Albany Bicycle Coalition

by Christopher | October 4, 2010 · 2:15 pm

Transportation Forum Highlights

Better late then never, Tuesday the 21st of September there was a forum on transportation hosted by the New York State Transportation Equity Alliance (NYSTEA) which was held at the Albany library main branch. The night started off well because it was catered with food from the Co-op which I don’t have to tell you was delicious. After we sat down, bellies full of good food, the first speaker up was Leah Golby who gave the introduction and laid down a general theme for the night. You may remember Ms. Golby for her support in getting the common council to support the Madison Ave. traffic calming project which passed Monday Sept. 20th unanimously 15-0. After she spoke various people from organizations such as We Act for Environmental Justice, the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, Empire State Future, and a few others got up and gave their respective presentations about how there organizations are working to improve the transportation problem for not only Albany, but all of New York as well.

All in all it was a good night. Speaking for myself, I enjoyed the entire event because it brought to light many issues that are facing New York as a whole and put everything in prospective. We are definatly living in intresting times.

For more info on NYSTEA and what they are doing visit their website or e-mail them at info@nystea.net.

Written by Chris Belsole

Leave a comment

Filed under Editorial, None, Support the Cause

by Toni | September 21, 2010 · 5:05 pm

1st Annual ABC Picnic

The day started late, and it was totally my fault. I broke my crank arm on my bicycle and had a loaner. Everyone else arrived at the monum ent on time, I arrived late at 12:45… Thankfully, that was the only downfall on the perfect day. The weather was perfect as we started riding towards Five Mile Waterworks. We took Western to the loop around UAlbany to Fuller rd. The ride to the park was nice and slow. We arrived at Five Mile around 1:30 and John was there with his van with a great spot picked out. It didn’t take long for the charcoal to get going along with interesting conversation.

Whenever a bunch of us get together the conversation is always great. This time we also added awesome food. I give thanks to everyone who came and brought dishes, it helped make the picnic such a success. Chris B brought vegetable bruschetta with awesome bread, Lorenz makes a kicking cucumber salad, Paula besides carrying coolers on her big momma brought awesome fresh pears, chips and burgers which we didn’t even get to. John, Ken and I brought skewers with lots of veggies and different kinds of meats on them. John also brought the makings of s’mores which was the perfect finish to the meal.

Everyone was stuffed by the end of that meal and there were a ton of leftovers. Overall, it was a perfect day with an interesting ending with something found discarded in the grass.

Written by Toni Cameron

Leave a comment

Filed under Events, None

by Christopher | September 21, 2010 · 7:52 am

Madison Ave. Traffic Calming Results

There was a quiet congratulation last night for everyone involved when the common council voted unanimously to support the Madison Ave. traffic calming effort in which the street would be repainted to include three lanes instead of four. It seemed that there was some opposition to it initially, but once all the votes were counted the naysayers flipped their vote.

Something interesting came out of one of the speeches one of the council members gave before the vote. Apparently one of the council members, I forget which one, and if you were there maybe you can post it in the comments, got a grant to put sixty bike racks all around the Lark St. area. This comes as a welcome respite to the current situation because the only places to chain your bikes on some parts of that street are out of the public eye and therefore a little more risky.

So over all the night was a success. Don’t forget to come tonight to the Capital Region Transportation Forum which will be at the Albany Public Library, Main Branch Auditorium at 161 Washington Avenue at 7:00 pm. I’ll see you there.

Written by Chris Belsole

Leave a comment

Filed under Article, Law

by Christopher | September 20, 2010 · 7:11 am

Support the Cause: Madison Ave. Meeting – Mon. Sept. 20th

Dear Cyclists,

The Madison Avenue resolution is in the attached document. It is 96.92.10R — it is the last piece of legislation in the packet.

This is close to a landmark resolution as it may set the stage for Albany’s forging ahead with a “complete streets”program even without the NYS legislation.

If you are interested in supporting this resolution – and you should be – please come to the meeting (Monday, 7:00 PM, 9-20-10) and speak (5 min limit) during the public comment period. (You will have to sign up to speak (434-5090 or at the meeting). You do not have to speak – your presence will speak for you.

Regardless of the outcome, we are indebted to Council Members Golby and Conti for supporting this initiative.

Written by Chris Belsole

Leave a comment

Filed under Support the Cause

by Christopher | September 16, 2010 · 7:29 am

Support the Cause: Capital Region Transportation Forum

From the blog Mobilizing the Region:

On September 21, the New York State Transportation Equity Alliance(NYSTEA) will hold a forum in Albany entitled: “Fighting for Greater Transportation Equity in New York State.” The forum will address New York State’s transportation crisis — its eroding infrastructure and struggling transit systems — and what advocates can do about it.

Topics will include state and federal issues and policy opportunities including: President Obama’s recently announced $50 billion infrastructure initiative; New York State legislation initiatives, such asComplete Streets and the recently-passed infrastructure bill; as well as recent impacts of the financial crisis on the Capital District transportation system.

The goal of the meeting is to build and strengthen a statewide coalition that fights for a more sustainable, balanced and equitable transportation system in New York.

The event is co-hosted by Capital Region Transit Advocates and the NY State Apollo Alliance, and will be held at the Albany Public Library, Main Branch Auditorium at 161 Washington Avenue. Light refreshments will be served. Please help to distribute this information using this flyer. For more information, please contact either Tri-State’s Nadine Lemmon, nadine@tstc.org, (917) 767-7698, or Leah Golby of CRTA at leah.golby@gmail.com, (518) 438-1244. RSVP appreciated, but not required. Tri-State Transportation Campaign is a steering committee member of NYSTEA.