Notes And Pics From The Main St. & 75 Area Revitalization Study Open House
We’re a little behind on our posts, so apologies for the delay on this. A couple of weeks ago, Bike Friendly Richardson attended the City of Richardson’s open house for the Main Street and Central Expressway Area Revitalization Study.
About the study: The City of Richardson is creating a stately for the redevelopment and revitalization of Main Street and the Central Expressway Corridor – Richardson’s original downtown and the major access routes to the community, its business areas and neighborhoods. This project implements the 2009 Richardson Comprehensive Plan, which identified the Main Street area and Central Expressway Corridor as two of six target redevelopment zones.
The open house was set up as a first step into a long progress of revitalizing several core ‘gateways’ into Richardson. The city has enlisted the help of several outside firms including HOK — Project Management, Visioning/Master Planning, Urban Design; Kimley-Horn and Associates — Transportation and Infrastructure Planning/Analysis; Ricker – Cunningham — Market/Economic Analysis, Implementation Tools, Financing Strategies; Strategic Community Solutions — Community Involvement; Townscape — Architecture to draft a final plan.
In order for them to draft this plan, folks were asked to view several stations including, Corridor Character, Businesses and Activities, Connections, Investments & Improvements, Multiculturalism, Physical Amenities, and Main Street and invited to contribute feedback and help shape the future of this important area.
Of course there was a lot of great feedback, but our goal was to make sure there is a consideration and place for bicycles. The great news is that several folks, outside of BFR, added the need for bike friendly, complete streets and trails to the lists.
It’s not too late to contribute to the study. Go here to take the survey and questionnaire (open until August 30). You can also follow the progress on their Facebook page. Also, Click here for the website.
Here are some pics from the open house:
City Of Richardson Gets A New Website And Updated Trail Maps
The City of Richardson just launched their newly redesigned website.
“The new design features a variety of enhancements that promote easy access to municipal services and information.
Design enhancements for Richardson’s web pages have been underway since February 2011. Its creation is intended to align with the City Council’s Statement of Goals, which aims to improve citywide communications, transparency in government operations, marketing of community assets, and encouraging public involvement.” Read more.
Although we’ve lost a few links, most of our favorite content is still available, along with some great new features. We’re looking forward to exploring the new site.
Here are some points of interest:
BICYCLE ADVOCATE GROUPS (our favorite)
HISTORY OF BIKE LANES IN RICHARDSON
Along with some great new trail maps:
Trail System Map
Glenville Trail
Bicycle Route Map
Huck Finn Trail
Breckinridge Trail
Owens Trail
Central Trail
Renner Trail
Duck Creek Trail
Spring Creek Trail
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Some Exciting News
Bike Friendly Richardson is pleased to announce that we have just submitted the application to have Richardson considered for a Bicycle Friendly Community designation!
This was an idea that we had had for a while and last November, Jenny Rilling took it on as a project. With the help of City staff, we made it happen. The Bicycle Friendly Community program is administered by the League of American Bicyclists. With all the bicycling improvements in recent years, and more to come, it was time to throw our hat in the ring. Not every application receives the Bicycle Friendly designation, however, the LAB staff generously provide feedback to each applicant to help them do better next time.
This is our first time submitting the application, so we don’t know how we’ll do, but we are proud of how far we’ve come, and we’re looking forward to getting feedback on where we can improve. Currently only three cities in Texas have received the Bicycle Friendly Community designation: Austin, San Antonio, and The Woodlands.
We’d like to recognize the following people without whom this wouldn’t be possible:
Richard Wezensky and Jenny Rilling with Bike Friendly Richardson
Dave Carter, the City’s Bicycle Coordinator and Assistant Director of the Transportation Department
Jessica Shutt and Mark Titus in the Transportation Department
Jim Lockart and Jim Dulac at the City
The Richardson City Council, Parks Department, Police Department
And of course, all the BFR friends and everyone out there who said, “Hey, we should improve biking in Richardson”, and everyone out there using the bike trails, bike lanes, and roads and having fun and trying to continually improve things for cyclists.
Thanks, everyone, for all you do. See you out there on the road!
-BFR Staff
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City of Richardson Receives “Safe Routes to School” Funding Grant
Again, if you get the City’s newsletter, you’ve probably already seen this:
The City of Richardson has been awarded federal funding through a Safe Routes to School grant from the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) for two schools in Richardson: Richland Elementary and Yale Elementary.
At Monday’s work session, the City Council was briefed by staff on the City’s efforts to acquire this funding, the status of the programmed projects and the improvements that will be made around the schools.
The work that will be funded by the grant includes installation of barrier-free ramps, sidewalks, bike routes, bike lanes and bike racks.
The City Council will consider a resolution to approve funding agreements with TxDOT at a future meeting. Click here to view the work session presentation.
This is fantastic news for families with kids going to these schools. This is especially good news to me, since one of these schools is in my neighborhood. We’re grateful that the City kept up with this, even after not getting selected the first time.
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Richardson’s Point-Of-View On Different Types of Bicycle Users
With all the new trails and bike lanes in Richardson, (which we love) one might think that the city is trying to get cyclists off the road. That’s not true. One of the things that impressed us about the City of Richardson is their open point-of-view towards bicycle users. Instead of focusing on one specific type, they’ve taken into account that not all riders are the same.
Here is what is on the Richardson web site:
Types of Bicycle Users
There are several types of bicycle users and it is understood that some avid bicyclists do not like bike lanes. The City’s goal in providing an overall Bicycle Route Plan is to accommodate all types of users. Some recreational users may prefer to use trails in the City’s Parks. Vehicular bicyclists may prefer to commute on arterial streets and do not want their “right” to occupy any travel lane jeopardized by having bike lanes. The City will also be implementing “Share the Road” type signs on Renner Road where hundreds of cyclists travel many evenings and weekends despite the higher speeds and traffic volumes. On collector roadways and residential streets we may simply provide a Bike Route sign with or without a dedicated lane.Bicyclist’s Rights
The Texas Transportation Code states that “A person operating a bicycle has the rights and duties applicable to a driver operating a vehicle”. To summarize the legal code: bicycles have the right to ride on public roadways because they are deemed a legitimate transportation vehicle by legislature. The City does not have the authority to restrict bicycles from local roadways, but TxDOT may restrict them from certain limited access highways. Below are a few links to the Texas Transportation Code that deals with bicycle operations.
- CHAPTER 551. OPERATION OF BICYCLES, MOPEDS, AND PLAY VEHICLES
- CHAPTER 545. OPERATION AND MOVEMENT OF VEHICLES
In order to provide a safe environment for bicyclists, the City of Richardson is in the process of implementing a long range plan to provide bicycle facilities and to designate preferred bicycle routes on lower-volume, lower-speed collector roadways. Even though the City will not be encouraging bicyclists to ride on major arterial thoroughfares, we will be providing “Share the Road” signs at strategic locations to inform motorists that bicycles have the legal right to occupy the roadway.
There has been a dramatic increase in bicycle activity in the past few years, including a larger number of bikers who commute to work. Several other Cities including Dallas, Plano, and Frisco are also enhancing their bicycle trails and on-street routes with new signage. The City anticipates the trend in bicycle usage to increase in the future and will endeavor to provide as safe of an operating environment as possible. Click here to see more.
This is why we believe their bike plan (pdf) is one of the best in the DFW area. Combine that with some of the efforts that are happening in Dallas, and you can see a great future for cycling in DFW.
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Bike Friendly Richardson 
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