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. 

BCA ACTION ALERT UPDATE!

Visualize Anchorage and Eagle River with a network of 200 miles of painted and signed on-street bike lanes by late-summer 2014.

This can actually happen, but only with your help!

In 2010, we called out to you to support the Anchorage Bike Plan.  Your efforts led to the unanimous approval of the Bike Plan by the Anchorage Assembly.

Striping and signing of bike lanes on existing roads comprising our “core bicycle network” is a top priority in the plan, with an estimated cost of $3.1 million.  Now we must rally again to by ensuring AMATS includes funding for Bike Plan implementation.