Atlanta Bicycle Coalition

The announcement came during League of American Bicyclists' 2010 National Bike Summit, where Ali is attending excellent sessions about bike advocacy and preparing for the Georgia delegation's day on the Hill. Look for her report back next week. In the meantime, here's the press release about Google's "bike there" directions from the League!

Washington, D.C. - March 10, 2010 - The League of American Bicyclists is proud to be the forum for Google to announce what all bike riders have been waiting for - Grab Your Bike and Go with Google Maps. Google is announcing at the Opening Plenary Session at the National Bike Summit that they are adding biking directions in the U.S. to Google Maps."This new tool will open people's eyes to the possibility and practicality of hopping on a bike and riding," said Andy Clarke, President of the League of American Bicyclists. "We know people want to ride more, and we know it's good for people and communities when they do ride more - this makes it possible. It is a game-changer, especially for those short trips that are the most polluting."

North Druid Hills is nearing the end of its Livable Centers Initiative (LCI) study, and cyclists have participated throughout the process. It's an important corridor for biking in DeKalb County, or could be if it were made more accessible and bike-friendly. The latest project info and documents from the 2/25/10 meeting have been posted to the North Druid Hills LCI Study webpage: www.northdruidhillslci.com. Please visit the page, review the documents and use the Comment Form to submit your comments by March 4, 2010.

This is good news! HB 988 was approved by committee yesterday. But we still have work to do - the phrase "when reasonable" had already been inserted by a subcommittee. Our question is, when is it not reasonable to give cyclists a safe passing distance of three feet? If the lane is too narrow to pass safely, drivers should wait until it's safe to pass. Additionally, as Georgia Bikes Alliance board member Eddie pointed out in subcommittee, most people have a difficult time judging distance off the far side of their cars.

The City of Roswell has received a $3 Million Federal grant to build a Bike/Ped Multi-Use Bridge over the Chattahoochee River at Roswell Road. The Multi-Use Bridge would stand alone, running along the west side of the existing Roswell road bridge. Connecting on the south side, the Multi-Use Bridge would loop underneath the existing Roswell Road bridge and open out to Roberts Drive on the east, avoiding the crossing of traffic Roswell Road. On the north side, it would merge with the existing Roswell River trail.

This bridge is on the city limits between Roswell and Sandy Springs and the grant requires a local match -- about $350k from each city. Roswell is willing to come up with their portion of the match, now we need to convince Sandy Springs at their city council meeting on Tuesday, February 16th to do the same.

Eva Galambos, the Sandy Springs Mayor is on the fence with this one and has reportedly stated, “Nobody in Sandy Springs rides bikes”. Why does she think that? I don’t know. Maybe it’s because the organized rides start early in the morning? Maybe it’s because there is no dedicated advocacy group of Sandy Springs citizens that regularly meets with the city and pushes for bicycle accommodations? Maybe it’s because there’s a limited number of locally-owned bike shops in Sandy Springs? Whatever the reason, could we all make the decision today to step forward and offer a bit of support before Tuesday, February 16th?

ABC is so pleased to announce that Amir Farokhi has joined the ABC Governing Board. Please read more for a brief bio.