (e.g., bike lanes and parking), integration with public Transport, education and marketing programs, bicycle access programs, and legal issues.” The study concludes that there is a “crucial role [for] public policy in encouraging bicycling. Substantial increases in bicycling require an integrated package of many different, complementary interventions, including infrastructure provision and pro-bicycle programs, supportive land use planning, and restrictions on car use.”

A 2009 Journal of Public Transportation article, “Integrating Bicycling and Public Transport in North America,” presents an analysis of ‘bike-and-ride’ policy trends in North America, with extensive case studies from eight cities: San Francisco, Portland, Minneapolis, Chicago, Washington, New York, Vancouver, and Toronto. The League of American Bicyclists put together atrivia quiz based on the article’s findings.

As part of the Chicago Cultural Center’s Creative Living in the City lecture series, Active Transportation Alliance and Friends of the Parks have organized a discussion with two national leaders in the sustainable urbanism movement: Carol Coletta and Doug Farr. The discussion will take place in the Claudia Cassidy Theater at the Chicago Cultural Center on April 8, 2010 at 12:15 pm. The discussion is free and registration is not required.

Carol Coletta is president and CEO of CEOs for Cities, a national network of urban leaders co-founded by Mayor Richard Daley and headquartered in Chicago.

Doug Farr is a Chicago-based architect and one of the nation’s leading experts on sustainable development. He is author of Sustainable Urbanism: Urban Design With Nature, a guidebook that visualizes sustainable urbanism as the normal pattern of development in the United States.

Their discussion will address how cities can play a central role in reducing carbon emissions and improving residents’ health by providing opportunities to walk, bike and take transit. Learn how cities are going green with high-performance infrastructure and buildings combined with urban planning strategies that reduce driving and create a greener future.

Photo of the Chicago Cultural Center by Flickr user phototravel1 from our pool.

The City of Chicago has published Central Area pedestrian counts for 2007. The counts are available in a report format on the Chicago Department of Transportation’s pedestrian count study website, or as a layer in the City of Chicago’s interactive traffic map service. The interactive service allows users to click on the count for details. Many pedestrian counts in the Central Area are available down to the block-face level. The data facilitates a more complete picture of how people get about in central Chicago, including on foot. The data will be useful not only for traffic and transit planners, but also for businesses and real estate professionals wishing to assess foot traffic in location decisions.

Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood stated his support for bicycling and walking at the National Bike Summit in Washington, DC earlier this month. Secretary LaHood took the opportunity to announce DOT’s new Policy Statement on Bicycle and Pedestrian Accommodation Regulations and Recommendations, which the League of American Bicyclists, reviewing the document on its website, has called “the strongest statement of support for prioritizing bicycling and walking ever to come from a sitting Secretary of Transportation.”

On his blog, Secretary LaHood wrote:

Today, I want to announce a sea change. People across America who value bicycling should have a voice when it comes to Transportation planning. This is the end of favoring motorized Transportation at the expense of non-motorized.

We are integrating the needs of bicyclists in federally-funded road projects. We are discouraging Transportation investments that negatively affect cyclists and pedestrians. And we are encouraging investments that go beyond the minimum requirements and provide facilities for bicyclists and pedestrians of all ages and abilities.

To set this approach in motion, we have formulated key recommendations for state DOTs and communities:

• Treat walking and bicycling as equals with other Transportation modes.
• Ensure convenient access for people of all ages and abilities.
• Go beyond minimum design standards.
• Collect data on walking and biking trips.
• Set a mode share target for walking and bicycling.
• Protect sidewalks and shared-use paths the same way roadways are protected (for example, snow removal)
• Improve non-motorized facilities during maintenance projects.