Join community activists, Councilman Brancatelli and the City of Cleveland for a public meeting to discuss the Fleet Avenue Streetscape on Thursday, May 23rd at 6pm at St. John Nepomucene Church (3875 Independence Blvd). Here is the public meeting flyer.

According to Slavic Village Development’s website the Fleet project includes street and sidewalk improvements to the section of Fleet between I77 and Broadway.  Plans call for streetscape improvements, green infrastructure, and bicycle lanes to be installed between East 49^th and East 65^th Streets.  Also included are plans for bump-outs at intersections to reduce the distance of pedestrian crosswalks and to preserve on-street parking.

Councilman Tony Brancatelli said the project is critical to attracting investment to Slavic Village and rebounding from the impacts of the housing market crash.

Funds for the project will be available in July.  Engineering for the project is slated to begin in the fall and take a year to complete.  The project should be ready for construction in late 2013 or early 2014.

Cyclists are needed to show support for the bike lanes and to help advocate to continue them to Broadway Avenue.

Kicking off National Bike to Work Week, the League of American Bicyclists today announced its latest round of Bicycle Friendly Communities (BFC). Cleveland, Ohio made the list this year receiving a bronze level designation. Read the League of American Bicyclists press release about all the designations this round.

It is an exciting time to be on a bike in Cleveland. While we still have a long way to go in terms of installation of on-the-ground bicycle facilities compared to many cities on the BFC list, the City of Cleveland has paved the path for faster implementation through policies like the Complete and Green Streets Ordinance and better enforcement through the Bicycle Transportation Safety Ordinance, which requires motorists to give bicycles 3-feet when passing.

In addition to policies and infrastructure, the League of American Bicyclists also takes into account the culture that exists in a city when determining if it is worthy of a BFC designation. The following are key factors within Cleveland’s bike culture that have helped make Cleveland a Bronze Level BFC:

1. The opening of the Clevleand Velodrome in 2012;
2. The construction and opening of the commuter bike parking station, the Cleveland Bike Rack,
3. The development of innovative on-street and off-street bike parking corrals, locally called the BikeBox;
4. The growth of numerous social rides throughout Cleveland organized by grassroots groups including Crank Set Rides and Cleveland Critical Mass;
5. The City of Cleveland’s convening of a bike share task force and the feasibility study for bike sharing that is currently underway;
6. The construction of the Lorain Carnegie Bikeway in 2012;
7. The opening of many bike-focused businesses including 4 community bike shops, 2 local bike rack fabricators, 2 bike touring companies, and a bicycle themed bar;
8. The development of Bike Cleveland, the region’s voice advocating for safe, stress-free bike environments. Currently, the organization has over 400 members;
9. The growth of businesses that value biking for economic and employee health reasons, including Clevleand’s only Bicycle Friendly Business, Squire Sanders;
10. Numerous bike education programs led by the Ohio City Bicycle C0-op.

Our work towards creating a truly bicycle-friendly city does not end with a bronze level designation. We need to be bold in the way we are encouraging more people to bike in our city. This includes increased investments in connected infrastructure; developing policies that incentive biking over driving; and continuing to show the benefits of biking as a form of transportation, a way to improved health and environment, and a stronger economy.

Every Clevelander can help in this effort through participation in the many rides and events around Cleveland, by getting engaged in the ongoing dialogue towards creating more bike facilities, by visiting one of the many bike friendly businesses in our fine City, and by becoming a member of Bike Cleveland.

Comments and feedback can be emailed to Publicinvo@noaca.mpo.org OR by leaving a note in the Scribd page here showing the presentation. . 

NOACA Regional Priority Bike Plan by Jacob VanSickle

Cleveland Touring Club is donating $2.50 from each rider who registers for their 37th annual Sunday in June bike ride  to Bike Cleveland’s upcoming “Ride Together” bike safety awareness campaign for Northeast Ohio. The 37^th edition of the annual recreational bike ride, taking place June 9th from Century Village in Burton, is expected to attract as many as 1,500 participants. Learn more and register at SundayInJune.com.

Everyone who rides a bike is welcome to this fully supported, classic tour through the heart of Northeast Ohio’s Amish countryside,  organized by cyclists for cyclists. Choose from distances of 25, 50, 63 and 100 miles over rolling to hilly terrain on lightly-traveled roads in scenic and rural Geauga County. The ride includes rest stops, well-marked road, maps and SAG support. The start, lunch stop and finish are at historic Century Village just off the square in Burton. Register at SundayInJune.com.

“We are excited for the partnership and supporting Bike Cleveland allows our members to be a larger voice for bike advocacy than we could achieve on our own,” said David Trimble, Cleveland Touring Club Leadership Council member and advocacy committee chair. “Bike Cleveland has proven itself to be an effective partner to promote bicycle awareness and bike friendly efforts such as Complete Streets and Share the Road campaigns.”

“Bike Cleveland and the Cleveland Touring Club share the similar goal of encouraging more people to ride bikes more often” said VanSickle. “This has led to a strong partnership between the two organizations as we both want our streets to be safe for anyone who rides a bike.”

Read the full press release about Bike Cleveland’s partnership with the Cleveland Touring Club’s Sunday in June here.

For more information on Cleveland Touring Club’s full schedule of weekday and weekend rides, visit  ClevelandTouringClub.org and check them out on Facebook.

Like in past years Cleveland’s Ride of Silence will have two start points:

Free Stamp at Willard Park in Downtown Cleveland (600 Lakeside Ave.) – led by Bike Cleveland

-and-

John Carroll University in University Heights- led by the Heights Bicycle Coalition (Look for bicyclists in the Carroll Expansion (Parking) Lot, which is just east of the Dolan Science Center and south of Hamlin Quad, adjacent to Carroll Boulevard.)

Riders will meet at 5:30pm and depart at 6pm. Both rides will meet at University Hospital in University Circle at 6:45pm for a ceremony honoring those injured or killed while cycling.

Routes:
John Carroll University to University Hospital: https://www.google.com/maps/ms?msid=208606686334934552724.0004bcb670fe4a6bcd5dc&msa=0&ll=41.499835%2C-81.59061&spn=0.017453%2C0.042272

Downtown Cleveland to University Hospital: http://www.google.com/maps/ms?msid=208606686334934552724.0004bcb63ca35ecd03526&msa=0

As always while on the ride practice bicycle safety, wear a helmet, and follow traffic laws. Riders are asked to wear white.

The Ride Of Silence, in it’s 10th year nationally, is a free ride that asks cyclists to ride no faster than 12 mph and remain silent during the ride. There are no brochures, no sponsors and no registration fees. The ride aims to raise the awareness of motorists, police officers and city officials that cyclists have a legal right to the public roadways. The ride is also a chance to show respect for those who have been killed or injured.

Bike Cleveland and NOACA need your help counting people on bikes May 7-10th. The data you help collect will be used to improve biking conditions in our community. In addition to knowing that you are helping make riding a bike an enjoyable experience for people of all abilities volunteers will receive a gift card to a local bike shop of their choice…WHAT?!? That’s right a free gift card to get some sweet bike gear just for helping count bikes, SO SIGN UP NOW.

For more information and or to sign-up visit NOACA.org or contact Marc Von Allmen at mvonallmen@mpo.noaca.org or 216-241-2414 ext. 250.

Portland author and cycling advocate Elly Blue, traveling vegan Chef Joshua Ploeg, and author documentarian Joe Biel will be bringing their annual Dinner and Bikes Tour, a multimedia roadshow of food and bicycle activism, to the northeast, with a stop in Cleveland this May. In addition to the regularly scheduled Dinner and Bikes event, Elly Blue will be sticking around another day for a gathering and book signing at Joy Machines Bike Shop. Here are all the details:

May 9th, 6:30pm-9:30pm
Dinner and Bikes
@ the Old Stone Church (91 Public Square)
Cost: $15 – includes dinner, movie and presentation (get your tickets online)

Bike Cleveland is excited to host Dinner and Bikes’ Cleveland stop at the Old Stone Church. The event features Portland author and blogger Elly Blue, of TakingTheLane.com and author of the recent book Everyday Bicycling, Vegan Chef Joshua Ploeg, and author/documentarian Joe Biel.

Bike Cleveland invites you to join us for this traveling roadshow of food and bicycle activism. For $15, attendees will enjoy a gourmet vegan and gluten-free buffet by Joshua Ploeg, participate in an interactive presentation about transportation equity by Elly Blue, and watch a near-complete excerpt from Joe Biel’s forthcoming documentary,Aftermass, a history of bicycle activism in Portland. The tour is traveling with a food- and bicycle-themed pop-up bookstore and authors will be available to chat and sign books after the event.

This event will serve as a call to action for advocates to get engaged with the local bike movement while giving an open forum for talking everything bikes. Get your tickets here.  For more info on the tour visit DinnerandBikes.com.

May 10th, 7pm-9pm
Book Signing and Party – With the Dinner and Bikes Crew
@ Joy Machines Bike Shop

Joy Machines will be hosting a book signing with the Dinner and Bikes Crew. Get all the details on Facebook.

In February 2013, with the assistance of the Cleveland Bike Share Taskforce and national planning firm Toole Design, The City of Cleveland launched a 6 month study to determine the possibilities of launching a bike sharing program in Cleveland.

Now we want to hear from you. Visit www.bikesharecleveland.com to learn more about the project and about what bike share is.  Then fill out the crowd-sourcing map by making a location suggestion or commenting on suggested possible locations for bike sharing stations. Lastly, take the bike sharing survey! Your response will help shape the future of Bike Sharing in Cleveland.

ALSO mark your calendars for the Bike Share Public Meeting taking place:

Wednesday, April 24th at 6pm
Cleveland Public Library Downtown Branch
325 Superior Ave E
Cleveland, OH 44114

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