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| The End of Cycle Dallas? |
Speaking of former bicycle coordinators in Dallas, we need to be a bit more specific. PM's replacement, Max Kalhammer, is also gone (and almost at the same time). THAT is a bit more mysterious, though Max was never really a real force for change the way his boosters may have hoped.
No word from Dallas on what might be next. It appears their vision for bicycling is mandatory helmet laws, apparently so the DPD has an excuse to stop minority kids since there is little evidence that those laws actually helped anyone.
4 comments:
Bummer. Thanks to PM Summer for his longstanding hard work to improve cycling. Interestingly enough, I finally know what PM stands for, having checked out the Dallas Observer link.
Huh. Anybody know what PM is up to now?
PM is alive and well (and fighting bad bike lane and roundabout designs) in Hays County, Texas. He spends time with his four grand children (20 months to 9 years), and helps care for his wife's 90+ year old parents who live with him.
He listens to a lot of music, too. http://what-music-is-playing-now.blogspot.com/
I have some interesting information to add to the Kalhammer/2011 Dallas Bike Plan saga.
Carla Weaver and Jared White (successor to Max(?)) were invited to give a presentation on the subject of bicycles as alternative transportation. Most of their discussion was the same old propaganda we've [PM and I at the very least] have been hearing for the past twenty years. At one point Jared mentioned that bike lanes would soon be installed on Medical Center (formerly Motor St), between IH35 and Harry Hines Blvd. This prompted me to recall that section was, according to the 2011 Dallas Bike Plan, designated for adjacent cycle tracks. When quizzed on this point, he admitted my understanding to be correct and that the plan was being altered to suit budgetary constraints and design limitations. He further informed the group that we (cyclists in Dallas) can expect may alterations and deviations from the published plan.
Glancing at Carla for support, he proceeded to suggest that the 2011 Dallas Bike Plan was never intended to be an implemented plan, in an of itself. Rather, it was a design guide and subject to modification at the whim of the city. They further disparaged Tool as being simply consultants who did not spend enough time in Dallas and failed to appreciate the needs of the city and its cyclists. This seemed to contradict the stated goal of "a Master plan for the installation of context-appropriate bicycle facilities that have been developed with input from the public, the City of Dallas, the NCTCOG, DART, Dallas County, TxDOT, and surrounding jurisdictions. These facility improvements must be complemented by a robust policy, education, encouragement and enforcement program that support the physical network, and follow-up evaluation to measure progress."
Basically, cyclists in Dallas may find that routes originally slated for cycle tracks will get on-street paint, instead. Perhaps other routes designated to receive Magic Paint™ may get no facilities. Simply put, it's now a crap shoot.
PM, you may be interested to know that Parks and Recreation has usurped your terminology describing the 'High Five' as the 'High Six' — due to the presence of the bike path at its base. They are now promoting this as their nomenclature.
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No Need for Non-Robot proof here!