 Click here to REGISTER FOR TS 101--Sept 13, 2015
Bike Walk CT is offering another League of American Bicyclist-designed Traffic Skills 101 program, a comprehensive, day long course to give cyclists the skills, knowledge and confidence to handle on-road cycling. As a cyclist your skills and behavior on the road greatly affect your safety. Learn how to take control of your safety.
TS 101 is a day long course consisting of approximately 4 hours in class and 4 hours outside, split between skill drills and an on-road ride. Among other things, you will practice starting, stopping, shifting and scanning, learn how to ride in traffic, including proper lane and intersection positioning, and crash avoidance techniques. You will practice all that you learn on brief road course. Successful completion of this course is a prerequisite for taking the League Certified Instructor course and other advanced league cycling courses. The course is offered rain or shine, and will include outdoor segments unless the weather is severe. We will ride in drizzle, but not in a t-storm. Other Important Details
Click here to REGISTER FOR TS 101--Sept 13, 2015 Join New Milford River Trail Assoc on 3rd Annual Western New England Greenway Tour, Jul 26 - Aug 17/16/2015
The New Milford River Trail is a key link in The Western New England Greenway – an exciting effort to create a safe route for non-motorized transportation following the Route 7 Corridor from Long Island Sound to the Canadian Border.
Last summer Tom O'Brien, son Jake, and seven other Greenway supporters rode 300 miles from Burlington, VT to New Milford, CT, to build public support for the Greenway. This year our small group of through-riders will gather in Norwalk, CT on Sunday, July 26, to ride north to Burlington, VT (arriving Saturday, Aug 1). Several will continue on to cross the border into Quebec. The group's plans for Day 1 (Sunday, July 26) are as follows:
More information about The Western New England Greenway (including the route maps) can be found at http://wnegreenway.org. Please share with anyone who supports our goal of making it safer and easier for people to walk and bike in this region. The New Milford River Trail Association hopes to see you on July 26! For more info, contact: Tom O'Brien, New Milford River Trail Association P.O. Box 697, New Milford, CT 06776 www.nmbikewalk.org info@nmbikewalk.org This Sunday, July 19th, The Study at Yale will be hosting Toran Gaal, a US Marine Vet who fought in Afghanistan and lost both legs during an IED explosion. Toran will be making his way to New Haven between 8am-9am as part of his 3,800 mile bike ride across the United States (arrival time subject to change).
Cheer Toran on or get on your bike and join him on the New Haven segment of his ride! Interested cyclists should plan on lining up on Chapel between York and Park around 8am. Check for updates at http://bit.ly/ridewithtoranand spread the word. Read more about Toran’s Ride Across America at http://www.lex18.com/story/29484487/making-a-difference-ride-across-america. If you think Congress and advocacy are irrelevant, think again. This July has become a high stakes, action-packed transportation month in Congress. Transportation funding accounts are running out of money and need to be renewed. There's a funding and policy deadline at the end of the month, and now the Senate wants to turn the federal TIGER* program into a freight program instead of a multi-modal transportation funding program. This could all happen before Congress goes on August recess. Senator Blumenthal is on the Senate Commerce Committee, which may vote on a key bill tomorrow, Wednesday morning. What to do: Contact Senator Richard Blumenthal TODAY at 202-224-2823 or https://www.blumenthal.senate.gov/contact/ (choose "Transportation" as your topic). What to Say: Use this as a starting point but please personalize it: Dear Senator Blumenthal: As a member of Bike Walk Connecticut, I am writing to ask for your strong support to continue federal programs that fund biking and walking as active transportation options. We understand that the Commerce Committee is now considering TIGER funding, complete streets, and roll-on service for bikes on Amtrak. Accordingly, we ask that you please:
Sincerely, ..... *Background: What's the TIGER Program? TIGER stands for "Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery." TIGER grants have helped fund innovative, multi-modal transportation projects for freight, ports, road, transit, and walking and biking since 2009. The TIGER program helps cut through red tape and provide funding directly to local areas for transportation projects that cut congestion, improve safety, promote economic development, or improve access to jobs and opportunities through smarter transportation investments. The TIGER program remains critical for local trails and bicycle and pedestrian projects. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks for speaking up for biking and walking! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------  Thanks to WNPR's Patrick Skahill for covering the new bike laws that took effect July 1. The story aired during morning drive time.
Missed it? Listen here.  Image: Patrick Raycraft/Hartford Courant Our colleague Joe Cutrufo at Tri State sums up all the recent progress that's come about in Connecticut transportation:
How Connecticut’s Transportation Outlook Has Changed in Just Six Months POSTED BY: JOSEPH CUTRUFO JULY 6, 2015 It’s been said that life moves pretty fast, and if you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. With the progress we’ve seen in the Nutmeg State during the last several months, the same could be said for transportation policy change in Connecticut. At the outset of 2015, highway tolls were considered taboo, nobody knew what was on the governor’s long-term transportation agenda, there was no lockbox to stop raids on transportation funds, two-way and parking-protected bike lanes were illegal, and CTfastrak service still hadn’t launched. In six short months, however, all of that has changed. Read the full story here. Bike Walk CT is offering the League of American Bicyclist-designed Traffic Skills 101 program, a comprehensive day long course to give cyclists the skills, knowledge and confidence to handle on-road cycling. As a cyclist your skills and behavior on the road greatly affect your safety. Learn how to take control of your safety. WHEN: Sunday, July 19th, 8AM-5PM WHERE: Bishops Corner, West Hartford - The Underground, 740 North Main Street, West Hartford, 06117 COST: Bike Walk CT members: $50; Nonmembers: $65 INSTRUCTOR: Tony Cherolis, League Certified Instructor (LCI) and several gracious LCI volunteers.
Thanks to the New Britain Herald for helping to get the word out on CT's important new bike laws. Read the full story here: http://bit.ly/1M1dh1K
Bicyclists have more freedom to determine how to safely ride on Connecticut roads, and motorists have more room to pass them as a result of changes to Connecticut’s laws for cyclists, which took effect July 1. Public Act 15-41 was passed in May with broad bipartisan support and was signed June 1 by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy. The new law eliminates the rule requiring cyclists to always ride as far to the right edge of the road as possible, but also gives motorists permission to cross double-yellow lines when passing slower-moving cyclists. The law allows cyclists to determine how close to the curb to ride in certain circumstances, rather than always as close as possible. Bike Walk Connecticut specifically advocated for the new language, which is modeled on best practice in Colorado and endorsed by the League of American Bicyclists. The new law allows for the designation of two-way bicycle lanes, buffered bike lanes and cycle tracks. Cyclists are not required to ride as close to the right side of the road as possible in the following instances: ∎ Overtaking or passing another vehicle proceeding in the same direction; ∎ Preparing for a left turn at an intersection or into a private road or driveway; ∎ Avoiding fixed or moving objects, parked or moving vehicles, bicycles, pedestrians, animals, surface hazards or lanes that are too narrow for a bicycle and a motor vehicle to travel safely side-by-side; ∎ Approaching an intersection where right turns are permitted and there is a dedicated right turn lane, in which case a bicyclist may ride on the left hand side of the lane; ∎ Riding on a roadway designated for one-way traffic, when the bicyclist may ride as near to the left hand curb as is judged safe; ∎ Riding in designated bicycle lanes. For more information visit bikewalkct.org. For Immediate Release  July 1, 2015 (Hartford, CT) -- Important changes to Connecticut's laws for cyclists take effect July 1, 2015. The Bicycle Safety bill, Senate Bill 502 and now Public Act 15-41, was passed in May with broad bipartisan support. The Governor signed the bill into law on June 1.
The new law eliminates the confusing--and often unsafe--rule requiring cyclists to ride as far to the right as practicable. Instead, the law now requires cyclists to ride as close to the right side of the road as is safe, as judged by the cyclist. Bike Walk Connecticut specifically advocated for that language, which is modeled on a best practice from Colorado as identified by the League of American Bicyclists. As of July 1, cyclists don't have to ride as close to the right side of the road when:
The new law also allows two-way bicycle lanes, buffered bike lanes, and cycle tracks to be designed in Connecticut and allows drivers to cross the double yellow line to pass slower-moving cyclists and other road users when it's safe to do so. Watch for more information from Bike Walk CT this summer about Sharing the Road. For more information, contact Bike Walk CT Exec. Dir. Kelly Kennedy at 860.578.5925. |
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