<p>&nbsp;<span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">A passing reference in a recent newspaper <a href="http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/nation/6201599.html">story</a> said something about bikes in </span></span><span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">Houston</span></span><span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">, and what constitutes a shovel-ready infrastructure project in bailout </span></span><span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">America</span></span><span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">.</span></span></p> <p><span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">The item near the top of a front page story in the Houston Chronicle said the wish list of </span></span><span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">Texas</span></span><span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"> lawmakers included </span></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">$13 million to build a bike trail in </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">Southwest Houston</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">. Since I ride bikes and live in that part of town I was really curious, and not a little frustrated by <span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;</span>the lack of further information.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">In the world of bikes in </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">Houston</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"> that's huge money.&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">&nbsp;</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">No amount of googling showed a project that matched the specs so I emailed the reporters seeking more info. I soon heard from Jennifer A. Dlouhy who wrote that they saw the request on a list from the </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">U.S.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"> Mayors. The short item said the money would help pay to build the Sims Bayou Hike &amp; Bike Trail running from south of </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">Hobby</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">Airport</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"> to </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">Southwest Houston</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">&nbsp;</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">This one didn't show up on the city of </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">Houston</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">'s Bikeways <a href="http://www.houstontx.gov/parks/trail-map.html">website</a> which showed a short stretch along the bayou, though the map lacked the street names needed to pin down the location.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">&nbsp;</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">A search of the City of </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">Houston</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"> website only offers a couple passing references to the Sims Bayou project. One showing design work budgeted back in 2005 and 2006 and another saying this would some day connect with street trails in this part of town.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">&nbsp;</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">I left a message with the department and late in the day got a call that answered my questions raised some new ones. I heard Rita Balchus, the number 2 person in the small bikeways department in Public Works. She said she was as surprised as I was by the reference in the story.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">&nbsp;</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">The Sims Path is something they've been working on for years. It is shovel-ready - it stalled back in 2005 when the Army Corp. failed to put up matching funds to help the city build this 19-mile long project, which would be one of the longest in town.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">&nbsp;</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">The fact it's in </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">South Houston</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"> dashes my fantasy, but it would fulfill a long-time plan for city path builders. She'd said they'd met the day before to brainstorm about possible funding sources, like donations from non-profits.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">&nbsp;</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">The possibility of money for the Sims Bayou project wasn't the only sign of hope for bikeways in </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">Houston</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">. The city <a href="http://www.publicworks.houstontx.gov/bikeways/docs/bikeways_news_winter_08.pdf">website</a> reported the city has finally filled the bikeways director job. The new Bicycle-Pedestrian Coordinator, Dan Raine, is a certified transportation planner with over 15 years experience, and it said he rides to work some days on one of his eight bikes.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">&nbsp;</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">In a story, tucked in a neighborhood edition of the Chronicle, Raine recently talked about revising the city's 15-year-old bike transport plan, with an eye toward opening up bottlenecks for bikers.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">&nbsp;</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">But a comment on the Chron story that got me started - "Bike trail in </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">Southwest Houston</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">! Are you mad... --was a reminder that the job of promoting bikes as an energy saving alternative form of transportation involves a huge amount of effort on communication and well as on public works.</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">&nbsp;</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">I think bikes need to play a bigger role in the transportation network here - for image reasons as much as energy saving -- but there's huge work to be done selling that idea.&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">&nbsp;</span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">So will </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">Houston</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"> ever embrace bikes as transportation?</span></p>

The first step toward making things better is asking a good question. At a meeting last week the city’s bicycle-pedestrian coordinator, Dan Raine, asked for ideas as he works on Houston’s long-term plan for bike transportation. This account of his public call for advice was recounted in this story by Dale Robertson in his cycling notebook in the Houston Chronicle. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/thingstodo/6235642.html So in the spirit of realistic optimism, here are my ideas. They’re the product of my rides in Houston. Or at least riding in the parts of Houston where I know routes that are reasonably scenic and safe. The goal is simple: open up as many miles of safe routes for bikes as fast as possible at the lowest possible cost. The strategies: 1. Find low traffic routes on existing streets and paths that are linked by spending on creating safe passages through bottlenecks and building bridges through the city’s isolated subdivisions. Right now there are too many marked paths on scary, narrow, busy streets. I think of getting past Interstates when I think of bottlenecks. Consider getting past 59. There are ideal routes over the series of white bridges linking the Montrose and the Art District neighborhoods. But things get tougher as you head west. There is a bike path crossing at Wesleyan but this lane on a tight, busy thoroughfare is potholed mess. I wonder if it’s possible to convert the sidewalk there into path side enough to accommodate bikes and walkers next to a large retail development that’s going in. It's time to turn the talk from Developers about creating "pedestrian friendly" multi-use" projects into action. 2. Creating maps online that distill the knowledge of bike riders on how to get around this town’s many obstacles. This would save the cost of putting up bike route signs, which seem to bother some Houstonians who seem to think bikes routes bring in the rabble. This town is home to a couple really useful communities here: Regular bike riders collect little useful bits of information. For me it’s that Sewanee allows safe passage from the Braes Bayou bike path to West University via a pedestrian bridge over a bayou that otherwise would force riders on to a busy street. There’s got to be a lot of other tidbits like it out there. This would also highlight bottlenecks where a relatively low-cost project could open up a useful route. There’s a community of experts in Geographic Information Software. These computerized mapping skills are needed to find a way to automate the process of inputting these little bits – perhaps like a wikipedia where volunteers can enter their bits and others can check it. The other goal would be a map that’s searchable. So a bike rider can enter beginning and end points and get the safest route. Or perhaps it will show routes passing historic houses or favorite watering holes. And since he asked for it I’ll even post it as the city’s web site and see if it’s noticed: www.publicworks.houstontx.gov/bikeways/masterplan.htm Now I just hope he’s listening. What do you want to see in the city’s long-term bike plan?