Greetings, all.  SBC members met downtown at SCAD’s Keys Hall on Monday.  We adopted bylaws for the group and elected our board and officers.  We have assembled a diverse group including recreational, racing, touring, and utility/commuter bicyclists:  artists, businesspeople, doctors, lawyers, an octogenarian and a current SCAD undergrad.  Thanks to all of you who have made the commitment!

Board of Directors:
Drew Wade, Chairman
John Bennett, Vice Chairman
Adam Kirk, Treasurer
David Acuff, Secretary
Patrick Booton
Eric Breen
Lee Burbage
Will Fell
Heidi Halabuda
Jerry Jaycox
Frank McIntosh
Paul Razza
Dave Sanderson
Eve Seibert
Joe Steffen
Mark Woodruff

NYC is doing it.  And Portland.  And Vancouver.  And everywhere else cool.  Really, Savannah could and should experiment with opening some streets to nonmotorized traffic only (and if necessary, allow tour buses and horse and buggy rides).  Doing this would transform a section of the city into a vibrant car free zone.

Where would you test this concept?  Fall seems a little more reasonable than August like NYC has chosen.  Feel free to add your own choice to those we have included here.

Want to swap out some parts? There is a bike swap tomorrow — Sat June 21 — at 10:30am at Liberty Supply, Liberty and Houston St. If you have some wares to put out, it is recommended you bring a table to display. I believe it to be free and open to the public, though I don’t have much more info than this.

New York jumped on the bandwagon to opening its most extensive network of public space, the streets, or actually just a small portion of them, to bikes and pedestrians for 3 Saturdays this summer in a program called Summer Streets.  Forgetting for a moment that they chose August, why couldn’t we do this in Savannah?  Most of the north-south streets are untraveled by through traffic, so would it not be a fantastic idea to reopen our streets to Oglethorpe’s plan, to once again prioritize the slow traffic of pedestrians and bicycles?  For goodness sake, with all of the tourists walking on Bull Street, everyone else knows to drive elsewhere.  If we then opened it to a safe recreation corridor for weekends, locals and tourists alike could enjoy our city as it was designed to be enjoyed.  There are other extremely successful worldwide examples of this idea.

While we’re at it, why not throw in bike sharing?  It has worked famously for Paris and Barcelona, is imminent in Washington, DC, is testing in New York, and many other US cities are considering it.  Savannah’s downtown area, with improvements in signage and parking, and a dedicated southbound artery for bicycles, would be perfect for people to experience Savannah not through the framed walls of a car or trolley, but with the panoramic views and slower speeds allowed by bicycling.

So, Savannah needs to step to the table — we need to start a recreational corridor through the historic district free of cars, even if only for weekends, and start thinking about bike sharing.

This just popped up, so I don’t have details beyond the WTOC story here. Two cyclists riding on US 80 near the entrance to Fort Pulaski were struck and knocked off the road today. Rather unfortunately, the story also unnecessarily notes

Stephanie and Matt decided to ride on the road instead of the path designated for bikes.

Of course, by law, this is allowed. At least they followed with

“I was on a road bike and it’s not paved and it’s gravel and difficult to ride on it,” said Chiang.
“I’ve been told it was a white van and it’s missing the passenger rear view mirror and passenger head lamp,” said Chiang. “I hope they turn themselves in or someone find them because it’s not right to leave two kids when they have been hit by a car, not right at all.”

As a communtiy, we need to be on the lookout for this white van white Dodge Ram pickup (thanks to Aldo Nahed from SMN for the update) driver whose aggressive driving has left two in the hospital, both with vertebral fractures. Apparently the white Dodge Ram pickup is missing the passenger side mirror and a headlight. A driver who knowingly leaves the scene of an accident where a serious injury has occurred is guilty of a felony (see p17-18 of this guide, §40-6-270 (b)). This is where a community will test its ability to respond with enforcement. UPDATE: According to witness Jim Pedrick, this looked like an intentional act.

This also highlights a gaping hole in our bicycling infrastructure, namely the need for safe passage from Tybee to Savannah, with the worst stretch of the Tybee Road being where these cyclists were between the Bull River and Lazaretto Creek bridge. Rumble strips filling the shoulder and a 55 mph speed limit make that a particularly dangerous stretch of roadway. The fact that a rough gravel trail parallels a portion of this road is not relevant, unless that is transformed into a legitimate paved throughway with points of connection both east and west. Such a connection from Savannah to Tybee would be a destination unto itself for locals and visitors alike and would be a boon to both local economies. This stretch which is on the 2000 County bikeways plan as a suitable corridor (see Map 4-1 in this document), instead is a dangerous juxtaposition where the tons of steel traveling at 65 mph or more will always win.

It’s official. It was a success. Economic impact numbers show a 40% boost over last year. Thanks to TdG Executive Director Elizabeth Dewberry and Chairman Casey Cagle, our Lieutenant Governor, for putting together a great event here. We know next year will be even better, and with a little more lead time to plan and promote, Savannah and Tybee will come out in even greater numbers next year — let’s hope it comes back here!

Stage I Savannah Finish, photo by PhotoSport International/John Pierce

With gas prices continuing to climb, we who tend to human powered transport have been getting more attention.  Take Sean Brandon’s mug on the cover of the Savannah Morning News yesterday.  Mary Landers gave the local bicycle community this boost on the front page, with a story about bicycle commuting that also highlights all of the great 2 wheeled things afoot:

Just this year, a bike co-op started. A few months later, a group of avid bike commuters kicked off a campaign to push for better bicycle facilities. In April, the city appointed a daily cyclist to a key city transportation position. Add soaring gas prices to the mix, and bikes are poised to take over their share of the city’s streets.

So having the city’s Parking and Mobility Director (Sean Brandon) as a sympathetic voice is nice, as is having the attention and support of the city manager and participation from the mayor and other elected city and county officials in our event and also this one.  As Sean says, though, it’s a slow process, and we will succeed only with measured and steady pressure to make change happen.