SWFBUD -- South West Florida Bicyclists United With Dealers: SWFBUD Requests Paving Of Bypass Canal Trail As Part Of Metro Tampa Regional Paved Trail Network

Monday, May 16, 2011

SWFBUD Requests Paving Of Bypass Canal Trail As Part Of Metro Tampa Regional Paved Trail Network

TAMPA -- On Tuesday SWFBUD will be making a powerpoint presentation on paving the Bypass Canal Trail along the Bypass Canal from Morris Bridge Road to State Road 60 as part of a proposed regional paved trail system for bicyclists to improve transportation and enhance bicycle safety in Hillsborough County.

Alan Snel, SWFBUD (South West Florida Bicycle United Dealers) Director, will be making the Bypass Canal Trail presentation at a Hillsborough Greenways and City of Tampa greenways & Trails Citizen Advisory Coimmittees joint meeting on Tuesday May 17, at 6 PM, at the Loretta Ingraham Community Center at 1615 N. Hubert Street, Tampa 33607.

A paved Bypass Canal Trail would encourage bicyclists from New Tampa and Temple Terrace to bike south to State Road 60, where SWFBUD is asking the Florida DOT to include bicyclist facilities as part of the SR 60 improvement project.

In addition, a proposed South Coast Greenway project from the south could also hook into SR 60, with bicyclists biking from the south. Then, bicyclists can follow an improved State Road 60 corridor to the proposed Selmon Expressway Greenway and downtown Tampa.

"Hillsborough County, the city of Tampa and the MPO must work together to create a regional paved bicycle trail network so that bicyclists can safely and efficiciently move from all parts of the county. Some roads have good bike lanes, but many do not, causing gaps in bicyclists' travel routes in the Tampa area," Snel said.

"By creating a regional network of paved trails, it would provide bicyclists a chance to bike-commute to different parts of the county. It's just a matter of our elected political leaders to buy into this concept and make it happen," Snel said.

SWFBUD is choosing now to propose a paved Bypass Canal Trail as part of a regional paved trail network in metro Tampa because May is National Bike Month and the area has been hit hard by too many bicyclists killed by motorists.

SWFBUD is an alliance of 11 retail bicycle shops and two law fiems in the Tampa Bay area committed to improving bicycling in the Tampa Bay area. SWFBUD is responsible for prompting Hillsborough County officials to initiate the current bicycle safety action plan, putting on the annual Bicycle Bash festival and increasing the profile of bicyclists in the public arena. SWFBUD is nationally recognized for its bike advocacy work

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WHAT IS SWFBUD and HOW DID IT START?

SWFBUD (South West Florida Bicycle United Dealers) is a Tampa Bay bicycle advocacy alliance of 12 bicycle store dealers and four law firms committed to raising the profile of bicycling in the Tampa Bay market, getting more people on bicycles and drawing more public resources for bicycling.

The 12 bike shops are: ABC Bicycles, Bicycle Outfitters, Carrollwood Bicycle Emporium, Chainwheel Drive, Just Ride Bicycles, Oliver's Cycle Sports, Street Fit 360, Trek Bicycle Store of Tampa and Clearwater, Trek Bicycle Store of St. Petersburg, The Ironman Store, University Bicycle Center and Velo Champ. The four law firms are Tom Singletary, J. Steele Olmstead and the Mark Roman Law Group.

The SWFBUD members enlist Alan Snel, a bicycle advocate and former metro newspaper reporter, to lobby local governments to provide more bicycle resources and to put on the Bicycle Bash festival.

SWFBUD is a play on words of Swiftmud, the Tampa Bay water district agency.

SWFBUD traces its roots to the summer of 2006, when then-Carrollwood Bicycle Emporium owner David Luppino (who now owns Just Ride Bicycles) hired Snel for promotions, marketing and to help put on the Bicycle Bash festival. At the start of 2007, Luppino believed it was appropriate that other Tampa Bay bike stores get involved in promoting bicycling, so Snel recruited other store dealers to get involved.

The Bicycle Bash was first held in October 2006 on the St. Pete Times Forum plaza before a Tampa Bay Lightning afternoon hockey game before SWFBUD moved the Bicycle Bash to St. Petersburg's Vinoy Park in 2007 and 2008 and to North Straub Park in downtown St. Petersburg in 2009. In 2010, the Bicycle Bash was moved into Hillsborough County's Flatwoods Park on Nov. 7 so that bicyclists can enjoy the Bash's exhibitor village and also have fun doing live biking in the park. In 2011, the Bicycle Bash will be held again at Flatwoods Park on NOV 6.

SWFBUD won national retail bicycle advocacy awards in 2009 from the Bicycle Retailer and Industry News (BRAIN) and the Trek Bicycle Corporation. The Bicycle Bash won the Florida Event of the Year in 2007 from the Florida Bicycle Association.

SWFBUD's Snel attends many public meetings in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, plus the National Bike Summit in Washington, D.C. to lobby political leaders and governing agencies to commit more resources to bicycling. SWFBUD believes communities that embrace and invest in bicycling become more successful and sustainable.

Flatwoods Park Ranger Thanks SWFBUD For Saving Park and Jobs

SWFBUD Wins National Bicycle Advocacy Award

The national magazine that covers the bicycle industry in this country honored SWFBUD with the 2009 Bicycle Retail Advocacy Award at the Bicycle Leadership Conference in Monterey, Calif. SWFBUD is deeply honored by this national recognition and I received the award from Megan Tompkins, editor of Bicycle Retailer and Industry News, and Tim Blumenthal, executive editor of Bikes Belong Coalition. Click photo for more info and check SP Times story, too: http://www.tampabay.com/news/humaninterest/article996595.ece