Pilot Program Updates

Click here to read about Marin County's selection as a Nonmotorized Pilot. For more information, contact Deb Hubsmith, MCBC Advocacy Director, at (415) 454-7430, or deb@marinbike.org

• Fall 2009 Update, October 2009
• Marin bicyclists get green light on bike sensors, August 2009
• Complete Update Log

From MCBC's Fall 2009Pedal Press

October, 2009

There is never a dull moment with implementation of the Nonmotorized Transportation Pilot Program (NTPP), a $25 million project for 2006-2010. The NTPP seeks to show how federal investment in bicycle and pedestrian programs, policies and infrastructure can get people out of cars, and onto their feet and bikes—improving health, traffic and the environment. Here are some highlights.

• New bike lanes were just completed on Miller Creek Road, connecting to bike lanes installed two years ago on Las Gallinas and Lucas Valley roads.
• New bike lanes on Alameda del Prado in Novato and Los Ranchitos Road in Terra Linda are under construction.
• This fall the County will be installing new bicycle traffic detectors at 31 traffic signals throughout the County.
• The County conducted annual bicycle and pedestrian counts at dozens of locations in September. These counts will be compared to the numbers from 1999, 2006 and 2007.
• WalkBikeMarin and Trips for Kids have started youth bicycle classes.
• The County will be hosting a second public meeting on the Mill Valley-Corte Madera Gap Closure Project this fall, analyzing the Alto Tunnel, Horse Hill, and Camino Alto routes.
• Fairfax held another public meeting on the East-West Corridor study (from Fairfax to San Rafael) and the final report should be released soon. The town is also moving forward with bike lanes on Sir Francis Drake from the Public Library to the Good Earth market, and a sidewalk on Pastori.
• The Marin County Department of Health and Human Services and the Marin County Department of Public Works co-hosted a conference on the built environment and health in September.
• Several representatives from Marin County are heading to Columbia, MO in October to meet with representatives from the other three federal Pilot communities, the Federal Highway Administration, and Rails-to- Trails Conservancy about developing the final report for Congress.

The Marin County Bicycle Coalition looks forward to continuing to work with the County of Marin and other partners to make the Pilot Program a huge success. For more information see www.walkbikemarin.org.

Marin bicyclists get green light on bike sensors

August, 2009

As part of the $25 million federal pilot program, charged with improving the built environment, promoting bicycling and walking, and measuring the results, Marin County has invested $922,000 to install 30 bike sensors at busy traffic intersections throughout the County.

This project is important for improving safety, because many traffic lights simply don’t detect the presence of bicyclists due to the fact that there is not enough metal on the bikes to trigger some traffic signals. At key intersections, video detectors will be installed before the end of this year to fix this problem. TV Channel CBS 5 recently reported on the story and interviewed MCBC’s Advocacy Director Deb Hubsmith and Marin County’s Assistant Director of Public Works Craig Tackabery.

For a list of the traffic signals that will be upgraded click here.