Regional Action Alerts: Blue Ridge Parkway & Greater Philadelphia

Busy day today in the world of bicycling advocacy.

Complete Streets

Last night, we told you about the Complete Streets-inspired amendment that the Senate Commerce Committee is considering tomorrow. You can still contact your Senator, if she or he is a member of the Commerce Committee, to voice your support for Senator Begich’s amendment.

Blue Ridge Parkway Management Plan

This morning, we sent out an action alert to bicyclists in Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina to ask them to send in comments to the Blue Ridge Parkway Supervisor on the park’s 20-year Draft Management Plan. Cyclists in other states are also welcome to comment. In it’s current form, the plan could limit the Parkway’s ability to sufficiently plan for biking in the future.

We have been working closely with the Virginia Bicycling Federation, the Adventure Cycling Association, and the International Mountain Bicycling Association on the Blue Ridge Parkway campaign. We are asking the park planners to: 1) Halt the National Historic Landmark application process. The designation would make it harder to make future improvements for bicycling access, such as wider shoulders and trails. 2) Recognize and promote cycling in the Draft Management Plan as a viable and important aspect of Parkway visitation. 3) Work with cyclists, the surrounding communities, and the general public to meet the needs of today’s changing world.

Ben Franklin Bridge Access

This afternoon, we worked with the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia to get the word out about their petition and organized bike ride to a key meeting to get the Delaware River Port Authority (DRPA) to keep its promise to build a bicycling ramp to access the Ben Franklin Bridge. As readers of this blog know, bridge access campaigns (PDF) are big deal to us.

It is a pleasure to work with such committed bicycling advocates across the country. I look forward to seeing many of you at the National Bike Summit in March.