Phillip Barron
The Herald Sun
If a sport is defined by the rules that compose a game, then I don’t think of cycling as a sport. Sure, there are sporting events that are based on riding bicycles, from homegrown mountain bike races on the Cane Creek circuit to the NORBA Nationals and even the Olympics. Some people say that multi-stage road races like the Tour de France are the purest expression of cycling’s ethos. Those lean trained bodies, the glossy frames with glittering flawless componentry, the self-organization and strategy of the peloton for some add up to what cycling is all about.
Although dominant in advertising, racing bikes and the racing lifestyle represent one of the smallest of all subsets of the world’s cycling community. Not only are bicycles most commonly used for transportation, according to a recent report of the Worldwatch Institute, bicycles are also the most efficient vehicles. So I say that to find the essence of cycling you need only to look to the streets of any metropolitan area, mostly in the mornings and evenings, as the working class pedals to work.
Whether from looking to save the city some money on transportation planning or some carbon monoxide emissions, City Council and County Commissioners voted last month to give Durham’s bike commuters a boost.
Not very often does a city get to rethink its transportation planning through the eyes of a cyclist. But Brian Bergeler spent the better part of 2006 doing just that. He and the other experts at Greenways, Inc. were contracted by Durham to take a comprehensive look at Durham’s cycling infrastructure – from off-road greenways like the American Tobacco Trail to wide outer lanes and bike lanes – and to make recommendations on what Durham can do better.
Greenway, Inc’s results were packaged into the Durham Comprehensive Bicycle Transportation Plan, which both the City and County adopted last month.
The Bike Plan is both an audit of existing bike facilities as well as a compilation of recommendations for what Durham can do next, prioritized from the simplest to the most luxurious. Bergeler says that the “paint project” ideas are the most attractive to him. Without laying any new pavement, Durham could “double or even triple (with full implementation) its existing on-street bicycle network.” For example, by repainting sections of Cornwallis Rd., Fayetteville St., Roxboro Rd. and Broad St., Durham could quickly expand its bike-lane network without breaking the bank.
Dan Clever, a bike commuter and member of Durham’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission, echoes Bergeler’s enthusiasm. “Phase One,” says Clever, “identifies several roads in the city that can easily accommodate bike lanes or signed routes. Implementation of Phase One would link most of Durham’s key destinations.”
“The plan is an invaluable guide towards expanding the viable transportation options for residents and visitors deciding how to get around in the Bull City,” says Alan Dippy, also a member of the citizen board BPAC. “It’s an impressive document, in scope and detail, and I think what makes it so exciting is its potential to connect people on bicycles with each other and with all the great things Durham has to offer.”
Bergeler explains that the Bike Plan’s scope extends beyond paving and (re)striping roads “to encouraging companies to provide showers and lockers to bicycle commuters, to appropriately enforcing the rules of the road on [sic] motorists who endanger the lives of cyclists.”
Now that both the City Council and the County Commissioners have endorsed the plan, Durham transportation planning departments (both for the City and Metropolitan Planning Organization) have a map, which if followed, could lead to a more bike-friendly Durham.
Dippy adds “when one looks at all the positive changes and growth Durham is experiencing, the adoption of the Bike Plan is an important, timely and proactive step towards insuring safer roadways for those who opt to leave the car at home.” If you’d like to learn more about the Bike Plan, feel free to attend the next BPAC meeting.
BPAC meets on the third Thursday of every month at 7pm in City Hall.