Bike Party; WBW Annual Meeting; Vision Zero at a crossroads in Ann Arbor
Kirk Westphal
There are a handful of items I’d like to share with you lovely walking and biking fans, with a request at the end. ❤️ Please reach out to me directly if you’d like to chat!
Bike Party :: Halloween!
TOMORROW!
7pm @ Farmers Market with optional after-party at Lowertown Bar
The last official Bike Party of the season. It’s a family-friendly slow roll of about 7 miles. Lights and costumes encouraged! More details here: https://www.facebook.com/events/794901699818777
Oct 31 is the last day for the transportation survey! The city wants to hear from you!
Gift link for article about the survey
Direct link to the survey
Walk Bike Washtenaw Annual Meeting
Monday, November 10
7pm, Conor O’Neill’s
Free but registration requested
This is always a fun and informative meeting with raffles and yummy snacks. I’ll be one of the speakers, talking about the city council’s struggle with safe transportation — and what you can do about it.
Roadway Rightsizing Safety Study SAVE THE DATE
Wednesday, November 19
AADL, time TBA
Description here.
Another Vision Zero Miss?
On the topic of safe transportation, I don’t say this lightly: we are at a crossroads. We are at the beginning of a process that will entertain redesigns for our most dangerous roads. These roads could become safe for all users — or just somewhat safer. A consultant (Toole Design) has begun initial work on proposing redesigns for all of the city’s multilane roads (Plymouth, Stadium, Packard, etc.) as well as one of MDOT’s roads (North Main, should we ever gain control of it). Around $1M is being spent on these contracts.
The commitment to Vision Zero that city council has made — and repeatedly reaffirmed over the past 10 years — unequivocally states that they must eliminate serious and fatal injuries, not just reduce them. Unfortunately, judging from the consultant’s rhetoric during the first meeting about this last month, it is clear the consultant is not approaching the process from a goal of safe speeds but rather “balancing” speed and congestion with “other benefits.”
If you agree that this is incompatible with our safety goals, please send a note to your councilmembers and ask them if they are actually committed to Vision Zero — and if so, what they will do to correct the direction of this project. Their answers should inform whether you can count on them to put in the work to make our roads safe. This is the most dangerous year in the past decade to be a pedestrian in the city, and all of us who expect urgent improvements must be involved.
Check out this gift MLive article about the safety crisis.
Background (4 minutes)
Or
TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@kirk_likes_density/video/7556027664482585887
Meeting analysis (10 minutes)
Or
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@kirk_likes_density/video/7566370875394526495
Bonus content (1 minute)
TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@kirk_likes_density/photo/7566011919669169438