BCA Supporters,

BCA continues to work hard for (and with!) you to get funding to implement the bike plan. Next week the AMATS Policy Committee will vote on the funding budget for 2013-14 with the allocations we got for Bike Plan implementation – an extra $1.3 million. This happened largely because 125 of you wrote emails and 35 of you showed up at a meeting at the critical moments. We need your help again.

We will now try to tap $900K in state funds to bolster the federal dollars AMATS is allocating to Bike Plan implementation. 

Zombie Apocalypse Winter Bike Ride 2012
Saturday, December 15 — 9:30am

Today was one of those days that affirms why we spend hours and hours working to make Anchorage more bicycle-friendly.  In the middle of the afternoon (when many were at work or skipped out to come to the meeting), the AMATS Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) meet to review its proposed budget for how it would allocate federal dollars to Anchorage transportation projects over the next two years.  We counted 35 bicyclists in attendance to demand more from our city.  AMATS TAC meetings usually dont get many members of the public – a few consultants, planners and developers – but not the public. Today WAS DIFFERENT. It was different because you – our BCA supporters – came out in force.  You had already made a big splash with the TAC by submitting over 125 comments (another unprecedented event). But today you put an exclamation mark on those comments by showing up in force and telling your stories, highlighting that the way we spend federal $ is important to every day lives, that it can make us safer, improve traffic congestion, improve motorist awareness of bicyclists and how to share the road, support healthier lives, create a more livable and desirable city, and support businesses.

Last week BCA spent some time with the Muni’s traffic engineers discussing the new traffic pattern at Dowling and Old Seward. We were concerned about the new blinking left turn signal at the intersection. While both the old and new signals are “permissive”, we were concerned the new style of signaling could be confusing for drivers and lead to conflicts in the crosswalk with bikes / peds (the previous light pattern prevented motorist left turns while the crosswalk light was active).

The Bicycle Commuters of Anchorage (BCA) applauds six Anchorage businesses and organizations recognized today by the League of American Bicyclists for creating bicycle-friendly workplaces for employees and customers.