Bicycle & Pedestrian Board Hails Transportation Investment, Calls for Increased Safety Measures, Collaboration

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Neil Pade, neil.pade@gmail.com

Click to download report

Newington, CT, February 12, 2016 — With the release of its 2015 Annual Report, the Connecticut Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Board reports that positive change continues in Connecticut to make the state a better place for people of all abilities to bike and walk, whether for transportation or recreation.

Under the leadership of Governor Dannel P. Malloy and Department of Transportation Commissioner James Redeker, walking, biking, and transit are becoming markedly more integral to Connecticut’s multi-modal transportation system.

The report applauds Connecticut’s commitment to transportation in 2015 with the development of Lets Go CT!, the 30-year plan for transportation investment and its 5-year ramp-up plan to kick-start implementation. The ramp-up program includes $100 million for bike and pedestrian projects, to be split between multiuse path construction and a community connectivity program for complete streets. 

The Board’s 2016 recommendations include advising the:

• Connecticut General Assembly to restore the language of Conn. Gen. Stat. §14-300(c) to clarify that drivers must stop for pedestrians who are at, or in, any marked or unmarked crosswalk, consistent with laws of many other states.
• Office of Legislative Research to study issues related to electric-assist bicycles to determine legislative changes needed to clarify their use on roads. The Board also recommends that electric-assist bicycles be defined to be compatible in operation with bicycles and can be classified as bicycles.
• Municipalities and ConnDOT to routinely coordinate road maintenance, paving, and reconstruction projects and seize opportunities for 10-11 foot lane widths, shoulders, bike lanes, marked crosswalks and other complete streets features, and improve compliance with Connecticut’s complete streets law.
• ConnDOT to set aside 14% of federal Highway Safety Improvement Program funding to improve safety for people who walk, bike and take transit, reflecting the proportion of pedestrians and bicyclists deaths among all traffic deaths in the state. Similar proportional set-asides are used in other states.
• ConnDOT and other agencies to launch an ongoing, collaborative Share the Road Campaign, to reduce the number of pedestrians and cyclists who are killed or injured by motor vehicle drivers.
• ConnDOT to beat its 2017 target date for revising its Highway Design Manual, and use a process that is transparent and inclusive of the Board, municipal engineers, and bicycle and pedestrian stakeholders.
• Departments of Education and Transportation to coordinate and promote the Safe Routes to Schools program to K-8 schools statewide as part of school wellness programs.
• All state agencies to keep collaborating on transit-oriented development and integrate walking and biking with transit at every opportunity.

The board’s full report can be found here, at www.ctbikepedboard.org and at www.ct.gov/dot/bikeped.
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Created in 2009, the CT Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board consists of 11 appointed citizens to advance the inclusion of non-motorized design elements in state and municipal road building projects and in public and private development and redevelopment projects. The board encourages pedestrian and bicycle connections between neighborhoods, commercial areas, employment centers, schools, state and municipals parks, and other community destinations; supports government policies and funding initiatives that favor transit and non-motorized transportation; and monitors the implementation of the Complete Streets Law. For more information, please visit www.ctbikepedboard.org.

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