Last Update:
We are currently at about 950 signatures on the petition to have the city create a designated bike route into downtown by placing sharrows along Kavanaugh Blvd from Cammack Village through the Heights to Hillcrest and then down Markham. This is the first of many improvements needed to make Little Rock a more bicycle friendly community.
Cyclists are encouraged to attend the City Board of Directors meeting tonight at 6:00 pm on the second floor of city hall. Bicycle Advocacy of Central Arkansas will be presenting the petition to the board. I hope to see you there.
More Updates:
From Tim McKuin, President, Bicycle Advocacy of Central Arkansas
We’ve received well over 800 signatures so far. Thank you to everyone for showing support for making Little Rock a more bike- and pedestrian-friendly place! Please pass the petition along to anyone else who may share our interest in safer streets, because 1,000 signatures is a reachable goal with your help.
Also, please join us tomorrow night (Tuesday, Nov. 20) when we present the signatures and comments to the Little Rock City Board of Directors at their regular meeting at 6:00 p.m. Bring your helmet for some visual impact! The Board meeting room is on the second floor of City Hall at the NW corner of Broadway and Markham (directly across Broadway from Robinson Auditorium). If you would like to speak then plan to arrive a few minutes early to fill out a comment request form.
And finally, we would like to encourage you to join or renew your membership in Bicycle Advocacy of Central Arkansas: http://www.bicycleadvocacy.com/membership.html Your support is crucial as the organization continues to work via initiatives like this one to improve conditions for people who ride throughout central Arkansas.
Thanks again! Tim McKuin President, Bicycle Advocacy of Central Arkansas
Some updates to the petition (sorry, I have no updates on Diane at this point):
As of 8 a. m. Thursday we have over 375 signatures. That is an incredible turnout in less than a day. Thanks to everyone who has signed the petition and shared it. We would really like to push this up to 1000 before presenting it to the city council on Tuesday. Thanks to Max Brantley at The Arkansas Times and John Barton at JBarCycling for posting it on their blogs. Also a big thanks to Josh Berry at KARK for his piece on our efforts last night. If you haven’t signed the petition yet please do so below, if you have, please share it again with all of your online friends. Thanks again.
Petition for Road Improvements in Little Rock
A friend of mine was recently involved in a traffic accident on Kavanaugh Boulevard in the Heights neighborhood. She is currently in the hospital in critical condition, she was riding a bike. From what I can tell much of the fault lies with bad road design in an area that has residential areas on both sides and business that should be easily approached by foot or bike. This is my opinion. Below is the statement and a call to action from Bicycle Advocacy of Central Arkansas to petition the city to make needed improvements along much of the route that my friend was using. Please click on the petition link and read through the information on the petition. If you would like improved infrastructure for cycling and walking in Little Rock please sign and pass it on. Thank you.
Statement from the Board of Directors of Bicycle Advocacy of Central Arkansas:
The Board of Directors of Bicycle Advocacy of Central Arkansas would like to extend our thoughts and prayers to Diane McConnell and her family as Diane fights to recover from injuries suffered in a crash last Saturday afternoon. Diane has been a zealous bike advocate for years, always eager to share her passion for enjoying life on two wheels with others. We look forward to seeing her out again soon on the River Trail, riding around her neighborhood and across the state, attending all kinds of events by bike, and demonstrating through her actions to everyone around her why riding a bike is simply the best and most enjoyable way to get around.
We also want to take this time to call on Little Rock’s city leaders to renew their efforts to make Little Rock a safer place for all road users. The intersection where Diane was hit (where Kavanaugh Boulevard, Club Road, and Van Buren Street come together) deserves special attention because of its many points of conflict between people in cars, people on bikes, and people on foot. On a bigger scale, all of Little Rock’s streets and sidewalks should be welcoming and convenient for someone who chooses to ride a bike, walk, or take public transit. Please join us in our efforts by signing a petition asking Little Rock Public Works and Little Rock Traffic Engineering to start by improving much of the route Diane took on Saturday from downtown to her home in the Heights.
The petition is available online here
Sharrows
A sharrow is a shared lane marking, it is used with travel lanes shared by bicyclists and other vehicles. Sharrows are intended to:
- Assist bicyclists with positioning in a shared lane with on-street parallel parking in order to reduce the chance of a bicyclist’s impacting the open door of a parked vehicle,
- Assist bicyclists with positioning in lanes that are too narrow for a motor vehicle and a bicycle to travel side by side within the same traffic lane,
- Alert road users of the location bicyclists are likely to occupy within the traveled way,
- Encourage safe passing of bicyclists by motorists, and
- Reduce the incidence of wrong-way bicycling.
A sharrow is not a dedicated bike lane but is a simple and inexpensive reminder painted on the road to motorists that bicyclists are allowed to share this space. For more information on sharrows please visit the BACA website.
Bicycle Advocacy of Central Arkansas is a group of 600+ local citizens working to improve alternative transportation in central Arkansas including walking and bicycling.
