2010 Tour de Cure to Ride Through Middletown

The 2010 Tour de Cure (the signature fundraising and cycling event of the American Diabetes Association) is this Sunday, June 13. It starts at Gateway Community College in North Haven and weaves its way north into Meriden, Middletown, Middlefield and the surrounding area. The 100 mile, 100 km and 50 km routes will have their first rest stop at Hunter's Golf Course in Meriden, and then continue on Westfield St. to Country Club Rd. to Higby Rd., then cross Route 66 onto Jackson Hill Road. The riders leave New Haven as early as 6:30am and leave in staggered groups depending on their route lengths. Route details are available here.

If you've never heard of the Tour de Cure, here's some background information from the official website (tour.diabetes.org):

Since Tour de Cure's beginning in 1991, thousands of individual riders and teams have participated to support the American Diabetes Association's mission: To prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes.

Now you can make a difference in the lives of more than 23.6 million Americans with diabetes by joining thousands of cyclists around the nation who are riding in Tour de Cure.

Tour de Cure is a series of fundraising cycling events held in 43 states nationwide to benefit the American Diabetes Association. The Tour is a ride, not a race, with routes designed for everyone from the occasional rider to the experienced cyclist.

I happen to know about this because my husband is riding the 50K route, and we're looking forward to cheering him on as he goes by. So please be mindful of where you're driving on Sunday morning, and if you happen upon groups of cyclists, please drive slowly and give them lots of room!

This is also the moment I'm going to take to remind everyone that the speed limit on Country Club Rd. and Higby Rd. is 25 MPH!!! It's not 50 mph and it's not OK to pass someone who's already doing 35-40 mph because they're afraid of getting rear-ended. I swear Middletown could close its budget gap and then some if a police cruiser just sat and gave people tickets for the speed that happens on those two roads (hint, hint, nudge, nudge...)! I'm even fine with blaming it on people who are just cutting over to 91 from the Middlefield area, but I won't excuse the traffic on Country Club as it passes to and from the Transportation building to Meriden. I can't say that I perfectly obey all traffic laws all the time, but it's a minor miracle that there hasn't been a major accident at the intersection of Country Club and Atkins or Country Club and Higby. I did see the results of a horrible accident at the Route 66/Higby/Jackson Hill intersection some months ago, and so I'll also point out that that light has a very short yellow for traffic crossing 66. If you're in the habit of speeding up when you see yellow, that intersection is not the place to do it.

If I can't guilt you into slowing down a bit, (and I LOVE the "drive like your kids live here" signs), please realize that school will be out in the next week and 1/2, and that means a lot more kids playing outside all the time. Please drive carefully!

Bike Racks on Main Street!

Here's something we can check off on our "TO DO" list.

This morning, the Department of Public Works is installing two bike racks downtown, one at the corner of Court and Main and the other at the corner of Liberty and Main.

The racks were donated by Harding Development, the owners of Liberty Square (home of It's Only Natural Market) and Riverview Center (Amici's, etc.).

One step closer to making downtown bike-friendly. Thanks to all who made this possible!

Climate Cycles

The Liz Lerman Dance exchange will be in town this week for a "movement happening" at Wesleyan University.  Cyclists of all types are invited to participate on any bicycle, tricycle or unicycle, there will be ice cream, flame throwers, and wheelies.  

Workshops will be held at Andrus Field, in the center of Wesleyan's campus.

Tuesday, August 26, 5:30 – 7:30 pm
Thursday, August 28, 5:30 – 7:30 pm

The performance will be on Friday at 7:30.

The Dance Exchange's previous projects in Middletown have been extremely successful. In early 2006, they presented the world premiere of Ferocious Beauty: Genome, at Wesleyan, which was a critically acclaimed collaboration between molecular geneticists and dancers. Last spring the Dance Exchange participated in the Feet to the Fire Festival in Veteran's Park, which brought together music, arts, a farmer's market, dancers and cows to bring attention to the issue of global climate change.  

This event is also part of the Feet to the Fire project.

Making Cycling Irresistible - Can it happen here?

I recently read a fascinating article about cycling and transportation policy in northern Europe, entitled "Making Cycling Irresistible: Lessons from the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany." The authors are John Pucher and Ralph Buehler, and the full text of the article is available here.


Here is the abstract, to whet your appetite:

"This paper shows how the Netherlands, Denmark, and Germany have made bicycling a safe, convenient, and practical way to get around their cities. The analysis relies on national aggregate data as well as case studies of large and small cities in each country. The key to achieving high levels of cycling appears to be the provision of separate cycling facilities along heavily traveled roads and at intersections, combined with traffic calming of most residential neighborhoods. Extensive cycling rights of way in the Netherlands, Denmark, and Germany are complemented by ample bike parking, full integration with public transport, comprehensive traffic education and training of both cyclists and motorists, and a wide range of promotional events intended to generate enthusiasm and wide public support for cycling. In addition to their many pro-bike policies and programs, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Germany make driving expensive as well as inconvenient in central cities through a host of taxes and restrictions on car ownership, use, and parking. Moreover, strict land use policies foster compact, mixed-use developments that generate shorter and thus more bikeable trips. It is the coordinated implementation of this multi-
faceted, mutually reinforcing set of policies that best explains the success of these three countries in promoting cycling. For comparison, the paper portrays the marginal status of cycling in the UK and USA, where only about one percent of trips are by bike."

The main object of the article is to understand how Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands have managed to make bicycling such an integral part of local and even intercity transportation. Cycling levels in those countries are reportedly ten times greater than they are in the US and UK (the low UK figures surprised me). There are many interesting details, but the one that really jumped out at me came from the section on traffic calming, beginning on page 20, where it was noted that residential street speed limits are set to 19 mph (30 kph). Some streets have even been designated "home zones" where "Pedestrians, cyclists, and playing children have as much right to use such residential streets as motor vehicles; indeed, motor vehicles are required to yield to non-motorized users." The larger point here is that while dedicated bike lanes on (or even separate bike paths alongside) major roads between towns/cities make good sense, serious and comprehensive traffic calming in towns allows bikes to coexist easily and safely with automobiles. Not least, this allows for narrower streets in general, and more pleasant neighborhoods.

The person who alerted me (and the other members of Middletown's transportation alternatives group) to the article also provided a score card for Middletown. He observed that "Traffic calming has been implemented on High Street and Westfield Street to significant controversy. Traffic calming in Europe is implemented in a macro sense, instead of the micro experimental sense that Middletown currently implemented. The result is [in Middletown] an incoherent policy as seen by the driving public."

I agree with this assessment, though I would note parenthetically that every complaint about the redesign of High Street could be interpreted positively as a driver who doesn't like having had to slow down and pay attention to what s/he is doing. I've heard it said that many of our elected representatives in city hall are now dead set against any more traffic calming in Middletown after the struggle over High Street. Nevertheless I am convinced that the Traffic Calming Ordinance (conceived of and passed by the Common Council about nine years ago) was one of the best things that happened to Middletown in recent memory, and that the entire city needs more and more comprehensively implemented traffic calming. (Incidentally, I've never liked the term "traffic calming" -- any suggestions for a better term?) Excellent candidates for immediate attention are South Main, East Main, Newfield, and Pine Streets. And wouldn't it be wonderful if we could get lower speed limits along all Middletown streets currently set at 25 mph? As Robert Orr's recent presentation to the Planning and Zoning Commission reminded us, serious injuries involving automobiles and pedestrians/cyclists tend to result if the vehicle is traveling faster than 25 mph. Since a 25 mph speed limit means, in effect, automotive speeds that approach 30-35 mph, lowering the speed limit would have an enormous injury reduction payoff -- and would further serve to make the streets more inviting for bicyclists and pedestrians.

A final note, apropos of safe driving: I routinely walk down High Street, and cross at the intersection with Church Street. While waiting for the cross walk light, I sometimes do some counting -- the number of SUVs, or vehicles with only one occupant, or number of cars that run the red light. But my favorite is the number of drivers chatting away on their cell phones. It will surprise no one that the cell phone law has gone the way of the speed limit, a rule to be "more honour'd in the breach."

(Posted by Vijay Pinch, a Middletown resident)