I wish I could talk to every single one of them. I wish I could put them on a bike riding on the same road with drivers behaving toward them as they did toward us. I wish they could really get how easily it could have ended tragically for us because of their impatience and frustration that we were on the road!
Category: advocacy (Page 2 of 10)
Mark and I attended the meeting last night on the proposed trail around Arcadia Lake in Edmond, OK. We are very excited about the prospect of the trail which will be around 20 miles in length and paved. As cyclists we would use the trail frequently and take pride in having it in our community. So many people I talk to here would ride bikes or walk more if they had a separate and safe way to do so. The trail would certainly offer that – and more.
Although the trail will be quite the boon for local cyclists, runners, families, seniors and most any nature lover, the people that are less than thrilled about it are some of the nearby home and property owners and those that ride horses at the lake.
The Arcadia Lake Coalition working to bring the trail to fruition, has been proactive by meeting with stakeholders and has accommodated and amended the proposed trail when possible.
It seems one of the big issues has nothing to do with the proposed trail, but rather is a current problem with the area surrounding the lake – namely, trash. Not the type of trash that people leave, but trash that was dumped by the lake when it flooded and has never been cleaned up.
I understand their frustration at having to live with that and also their expectation that it be cleaned up by the city of Oklahoma City or Edmond, but it is a separate problem from the proposed trail and should be handled as such in my opinion.
Another main concern of the home/property owners, who are by far the biggest part of the voiced opposition, is safety and security and the fear that the trail will attract people that engage in criminal activity.
There will be further meetings and discussion to work through any outstanding issues or concerns.
Trail completion is currently slated for November 2014.
After getting the ticket for “disregard of a red signal light†back on May 25th, I commented to my husband Mark that I would give up the $119 fine, but I wanted something good to come from it.
Something good did – meet the new ordinance for affirmative defense for cyclists passed by the Edmond City Council Monday, September 10, 2012:
I can’t begin to convey how pleased I am that this was accomplished. It is a big help for cyclists and I’m thankful that my experience helped to bring it about.
Today I finally had my day in court. I found the Judge to be both fair and empathetic; finding me guilty of the offense, but waiving the fine and court costs. Most meaningful to me was that she stated several times that she admired my riding and that she wished our community could be accessed better on foot or by bike. She genuinely seemed sorry that she had to find me guilty because she understood the dilemma I was faced with.
The Affirmative Defense ordinance for bicyclists will go into effect next month. Although I got the ball rolling we would not have this ordinance if not for the efforts of the Edmond Bicycle Committee, particularly Jan Fees, Steve Murdoch (City Attorney), and of course the City Council.
This ordinance is an accommodation for cyclists which recognizes that not all traffic signals detect cyclists and gives us an affirmative defense should we receive a ticket – if all conditions are met.
I would like to state here for the record that my incident met all of the criteria specified in this ordinance – in other words I did not roll through a red light. Mark and I waited through two cycles before proceeding safely through the intersection.
There seems to be some belief out there that this ordinance gives cyclists the license to roll through stop signs or red lights. It does not and it is imperative that every cyclist obey traffic laws. If you’ve spent much time here on my blog you know one of my pet peeves is cyclists who blow through stop signs or red traffic signals.
The fact is I recognized the red light and stopped and waited; unfortunately the red light didn’t recognize me and change. As every cyclist knows, the infrastructure is geared towards motorists not bicyclists, and presents us with a myriad of challenges where we must do our best to act safely and responsibly.
Edmond is moving forward on becoming a bicycle friendly community, this is just one step toward that. The Bicycle Master Plan is a huge step as is the proposed Arcadia Lake Trail. For local cyclists, please support and acknowledge Edmond’s attempts to better accommodate and encourage people to ride bikes.
Keep riding and stay safe.
There’s a new ordinance in town!
An ordinance allowing for a cyclist to have an affirmative defense should they proceed through a red light that fails to recognize them was unanimously passed by the Edmond City Council tonight. This ordinance resulting from my ticket back in May goes into effect in 30 days.
Thanks to the Edmond Bike Committee and local cyclists for working with the City Attorney and others to get this done.
A big victory for local cyclists!
I can’t speak for everyone, but my advocacy efforts on behalf of cyclists with the City of Edmond and the Edmond Bike Committee have been successful both times – back in 2007 to get the 3 foot ordinance adopted and now the affirmative defense ordinance.
Edmond is obviously motivated to be a community that is safe and supportive of bicycling. In addition to the ordinances mentioned above Edmond is in the process of developing and implementing a bicycle master plan, as well as working with private sector partners to build a paved trail around Lake Arcadia.
The future looks brighter for those of us who ride bikes or would ride with better infrastructure and safer roads.
(Updated 9-10-12/10:00pm)
My day in court to contest my