Jan. 30 bike sale benefits our New Standard Cycles program

Are you in the market for a new-to-you ride? On Saturday, Jan. 30, we are selling used, but fully reconditioned bicycles at the Savannah Bazaar, from 3-8 p.m. at 101 N. Fahm St.

Bikes are sold on a first come, first served basis, so if you see one you like in the gallery below, make sure to get there early. If you join the Savannah Bicycle Campaign at the time of your purchase, you’ll receive $50 off your bike. Proceeds from sales benefit our New Standard Cycles program, which provides affordable, dependable transportation to deserving people in our community. For more information about our bike sale, email Jen Colestock.

Public meeting attendance, comments show strong opposition to Forsyth Park bike ban proposal

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Thanks to you, the City of Savannah appears to be putting the brakes on a proposed ordinance that would prohibit people 12 and older from riding bikes anywhere in Forsyth Park. After our Forsyth for All ride arrived at the Civic Center at 6 p.m. on Jan. 14, dividers were removed to expand the room and accommodate the crowd, which was clearly much larger than officials had expected.

cailaWe appreciate everyone who attended the meeting to show support for safe cycling in Forsyth Park and everywhere else in Savannah. Of the dozens who offered comments, only three expressed support for the ordinance. We have not yet completed a thorough review of the comments submitted through the city’s website, which were provided to us on Jan. 13, but an initial evaluation indicates only a small fraction of the more than 400 comments received were in favor of the bike ban.

The meeting was covered by the Savannah Morning News (Opposition rolls out against Savannah’s Forsyth Park bike ban proposal), WTOC-TV (Battle of the Bikes: Meeting held to discuss proposed ban at Forsyth Park and WJCL-TV (Cyclists fight proposed bike ban).

chadBy the end of the meeting, officials reframed the meeting and ordinance as the beginning of discussions about how to improve safety and access. City officials heard loud and clear what those who ride know all too well: Savannah’s bicycle infrastructure has not kept pace with demand and conditions are not safe for many residents and visitors who ride for recreation and transportation. Our city has the highest bike commuting rate in Georgia and is becoming a major bicycle tourism destination, yet of the nearly 700 miles of streets within the city limits, fewer than 20 are equipped with bicycle lanes that meet current standards. The creation of a city bicycle and pedestrian coordinator position, which was mentioned by Citizen Office Director Susan Broker, would be one positive step toward improving conditions for walking and bicycling in Savannah.

It’s too early to declare victory as city staff could still recommend the ordinance for approval by the mayor and city council. We will continue to monitor the situation closely as a report is prepared for the city manager. Your Savannah Bicycle Campaign remains committed to working with city officials, neighborhood organizations, businesses and other institutions to develop and implement sensible strategies for making our streets and other public spaces safe, friendly and accessible to everyone.

Thank you to Susan Broker for facilitating the meeting, and to Savannah city council members Carol Bell, Bill Durrence, Brian Foster, Van Johnson and Julian Miller for attending. And thank you to everyone who demonstrated that Savannah’s cycling community is organized, informed, engaged and insistent on improving and expanding our active transportation network for the benefit of everyone in our city. If you are not already, please become a member today. Your support is critical to our mission of making Savannah better for bikes.

Watch inspiring films, ride your bike and maybe even win one at Mountainfilm on Tour Savannah, Jan. 20-23

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Telluride Mountainfilm on Tour returns to Savannah this month and we are pleased to be working with the festival again this year. The complete schedule is available on the Mountainfilm Savannah website.

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The annual TelluRIDE is scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 23 at 11 a.m. The ride will start at the Kennedy Pharmacy building at 323 E. Broughton Street and end at the south end of Forsyth Park for light refreshments provided by the The Sentient Bean. Helmets are required for children and strongly encouraged for adults. The ride will travel at a leisurely pace along a five mile route. Please let us know you are riding by joining the Facebook event.

raffleitemsAt all Mountainfilm screenings on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, we’ll be selling raffle tickets for some exciting prizes including Pure Fix Arroyo city bike from Vinnie Van Go Go’s and  Perry Rubber Bike Shop, a travel set from Satchel, and a Boardworks Jetty stand up paddleboard from Savannah Canoe and Kayak.

Tickets are $1 each, three for $10 or eight for $20 and  can be purchased with cash or credit card in the lobby of Trustees Theater. Drop your ticket stubs into the bucket next to the prize(s) you want to take home. The winning tickets will be drawn at the Saturday evening, but you need not be present to win.

Joint Coastal Study Committee recommends construction of Coastal Georgia Greenway

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The Joint House Senate Study Committee on the Coastal Georgia Greenway has issued a report recommending construction of a 450-mile system of trails in coastal Georgia.

“Recognizing the economic, health, recreational and environmental benefits of the Coastal Georgia Greenway, the Committee recommends its implementation and construction in four phases over the next ten years, beginning in St. Mary’s and ending in Savannah.”

The report also recommends the Coastal Regional Commission oversee the implementation of the greenway, and identified annual appropriations as the primary funding mechanism. In addition, “State governmental authorities should work with local governments to secure funding from public and private sources” the report stated.

The committee, co-chaired by Rep. Ron Stephens of Savannah and Sen. William Ligon of Brunswick, held public meetings in Richmond Hill and Darien, where business leaders, elected officials and citizens expressed overwhelming enthusiasm for the project.

Please consider contacted your representatives to let them know you support the Coastal Georgia Greenway. Download the report.

Public meeting on proposed Forsyth Park bike ban set for Jan. 14, Forsyth For All ride planned

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The City of Savannah is hosting a public meeting on a proposed ordinance, which would prohibit people 12 and older from riding bicycles in all areas of Forsyth Park, on Thursday, Jan. 14 at 6 p.m. at the Savannah Civic Center. The ordinance, if passed, will deny access to the thousands of people who ride responsibly though the park each week. The city has offered no plans for providing safe alternative routes for people who will be displaced by the ordinance. In 2013 the Savannah Chatham Metropolitan Police Department evaluated calls for increased enforcement against people on bikes and recommended against it.

The meeting format will be a formal presentation and followed by questions and answers, and an opportunity for the community to ask questions, comment, and provide recommendations on the revisions proposed to the ordinance.

If you plan to make comments at the meeting, here are some suggestions:

1. The meeting will be facilitated by Susan Broker of the Citizen Office. Please don’t take out any frustrations on her. She’s simply doing her job.
2. Explain how you use the park and how the proposed ban will affect you. Be passionate, but professional.
3. Offer specific suggestions on how to improve safety in our park and on our streets.
4. Thank city officials for providing this opportunity to talk about this important issue.

The bike ban has received recent media coverage:

Savannah Morning News (Dec. 17) Savannah officials consider Forsyth Park bike ban
Savannah Morning News (Dec. 19) Bikes in Forsyth Park: Go slow on bike ban
Savannah Morning News City Talk (Dec. 21) Proposed bike ban will hurt police effort
Connect Savannah News Cycle (Dec. 30) Bike ban in Forsyth: Blunt tool when precision needed
Savannah Morning News City Talk (Jan. 12) City schedules bike ban meeting

The Savannah Bicycle Campaign opposes the ban and has called on the city to find reasonable solutions that improve safety in the park and nearby streets, while preserving access to all. Please make plans to attend the meeting. If you are unable to attend, please contact your elected officials directly to let them know how the ban will affect you.

Forsyth For All

Join us at 5:30 p.m. at north end of the park (intersection of Bull and Gaston streets) and we’ll roll to the meeting together on the Forsyth for All ride. We need people to speak up about how the ordinance will affect them and urge city officials to find sensible solutions to improve safety in the park and on nearby streets, while preserving access for all. We’ll have some special gifts to help you show your support for active transportation in Savannah. Please join the Facebook event to let us know you’re riding.

Helmets are strongly encouraged. The meeting is scheduled to last until 7 p.m., so don’t forget your bike lights. If you can’t ride with us, please meet us there!

Proposed ordinance will ban people on bikes from Forsyth Park, push them onto dangerous streets

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Fun, healthy family activities like the one depicted in this photo, which is used by Visit Savannah to promote our city, could soon be illegal (at least for the adults in the photo).

A proposed city ordinance would expand the current “dismount” zone in Forsyth Park to prohibit anyone over 12 from riding a bike anywhere in the park.

The proposed ordinance revision is to eliminate all foot propelled vehicles (such as bicycles, unicycles, tricycles, quadricycles and skateboards) from being operated on all walkways, sidewalks and pedestrian thoroughfares in and around Forsyth Park. The only exception would be children less than 12 years of age when supervised by an adult, provided they yield to pedestrians.

The ordinance is being proposed without offering any convenient, safe alternative routes for people on bikes. As a result, many people will attempt to use Whitaker and Drayton streets, which are dangerous to bicyclists and pedestrians because of car and truck traffic, often traveling at speeds over 40 m.p.h.

More information and an opportunity to offer comments are available on the City of Savannah website. Please take a moment to let City of Savannah officials know what you think of this ordinance.

The Savannah Bicycle Campaign remains committed to working with city officials, neighborhood associations, businesses owners and other partners to find long term solutions that improve safety in the park and on nearby streets. Making Whitaker and Drayton streets safe for all users should be the primary and immediate goal.

Public comment will be accepted on the City’s website through Jan. 5, 2016.  A public meeting will be scheduled for mid-January to gather more feedback.

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2015 has been a great year for bicycling in Savannah. Help us make 2016 even better!

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Thanks to your support, we have made significant progress in making Savannah better for bicycling. With your help we have:

button(1)We need your help to make 2016 even better. We want to expand the number of people served by our New Standard Cycles program, make sure the Complete Streets ordinance is consistently implemented, and offer even more bicycle education programs and fun bicycling events.

As you are making your end of the year charitable contributions, please consider donating to your Savannah Bicycle Campaign. We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and your contribution is tax deductible.

You can make a donation by credit card via our secure donation portal or send a check to:

Savannah Bicycle Campaign
1301 A Lincoln St.
Savannah, GA 31401

Here are some of the ways your donation can make a difference:

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2015_SBC_EOY_Image_Scholarship 2015_SBC_EOY_ImageElectricBike2
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Have your say on the Truman Greenway! Comments must be submitted to GDOT by Dec. 14

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Thank you to everyone who attended the Dec. 3 Truman Linear Park Trail Public Information Open House at Jenkins High School. If you weren’t able to attend, you can review the plans for Phase IIA, which connects Lake Mayer Park with DeRenne Avenue on the Chatham County Department of Engineering webpage. You can also read coverage of the meeting from the Savannah Morning News. Long-awaited Truman trail unveiled anew

Please provide your comments to the Georgia Department of Transportation by Monday, Dec. 14, by using any of the following methods:

1. Online at GDOT Public Outreach website.  Follow these steps:

  1. From the menu, select the county in which the proposed project is located and click Go;
  2. Then select Truman Linear Park Trail – Phase II;
  3. Then, click Comment and follow the instructions to leave your comments.

2. Mail in your comment card to Ms. Hiral Patel, P.E., Georgia Department of Transportation, 600 West Peachtree Street NW, 16th Floor, Atlanta, Georgia 30308.

3. Email your comment to: ProjectComments@dot.ga.gov. This is a general mailbox so be sure to include the County, PI Number 0007631 and meeting date in the subject line so that the email gets to the right project team.

It’s important to let GDOT know how important this project is to your family and how you plan to use it. We need strong support from the public to move forward on this important project, which has both recreational and transportation uses. If you need assistance in composing your comments, we’ll be glad to help. Just let us know!

Holiday Bike Drive will spread cheer to kids again this year

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Our New Standard Cycles volunteers are hard at work refurbishing donated bikes for our second annual Holiday Bike Drive. The bikes will go to families that cannot afford bikes on their own, through our partner Blessings in a Bookbag. Last year we were able to provide dozens of bikes to deserving kids, who would not have received bicycles otherwise. We also provide helmets to go along with the bikes.

If you are interested donating a bike, please contact jen@bicyclecampaign.org to schedule a drop-off. Please do not leave bikes unattended at our office. If you’d like to help get the bikes ready (no previous mechanical experience necessary) sign up for a volunteer shift today!

It’s time to show your support for the Truman Greenway! Project open house set for Dec. 3

 

trumantimeChatham County and the Georgia Department of Transportation will hold a Public Information Open House concerning the Truman Linear Park Trail On Thursday, Dec. 3, at Jenkins High School, 1800 East DeRenne Ave. The Open House will be held from 4-7 p.m. It will be informal, and the public is invited to attend anytime during these hours. There will be no formal presentation.

This project proposes to construct a 10-foot wide multi-use trail from Lake Mayer Park to Jenkins High School. The City of Savannah is responsible for building the second part of the trail, which will connect DeRenne Avenue to the existing Police Memorial Trail. The complete project will link Lake Mayer Park to Daffin Park

It is critical for trail supporters to attend this meeting and tell Chatham County and GDOT that this is a much needed project and is long overdue. Communities all over Georgia have completed trails while ours has been stuck in limbo. 

GDOT will be accepting written comments until Monday, Dec. 14. Comments should be sent to:

Ms. Hiral Patel, P.E.
State Environmental Administrator
Georgia Department of Transportation
600 West Peachtree Street, NW – 16th Floor
Atlanta, Georgia 30308

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Information: The meeting site is accessible to persons with disabilities.  Accommodations for people with disabilities can be arranged with advance notice by Nathaniel Panther at (912) 652-7800.