Wednesday, November 22, 2017

Get your Thanksgiving guests on a bike!

So you have a houseful of family and friends for Thanksgiving, and some of them have come from out of state. The weather is nice. You want to show them around Princeton, but maybe Princeton is too big to walk around. Biking would be ideal, but you don't have extra bikes.

Zagster bikeshare to the rescue!

Zagster is easy. Zagster is cheap. And Zagster will soon have docking stations all over town. Princeton University, a leader in sustainable transportation for its students and employees, started the bikeshare program with Zagster, and now it is expanding its network off campus. 

The latest docking station was installed last week at the Municipal complex on Witherspoon Street. Also the location of the community pool! So come summer, bike share is a great option for your kids to take their visiting friends to the pool.



The details are where things get really sweet: You get a lifetime membership for $20. Rides under 2 hours are free. Sign up at zagster.com and select Princeton for your location. Download the app onto your phone.

When you're ready for a ride, use Zagster's map to find the docking station nearest you, and follow the simple instructions to open the box containing the key-on-a-string that frees the lock. Presto! you're on your way. When you're done, dock the bike at any station.



The key box is on top of the baggage carrier so you can't give a ride to a friend, but a  pannier with hooks fits very well onto the carrier.

Nothing is more comfortable than your own bike, of course. But to give a guest the pleasure of touring our town the way it was meant to be seen: outdoors and at a leisurely pace, you can't beat this bikeshare program.

Happy Thanksgiving!





Wednesday, November 8, 2017

Princeton Parking Study meeting 20 November

The consultants on Princeton's Parking Study are to present their key findings on the study as well as their draft recommendations, at a community Open House on Monday, November 20, 2017, 6.30 - 8.30 pm at the Nassau Inn in Palmer Square.

Parking spots and bicycle lanes compete for the precious public space on our streets, especially in the downtown area, which is a popular after-school destination for our children. Please contribute with your advocacy for safe bike and walk infrastructure in our town, while keeping in mind the varied mobility needs of all our neighbors.

The excellent consultants from Nelson Nygaard are expected to present some innovative solutions to our parking issues, but residents know our town better than anyone, so bring to the discussion your creative ideas for optimizing downtown access for everyone!

Since the parking study is funded by a grant to promote the economic vitality of our downtown, you may be interested in using this rather long list of studies that show how bike & walk traffic benefit businesses, from large cities like New York to smaller communities like Oakland, CA.

If you need to catch up on what's happened in the parking study so far, slides from previous parking study presentations (pdf) can be downloaded from Princeton's Parking Study page.







Saturday, November 4, 2017

It's Fall. Helmets on!

Cool weather has finally arrived, and that means things falling from above.

Be extra careful when it's raining, as wet leaves are slippery. If you see bike lanes blocked by leaf piles or brush, you can report it at Access Princeton - yes, it's available as an app, which makes it easy to upload photos.

Princeton is home to a rather large number of osage orange trees. I've been told these were used as meadow separators, back when the Princeton core was surrounded by farmland. Osage orange trees have pretty leaves, fearsome spikes, and heavy fruit. Really heavy fruit that tends to hit the ground with a thud. Public Works does a good job of pruning them back periodically, but of course they keep growing, with their branches hanging over the streets.

Another good reason to wear your helmet!




Thursday, November 2, 2017

Re: [PBAC-public] Support Bicycle Mobility Plan at meeting TONIGHT

>    A reminder that the Planning Board meeting is TODAY at 7.30pm
>     (As David Cohen has pointed out, there is no set ending time for the meeting.)


I'd be quite happy to get one single thing out of this way-overblown BMP process:

    I really want the contra-flow bike path on Spring, from Witherspoon to Vandeventer !

My problem:  what I want, instead of standing by itself, is just one of 3 elements embedded
within "The Wiggle". What is The Wiggle ? It's something in San Francisco. Do I think, after
biking around here for 23 years, The Wiggle, as defined, makes much sense ? No. Do I
think there should be some mention of Vandeventer, which is busy and dangerous, in
The Wiggle ? Yes. Do I think they'll be willing to flip around all the stop signs, for example
on Chestnut, to convert Spruce to a Bike Boulevard ? No. So do I think "The Wiggle" will
ever happen ?  No.  But hey, it looks good on paper. But is that what "planning" is all about ?

Meanwhile, I want that contra-flow lane. Obvious.  Even if it has gotten lost amid the verbiage.



"The Wiggle" Provides an alternative route across the downtown parallel 
to Nassau Street and the Hamilton Avenue corridor. Improvements include: 

Quarry Park Path (Harrison Street to Spruce Street) | Improved Shared Use Path 
The existing asphalt path provides a connection between Harrison Street and Spruce Street 
for bicyclists and pedestrians only. The following path improvements should made to provide a 
more comfortable and safe facility: 
- Path should be widened to maintain an 8 to 10-foot cross section where possible to facilitate two-way travel and use by both bicyclists and pedestrians; 
- Low-profile lighting should be installed to allow use of path after sunset. 

Spruce Street/Moore Street/ Park Place (Quarry Park to Spring Street) | Bicycle Boulevard 
The existing low speed, low volume residential street is suitable for bicycle boulevard designation and supportive improvements. Wayfinding is an important element to help cyclists navigate the circuitous nature of the route. Maintains existing LTS 1. 

Spring Street (Vandeventer Street to Witherspoon Street) | Contra-flow Bicycle Lane 
The one-way street is approximately 25 feet wide, providing sufficient width to accommodate a contra-flow bicycle lane without impacting on-street parking and enhancing access into the downtown. Creates LTS 1 facility for westbound bicyclists.