Draft Of Houston Bike Plan Released

The other day I passed a group of cyclists who were stopped at the end of George Bush Park and I heard one of them say, "I've heard that from the last 4 mayors".  I'm sure they were talking about the newly released draft of the Houston Bike Plan and the new mayor stating he wanted to make Houston a more bike friendly city.  The release of the plan has generated a good amount of publicity.  Bike Houston had their annual meeting last night and the release of the draft was a major part of the agenda.   You can read more at the following links:

The plan has it's own web site:  Houstonbikeplan.org

Bike Houston is a major driver of the plan: Bikehouston.org

Local papers have written about it:
Houston Press

Houston Chronicle February 23 article

Houston Chronicle  February 22 article

Houston Chronicle  February 21 article

Tribune.com

Local TV:

KHOU TV

And here is a report from January on PBS News Hour

New Commute, The Good, Bad, & Ugly

I'm now commuting from Katy to an office building on the North I-10 frontage road and Kirkwood.  It's 19.5 miles each way and in many ways encompasses the best and worst of bike commuting in Houston.  With the shared use paths on the Bayous,George Bush & Terry Hershey parks, roughly 18 of the 19.5 mile commute is car free and safe as can be.  It's a scenic ride where I've seen deer, armadillo, rabbits, squirrels, alligators, coyotes, opossum, snakes, cygnets, swans, vultures, hawks, ducks, etc.  18 really great commuting miles.

Route Using Kirkwood Heading North

The other 1.5 miles or so isn't as great.  If I take Terry Hershey East to Kirkwood (screen shot above) I then travel North on the Kirkwood "bike lane".  This designated bike lane is maybe two feet wide and usually filled with debris.  The painted lane is faded and almost nonexistent in many spots.  It's the type of bike lane that is more dangerous than good.

Commute Using Terry Hershey Park  North of I-10

If I take Terry Hershey North of the I-10 (screen shot above), I ride on the sidewalk of the I-10 frontage road like a dork.  In the morning I'm going against traffic and in the evening constantly looking over my shoulder to make sure I don't get slammed by a right turning car.  I then cut up Eldridge for a block, again dorking it on the sidewalk, to get to Dairy Ashford and another 2 foot bike lane, albeit with less debris than Kirkwood.  This bike lane takes me to another off street shared use path at the Addicks Reservoir.  The weird thing is that heading East on Dairy Ashford there is no way to make a proper left turn onto the shared use path.  They built this great path and then also put a concrete median in the middle of Dairy Ashford blocking the path from East bound riders.  I end up riding in the painted median, cutting across Dairy Ashford and riding in the gutter against traffic for maybe 50 yards before I can make a left onto the path.  In the evening going home heading West the cars lining up to go right on Eldridge end up pinching the 2 foot bike lane.  I haven't clipped a side mirror yet but it won't surprise me when I do.

Map of Energy Corridor paths found on Addick Reservoir bike path.  North is the bottom of this map

Start of shared use path at Addicks Reservoir just off Dairy Ashford.  I need to take a photo of the jacked up median on Dairy Ashford that blocks this entrance

North I-10 frontage road facing East just after exiting Terry Hershey Park

Start of Terry Hershey Park North of I-10

Thought the Texas flags were a nice touch on this day.  This is the path around the Barker Reservoir that takes you towards George Bush Park.

I've seen riders on the street of the I-10 frontage road, and they have my respect, but I just don't feel comfortable sharing the road with that heavy car traffic.  Lately with all the rain George Bush Park has been flooded and I haven't been able to use the path.  I know I can take city streets to get to work, and in the morning sharing the roads isn't so bad, but in the evening when the roads are crowded and drivers are impatient...I just don't want to do it.  Four cyclist have been killed on our streets in the last month and that just chills me.  So there you have it.  A great workout, wonderful safe ride with beautiful scenery, and some frustratingly not well planned bike lanes on city streets.  And Mother Nature throws her twists in as well.

Problem With You Ten Speeders

Today we did our usual Sunday morning ride out of the Katy Mills Mall only the ride got quite a bit more interesting.  As we were riding back to the mall we had a confrontation with a guy in a pickup. We were heading North on Spring Green Blvd and approaching Falcon Landing Blvd where we would make a right turn.  I should note that both roads have two lanes in each direction and this was Sunday morning around 10 AM.  The light was red at the intersection and we were riding two abreast.  The pickup behind us honked his horn at us just before we got to the red light.  We then made the right onto Falcon Landing and the truck followed us.

Our route from Katy Mills Mall goes through Katy into Richmond and Fullshear then back

The truck then went into the lane next to us and started yelling at us while going the same speed as us.  At first I couldn't tell what he was saying and tried to ignore him, but it was obvious he wasn't going to just have his rant and speed off.  I looked over at him and he yelled, "you need to stay within three feet of the curb" and then he said "you can't ride side by side".  I yelled back, "that's not the law.  We can take the lane" at which point he yelled back "that's the problem with you ten speeders...(something I couldn't hear)... I know the law!"  It went back and forth with my riding partner saying "have a nice day" and me repeating "we can take the lane" and the truck driver telling us he knew the law and was going to call the police.  The truck driver then proceeded to get in front of us and slow to almost a stop.  We slowed and, when the other cars that were being slowed down by the truck passed, we swung around and passed the truck on the left.  At that point the truck came up along side us again, passed and stopped in front of us at an intersection.  He got out of his truck holding his cell phone and said he had the police on the phone.  I told him, "great you don't know the fucking law" to which he said "don't you cuss me and you need to get away from me".  Unfucking believable! I need to get away from him!  I walked my bike around his truck and waited for the light to turn green without looking at Mr. Truck.  Finally the light turned green and he drove off.

Blue Dodge Ram 1500 single cab license BT4 6743  out to educate them ten speeders

When I got home I called the Fort Bend County Sheriff and two deputies came out and talked to me.  Turns out one of the deputies was actually on the phone with the truck driver when he got out of the truck.  The deputy said that he told the driver not to do something like that again.  He told me what the driver did wouldn't get him cited for harassment since "harassment needs multiple incidents".  The one thing that ticked me off, and I have to say the two deputies were professional and couteous, they didn't just blow this off and took this with seriousness, but the deputy said that the law was ambiguous.  Here is the relevant law (551.103c) quoted directly from the Texas Transportation Code:

(c) Persons operating bicycles on a roadway may ride two abreast. Persons riding two abreast on a laned roadway shall ride in a single lane. Persons riding two abreast may not impede the normal and reasonable flow of traffic on the roadway. Persons may not ride more than two abreast unless they are riding on a part of a roadway set aside for the exclusive operation of bicycles.

This area of Katy, Fullshear, Richmond in Fort Bend County gets a lot of bicyle traffic and in the last two years I have never had an incident beyond the occasional "faggot" call out or the time a guy in an older pickup pulled out his choke as he passed so we got carpet bombed with black smoke. I do my best to wave thanks or give a thumbs up when drivers give right away or show courtesy but today was rattling for sure.

Proposed Road To Cut Through George Bush Park

Last night another cyclist told me that the Texas Department of Transportation (TXDOT)  has approved a road connecting Highland Knolls Dr. with Briar Forrest Dr.  This new major thoroughfare would cut right through the North section of George Bush Park and effectively kill off a green space area and a multi-use path used by thousands of joggers, walkers, and cyclist every month.

I'm still trying to get more details but this article gives some info.  The proposal is part of the West Houston Mobility Plan (link to plan) from the Galveston-Houston Area Council (whatever the hell that is).  This plan was finalized December 18th with the expectation that TXDOT will approve it this month.  What that means for actually getting built, I have no idea.  This is a terrible plan.  There are already 4 East-West thoroughfares through the area: 1-10, I-10 frontage road, Westheimer Pkwy, West Park Tollway.  I believe this new route would cut through a reservoir, mess up the regional flood protection, and kill of a major cycling route.

Here is a map of the recommended changes.  If my color blind eyes are reading this right, it shows existing streets connecting Kingsland Blvd with Memorial and Barker Cypress running through the park.  Hard to have faith in this study with such major errors.

My best hope right now is that this is some study that gets approved and then sits on a shelf for years without ever getting implemented.

New "Share The Road" video PSA from City Of Houston

Mayor Annise Parker and the City of Houston released a "share the road" public service announcement video yesterday. The video highlights the safe passage ordinance that went into law last year, provides some tips on driving safely around cyclists, and has a remain calm reminder. The "be the better person" line may rub me the wrong way, but I appreciate the point they are trying to drive home. All-in-all I say it's a damn good video.




Sometimes I think the mayor gets it.

Houston Bike Safety Segment On NPR- Houston Matters

The local NPR affiliate KUHF has a noon time show called Houston Matters and last Thursday they did a segment on bike safety.  You can listen to it here Houston Matters (the first 14 minutes are abut bikes the rest motorcycles). The guests were Mike Payne from Bike Houston and the Sustainability Director for the City of Houston, Laura Spanjian.  It's a very civilized conversation discussing recent bike safety improvements in Houston and the future.

Today's Big News- Arrest in Chelsea Norman's Hit & Run Death

I wasn't going to post about this but it is the big news of today.  After two months of wondering who hit and left Chelsea Norman to die on the side of the road we now have an arrest.  Police believe it was a woman, Margaret Mayer, who was driving home from a night of drinking at a bar.  She is charged with not stopping her car after hitting Chelsea.  Unfortunately she is not being charged with anything that says hitting Chelsea Norman was illegal or with driving drunk.  It appears charging for hit and run has the best chance for conviction.  It will be interesting to see if this gets plea bargained down to some lesser charge or light sentencing.  The fact that Margaret Mayer has a prior DUI and the bicycling community has really rallied around finding the person who killed Chelsea Norman makes me think that an actual stiff sentence may get handed down.  We'll see. Here is the Houston Chronicle story:

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Hit-and-run-charge-filed-2-months-after-cyclist-s-5206673.php?cmpid=hpbn

In the end the whole story is depressing to me.