Mayor Bob Invites You To 2012 Bicycle Bash on Nov 4

Check out Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn inviting everyone to this year's Bicycle Bash Festival on NOV 4 at Cotanchobee Park:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mr0sn5S3AxY&feature=share

Wanted: Bicycle Bash Volunteers

Do you want to volunteer for the SWFBUD Bicycle Bash festival on NOV 4? Please email me -- http://www.bicyclebash.info/

SWFBUD Has Worked Hard On Bypass Canal Trail Project -- Open House Held Thursday

SWFBUD has worked for several years to get Hillsborough County to build the Bypass Canal Trail from New Tampa to State Road 60 and I was happy to hear about the open house on the project held Thursday. SWFBUD members Randy Myhre of Oliver's and J. Steele Olmstead were among those in attendance. You want a regional paved trail network? Then call and write your county commissioners. Major bicycle improvements will happen only when you get involved in the political process.

Green-Painted Bike Lane In Vegas

SWFBUD Reunites With Two Strong Voices For Bicycling In America At Interbike

It was great to hang with two great voices for bicycling in America at Interbike -- Ira David Levy, creator/producer of the Pedal America TV show and Andy Clarke, president of the League of American Bicyclists.  Both will be at the Bicycle Bash festival on NOV 4 in downtown Tampa and Andy will be the main speaker at the SWFBUD bicycle summit on NOV 5 in Tampa to be held at the history center. County Commissioner Mark Sharpe and Hillsborough County are also working to put on the bike summit Nov 5.

Wish There Was Bike Parking At The Convention Center For Demo Days

SWFBUD brought his bicycle to Las Vegas to use it as transportation around the city and also see what another sunbelt city is like for bicyclists. I am staying in downtown Vegas a block from the Fremont Street Experience and biked the four miles to the Sands Convention Center on the Strip to pick up the shuttle bus for the outdoor demo days as part of the Interbike week but sadly and surprisingly there was not a designated  bicycle parking area at the Sands for people who biked there to take the shuttle. The bike parking room will be set up for Wed-Friday when Interbike shifts to the convention center in Vegas. So I convinced security to park my bike in its makeshift headquarters room.

Construction Challenges Facing Bicyclists In Tampa Area

Another construction zone challenge for bicyclists in Tampa area. This is Bruce B. Downs Blvd. at Fowler. today Bike lane ends and bicyclist has to veer left into through lane. Recipe for a car-bicyclist crash. Notice guy on bike going wrong way in coned off area. Pretty dysfunctional stuff all the way around.

SWFBUD Prompts Local FDOT Office To Install Bicycle Signs At I-75/Morris Bridge Road Construction Area

SWFBUD contacted the local Tampa Florida DOT office about the danger area for bicyclists in a construction zone at the I-75 ramp and Morris Bridge Road outside Tampa. SWFBUD asked several times in emails to the FDOT for bicycle signs to alert motorists and I was happy see them on Morris Bridge Road and the I=75 exit ramp.

Sentence Hearing Set for Hit-and-Run Driver Who Killed Bicyclist Kay 2 Years Ago

Jose Menendez offers this update on the Kay Ishizuka case: 

A sentencing hearing for Shawn Lee Burton, the motorist who was charged with leaving the scene of the crash that killed Kayoko Ishizuka, is scheduled for Oct. 19th at 8 a.m. That's 2 years to the day after he was arrested.

His pre-trial hearing back on Monday morning was continued to Friday (yesterday) at 2 p.m. At that hearing, he changed his plea and asked Judge Steven Scott Stephens to sentence him, rather than proceed with the jury trial, which was scheduled to start on Tuesday, the 18th. See this Tampa Bay Timesarticle for more info.

Leaving the scene of a crash involving death is a first degree felony in Florida, so it's possible that the sentence could be for many years in prison. Burton has already spent nearly two years in jail since his arrest on Oct. 19, 2010.

The 2nd anniversary of Kay's death is coming up on Tuesday, Sept. 25th

SWFBUD Is Holding Its Annual Bicycle Bash On NOV 4

Tampa Bypass Canal Trail Open House

How do you envision the Tampa Bypass Canal trail?

The proposed 17-mile Bypass Canal Trail running from Flatwoods Park to Adamo Drive is envisioned as a 12 foot multi-use trail connecting parks and communities. It includes over and under passes, and roadway crossings.

Please join us for a public open house!
 
Thursday, September 20th
anytime between
4:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Veterans Memorial Park
3602 Highway 301, Tampa, Florida 33619

Bicyclist Hit By Car On Bruce B. Downs at I-75 In New Tampa

Occasionally I'll bike on Bruce B. Downs Blvd near I-75 but usually I try and avoid it because the transportation crews don';t do a good job accommodating bicyclists at road construction areas and at interchanges. Today a bicyclist was struck on Bruce B. Downs near I-75:

http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/accidents/bicyclist-airlifted-to-hospital-after-crash-in-new-tampa/1250766

Bicycling's Economic Benefits

Terrific piece by Darren at the League of American Bicyclists showing economic benefits of bicycling:


http://www.advocacyadvance.org/docs/economic_benefits_bicycle_infrastructure_report.pdf

Can You Say Selmon Expressway Greenway?

Wow, check out how New York made space for bicyclists and peds and other users underneath the FDR Highway on Manhattan's East Side. Why can't Tampa build a similar trail below the raised Selmon Expressway? It's been proposed, so what is Tampa waiting for? Let's build it.

Gov. Scott Opts Out Of Trail Funding But FDOT Earmarks Funds For Future Trails

IMBA, the mountain bike group based in Boulder, Colo., says Florida Gov. Rick Scott is the only governor in the country to opt out of recreational trail funding but the Florida DOT has pledged to put away the $2.6 million that Scott turned down from the feds for future trail projects.

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2012-08-31/news/os-bike-path-state-20120831_1_recreational-trails-federal-money-trail-projects


SWFBUD joined 10 other groups from around the state of Florida to urge the FDOT to continue funding trails.