May, 1998 Newsletter
"Our mission is to promote and enhance bicycling in Delaware"

Message from The Chairman by Don Carbaugh

In January, the Bicycle Council completed a series of three public workshops, one in each county. These workshops had a two-fold purpose: 1) to report to the public on the Council's activities and plans, and 2) to gain public input for future Council directions.

In summary, the message from the bicycling public is very much the same as in 1995 when the last round of public workshops was held. Bicyclists want safe facilities for bicycling and they wants these facilities maintained well. Specifically, workshop attendees asked for:

More striping and signage for bicycles
Regular sweeping of shoulders and bike lanes
A policy to prevent loss of existing bicycling facilities to bus lanes or turn lanes
Signal loop detectors that are sensitive to bicycles
Education of motorists about sharing the roads with bicyclists
A better crossing of C&D canal
Restored bicycle access between Lewes and Rehoboth on SR1
Improvement of tar & chip surface treatment to reduce hazards from excessive loose gravel
Support of recreational activities and organized rides by the Council
Increased enforcement of laws that protect the safety of bicyclists
Trail preservation for cycling use
Better bicycling facilities in parking lots (parking spaces and racks) to encourage bicycling for shopping errands, etc.
More communication by the Council to the public (publicizing purpose and accomplishments, notifying of meeting schedules, etc.)

The Sussex County workshop highlighted several issues unique to that area. These included the SR1 and tar & chip issues mentioned above, plus other issues arising from the beach area's high proportion of bicycling tourists and visitors from out of state. To help the Council understand and address such issues a Sussex County committee was formed, chaired by Council member Bill Davis. See the article on page 6 for more about this committee.

In the last issue I outlined the Council's goals and objectives as developed through the strategic planning process. The public input from the three workshops will be valuable to us as we proceed to develop action plans supporting our objectives.

DelDOT To Revise Road Design Standards
by Liz Holloway, Bicycle/Pedestrian Coordinator

DelDOT is in the process of revising the bikeway standards in the Road Design Manual. The revised standards include key information for designing with bicyclists in mind such as optimum widths for wide curb lanes, shoulders, bike lanes and multi-use paths. Intersection treatments, railroad crossings and drainage structures are also discussed.

Mike Angelo, Assistant Director of Design Support, hopes to have the revised standards approved and in place by this fall. Combining the revised Road Design Standards with the new Access Management Design Manual and the revised Rules and Regulations for Suburban Streets will help Delaware engineers to create a more bicycle friendly Delaware. The Delaware Bicycle Council has been instru-mental in helping to make these changes a reality.

Council News

May is Bike Month
by Bill Boyd

As we approach the summer months, it is a perfect time to rediscover how much fun it is to ride a bicycle. This year, the Bike Month planners are highlighting the fitness benefits of riding a bicycle. It's easy to choose the level of intensity that you enjoy for a bicycle ride. Families can go for relaxing rides together in the greenway network that is being developed in Delaware. People with higher fitness levels may enjoy long rides with a local bicycle club.

Bicycling can also serve practical purposes. Rather than starting your car to go a few blocks, go by bike! Your motor vehicle generates proportionately more pollution when run for a short distance than when it is thoroughly warmed up. If you live near work, you may even want to try riding your bicycle to work. Encourage your employer to offer incentives to bicycle to work, especially during Bike to Work Week (May 16 through May 23 this year). Delaware is offering T-shirts to people who participate in Bike to Work Week.

There will also be a bicycle ride to Dover for the Governor's signing of the Proclamation of Bike Month and Bike to Work Week. This ride, the Legislators' Bike To Work Ride, will be on Wednesday, May 13. See the following article for the ride schedule.

For the latest information on these and other Bike Month events, keep checking the Bicycle Council's World Wide Web site (http://www.state.de.us/deldot/bike/welcome.htm), the Transportation Management Association of New Castle County (http://www.tmancc.org), and the White Clay Bicycle Club (http://www.delanet.com/~wcbc).

9th Annual Legislators' Bike-To-Work Ride

Join us on May 13 for the 9th annual Legislators Bike To Work Ride. State Rep. Roger Roy began this 54-mile (one way) ride in May, 1990, by leading bicycling enthusiasts from the Delcastle Recreation Area to the steps of the State Capitol in Dover, to attend the signing of the bill creating the Delaware Bicycle Council. Since then it has become an annual event to promote bicycling during National Bicycling Month.

In recent years Rep. Roy and State Sen. Dave Sokola have led bicyclists from Delcastle, and were joined by as many as 60 other cyclists along the route, including Gov. Tom Carper, DelDOT Secretary Anne Canby, and officials from DNREC, New Castle County, the Delaware Bicycle Council, the Delaware Greenway Council, and the various police bicycle patrols. Some of the more serious bicyclists ride back to Delcastle in the afternoon for a total of over 100 miles.

This year the ride has been routed over the St. George's bridge to call attention to its importance as a C&D canal crossing for bicyclists.

The ride schedule is as follows--departure times, locations, and approximate one-way mileage (see the web site for cue sheets):

Depart 6:15 a.m. - Delcastle Recreation Area, 56 miles
Depart 7:00 a.m. - Rt. 72 at Caldor parking lot, 47 miles
Depart 7:45 a.m. - Lum's Pond main entrance, 43 miles (join route at St. George's Bridge)
Depart 8:00 a.m. - St. George's Bridge, north end, 38 miles
Depart 8:30 a.m. - Middletown (Broad & Main), 29 miles
Depart 10:15 a.m. - The Corner Store in Clayton, 14 miles
Arrive 11:30 a.m. - Legislative Hall, Dover

1997 Bicycle Helmet Education & Distribution Program Student Survey
by Susan Leininger

School nurses demonstrated their role as health educators and school community advocates by coordinating a bicycle helmet education and distribution program in their schools during the Spring of 1997. Sixty-four schools participated in the Delaware School Nurses Association 1997 Bicycle Helmet Education and Distribution Program. Thirty percent of the participating schools were selected at random to distribute a pre- and post-survey to determine how the bicycle helmet education programs impacted student behavior and knowledge. A total of 28, 415 Delaware school children participated in the program with 18% (5234) receiving bicycle helmets. Nearly 6200 students were surveyed in the pre-test and 3880 were surveyed in the post-test. Results indicate that there was an increase in the portion of students participating in the program who both owned and wore bicycle helmets. There was also an increase in the portion of students who were aware of Delaware's Helmet Law and understood how a bicycle helmet can prevent serious head injury. This program has been very successful in providing both bicycle helmet education and low cost bicycle helmets to Delaware school children.

Don teaching Bike Safety
Don Carbaugh teaching bike safety at Bayard Elementary School, Wilmington.

School Bicycle Safety Education
by Mark Manno, University of DE Cooperative Extension

The 1998 4-H/White Clay Bicycle Club School Programs got underway with presentations at Colwyck Elementary in New Castle on March 18. Now in its 10th year of operation, over 8000 school children in the area are signed up to hear presenters deliver the message of safe cycling and the need to wear helmets. A core group of presenters from previous years as well as several new presenters are already hard at work, but additional presenters are still needed. If you can give half a day or even an entire day to this important program, it would be tremendously helpful. The bulk of the presentations occur after the schools return from spring break in late April and extend through the end of May. For more information on the program, contact Mark Manno at 4-H (302-831-8965). If you can take time to visit a school, contact Mike Barker (302-998-7684).

Don Carbaugh, Jamal Elliot and Mark Manno have joined a team of Extension professionals, volunteers, youth and other from around the country on the design team for a new national 4-H Bicycle Curriculum. The design team will have input into the content of the curriculum as well as the activities involved. The curriculum will cover areas such as purchasing a bicycle, safe cycling, health and fitness as well as the interconnectedness that cycling has with fitness, textiles, transportation and more. The curriculum is expected to be available nationwide in August 1999. Currently over 5,000,000 youth are enrolled in 4-H, making it the largest youth development program in the country.

Possible Bicycle Lane on the St. Georges Bridge
by Paul Stevenson

If the Hardcore DuPont Composites plan for the St. Georges Bridge becomes a reality, bicyclists will have a safe and convenient way to cross the C&D canal. Without St. Georges, cyclists have two options: the long, narrow, steep Reedy Point bridge on Route 9, and the Summit Bridge, with four lanes of high speed traffic and only a narrow shoulder on Rt. 896. Both of these are intimidating to casual or inexperienced cyclists.

The Hardcore plan calls for an 8 foot cantilevered pedestrian/bicycle lane on one side of the bridge, a technique that has been successfully applied elsewhere in the country and was once suggested for the Summit Bridge. The plan includes overhauling and restoring the rest of the 56 year old St. Georges structure using composite deck technology. A fiber optic lighting system would be installed that includes lane markers, ship lights and lighting for the pedestrian/bicycle path.

Rep. Richard Cathcart has introduced HB473 to the General Assembly to enable the complex chain of financial transactions necessary to implement the Hardcore plan. This bill would permit the State of Delaware to purchase the bridge from the Army Corps of Engineers. The State, in turn, would pass ownership to Hardcore so that the repairs could be made. Once the bridge is completed, Hardcore would turn ownership back to the Corps or would operate it as a toll road to recoup their costs.

Present timelines indicate that the bridge would be completed in the Spring of 1999. If all goes according to plan, Delaware would have a first rate bicycle crossing over the Canal.

effective cycling seminar

What is WILCO?
by Don Carbaugh

The Wilmington Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (WILCO) is the key long range transportation planning organization for New Castle County DE and Cecil County MD. Its policy-making body, the WILCO Council, consists of state county and municipal representatives. It has a staff of 10, numerous committees and subcommittees, and an annual budget of approximately $1 million from local, state and federal funds. Plans developed by WILCO have a major long term impact on bicycling facilities.

WILCO develops three key documents that are the backbone to transportation planning and programming in the region: the long range Metropolitan Transportation Plan, the Unified Planning Work Program and the Transportation Improvement Program. Working hand-in-hand with DelDOT, WILCO helps develop the capital budget for transportation projects.

WILCO is expanding its public outreach and seeking greater citizen involvement. To learn more, visit the website: www.wp.com/wilco or call 302-737-6205 and ask for your free copy of "Citizen's Guide to Transportation Planning in the WILCO Region."

Delaware Bicycle s!

New Delaware s for bicycle users are now available free of charge from the Delaware Tourism Office at 1-800-441-8846 or you can write to:

Delaware Tourism Office
99 Kings Highway
P.O. Box 1401
Dover, DE 19903

Wilmington Multi-modal Transportation Plan Pedals Toward Bike-Friendly Future
by Edith Carlson

Transportation in Wilmington is undergoing dramatic revisions, and bicycling needs are being included in the discussions. David Hunt, Wilmington Director of Transportation, is determined to change Wilmington's image as a city unfriendly to bicycling. Hunt has been meeting regularly with Sheri Woodruff, Don Carbaugh and Edith Carlson from the Bicycle Council; Liz Holloway, DelDOT Bicycle Pedestrian Coordinator; Tigist Zegeye of Wilco; and John Tylee of Wilmington 2000 as part of the ongoing discussions shaping Wilmington's transportation future. Major bicycle commuting routes identified in past "Bike to Work" activities are being targeted to increase safety for bicyclists. New projects, such as the Christina Riverfront Development, are incorporating bicycle travel as a component.

"While its difficult to retrofit bicycle lanes and bicycle routes into an already built area, its not impossible. Given the commitment on the part of Wilmington, Wilco and DelDOT and the Bicycle Council to see this happen, we are confident Wilmington can become a bicycle-friendly city," says Carlson. "Its also part of the tourism and economic-development goals to provide seamless transportation connectivity so visitors can travel without an automobile if they so choose."

All interested bicyclists are encouraged to attend the next public workshop on Wilmington Transportation Projects later this spring, and to contact Bicycle Council members with comments and suggestions for improving bicycle travel in Wilmington.

New Sussex Committee Started
by Bill Davis

Over a dozen cyclists participated in the kick-off meeting of the new Sussex Committee on February 21, at the Lewis Library. The agenda was focused on introducing Eastern Sussex concerns to the new At-Large DBC representative, and finding ways to come together as cyclists to advocate our interests.

The strongest issues reiterated were concerns surrounding Route 1. There are several contributing factors that need to be addressed including bus conflicts, pavement markings, road debris, tourism issues, traffic hazards, and transportation infrastructure (such things stop light triggers, water grates, curbing, bike racks, etc.).

The Cape Henlopen Steering Committee was also discussed, and local cyclists made clear their preference for a rail-to-trail conversion connecting Lewis and Rehoboth.

Common ground was found for the Committee to work on in the need for a East-West cycling corridor, DOT road surfacing quality, and local government awareness of cycling issues.

The new committee plans to meet every other month (the even Months: April, June, August, etc.) a couple weeks before the regular DBC meeting. The next Sussex County meeting will again be held at the Lewis Library on Saturday April 25, at 1:00 p.m. A short reconnaissance bike ride will be held afterwards to examine Route 1 problems.

Council Meeting May 6

The Bicycle Council meets bi-monthly, and all meetings are open to the public. The next meeting is Wednesday, May 6, at 6:00 p.m. in the Diamond Group offices in Odessa. Call 302-739-BIKE or check our wet site in case of last minute schedule changes.

Bicycling Benefits
by Fred Breukelman, Director of Health Education

About 12,500 Delaware adults say that bicycling is the "physical activity they spend the most time doing." (DHSS, Division of Public Health, 1996 Behavioral Risk Factor Survey). And another 9,000 list bicycling as their second-favorite form of exercise.

Bicycling has many health benefits. It can help you maintain or lose weight, manage stress and prevent some types of heart disease. Moderate physical activity also helps you build and maintain healthy bones, muscles and joints. And once you get it shape, it's an energy builder. Regular cycling will give you more energy to do other things you enjoy in life.

Just remember to ride safely, wear a helmet, and begin gradually. People over 40 who have not been exercising regularly, are overweight, or who have a history of heart disease should see a doctor before starting any program of physical activity. However, don't let that be an excuse for not starting on the road to a happier, healthier future.

Walking is the most popular form of leisure-time physical activity among Delaware adults age 18 and older. Nearly 100,000 Delaware adults choose walking as the exercise "they spend the most time doing." Another 35,000 choose walking as their second-favorite activity.

Running is the second most popular form of exercise. About 50,000 adults choose running as the activity "they spend the most time doing."

chart

1998 Bicycling Calendar

Bicycle Month - May
Effective Cycling Courses, Newark - May 2, 3, 9, 10, 16 & 17
Effective Cycling Course, Lewes - Spring
Bike to Work Week - May 16-23
Legislator's Bike to Work Ride - May 13
Delaware Double-Cross, Middletown - July 5
Effective Cycling Courses, Newark - August
Amish Century, Dover - Sept. 12
Wilmington - Sept. 20 Savage Century, Newark - Oct. 3
MS150 Bike-to-the-Bay - Oct. 3-4

For more information, check out the Council's web page at www.state.de.us/deldot/bike/welcome.htm

Pedal for Preservation

A new history-oriented bicycle tour is in the works for the Wilmington area. Preservation Delaware is developing "Pedal for Preservation," a cycling event slated for Sunday, September 20. Three routes have been planned--10 miles for families and casual cyclists, and 35 or 62 miles for more ambitious cyclists. The terrain features the historic sections of Wilmington and the Brandywine Valley. Participants will receive a T-shirt and a post-tour party at Gibraltar, the starting and ending point for the ride. For more information call 302-651-9617.

The Delaware Bicycle Council was established by House Bill 505 in May of 1990 to "consider, review and work on matters pertaining to bicycling, bicycle safety and bicycle safety education, and to make recommendations to various state agencies." In 1996 House Bill 556 increased the Council to 15 members from the original 9. Members are appointed by the Governor for two or three year terms; seven are citizens knowledgeable in bicycling, and eight are representatives of state agencies. The Department of Transportation serves as the sponsoring agency providing staff and financial support. Staff support is provided by DelDOT's Bicycle/Pedestrian Coordinator. The council meets at least five times a year and reports annually to the Cabinet Committee on State Planning.

May, 1998 Newsletter"Our mission is to promote and enhance bicycling in Delaware"

May, 1998 Newsletter
"Our mission is to promote and enhance bicycling in Delaware"