Alta Update - February 2009

A Bicyclist's View of the Inauguration

Jeff Olson and Charlie Denney were among the million plus people who traveled to the national Mall in Washington D.C. for the Inauguration of President Barack Obama. From a bicyclist's perspective, there were two key aspects of this historic day: 1) The transportation management system for the event, and 2) The relationship between the bike / pedestrian / trails movement and our new national leadership.

First, the observations on the inauguration's mobility system: For the most part, the record-breaking crowd was happy and peaceful. Jeff flew on a 6:15am flight into BWI Airport, took a shuttle bus to the Metro Green Line, and walked from L'Enfant Plaza station to the Washington Monument before 11am. The transit system was jammed, there was pedestrian congestion on some streets, but the system worked. Charlie, his sons and friends rode their bikes from Arlington and had a smooth trip into DC since the Potomac River bridges were closed to private motor vehicles. Valet Bike Parking was set up along the mall by local advocacy organization WABA and, although it was a very cold day by DC standards, there were thousands of bicyclists among the crowd.

After the event, Charlie biked home and Jeff walked the length of the Mall to the Lincoln Memorial, then across the I-66 Roosevelt Bridge to the Rosslyn metro station. On the way, he ran into FHWA Bike/Ped Coordinator Gabe Rousseau and WABA Director Eric Gilliland . With no cars on the roads and bridges, it looked like the great "Sunday Parkways" program had been adopted by our nation's capital. There was pedal taxi service across the river, people were stopping on the bridges for photos of the DC skyline, and the views of the Iwo Jima memorial from the middle of the freeway ramps were spectacular. It is important to note that even on a very cold day, people were happy to walk and bike to and from this major event – a key lesson for urban crowd management and transportation planning.

The bigger question of the Inauguration is whether the new administration will make walking, bicycling and trails a priority. There have been significant discussions on Capitol Hill about including funding for sustainable solutions in the President's stimulus package. We know that there are potentially billions of dollars worth of 'shovel ready' bike, pedestrian and trail projects waiting to be built in communities across the country. As a nation, we need to make sure that the stimulus program creates a better transportation system - with complete streets, safe routes to schools and non-motorized mobility as key themes. This is the promise of an administration that campaigned for change, and a country that needs a new green infrastructure. Alta will continue to be part of this effort, and we are in a unique position to help our clients, agencies and communities through these challenging times.

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Alta Planning + Design is in Nevada!

Alta Designer Sherie Moore provides local knowledge and expertise for Southern Nevada projects

Alta kicked off the project in January with an introductory tour of Moapa Valley led by the trails committee.

Fast growth in Henderson has increased demand for new trails

Bozeman Area Transportation Plan
Adopted by City Commission

The updated Greater Bozeman Area Transportation Plan (Bozeman, Montana), that serves as a blueprint for the future of transportation in and around the city, received approval from the Bozeman City Commission last week.

Work on the update began in March 2007 by a consultant team led by Robert Peccia & Associates and Alta Planning + Design. The plan anticipates Gallatin County’s population will grow from the current 84,000 to between 117,000 to 164,000 by the year 2030. The plan forecasts traffic demands out to the year 2030 and outlines new roads, bike paths, sidewalks and other ground transportation to accommodate those demands.

Through the public process and a user needs survey Alta was able to involve over 3,200 area residents in the planning process. The result is a plan that fully integrates non-motorized considerations and recommendations in all chapters of the Transportation Plan.

The plan recommends 19 sidewalk projects, 14 pedestrian intersection improvements, 50 bike-lane projects, 22 expanded road-shoulder projects and 24 shared-use path projects. In addition to physical improvements, the Plan includes Complete Streets principles and guidelines, education and encouragement programs, and updated roadway typical sections that will ensure bicycle and pedestrian accommodation in any future roadway project.

This adopted plan, with recent improvements, puts Bozeman in good position the League of American Bicyclists’ ‘Bicycle Friendly Community’ status.

Next up is adoption by the Gallatin County Commission on February 10th.

Steve Durrant keynotes 2009 Iowa Bicycle Summit

The Iowa Bicycle Coalition , Iowa's statewide bike advocacy organization, is only 5 years old but operates like an old hand at mobilizing advocates, pursuing appropriate legislation and funding (national, state and local) and providing services to Iowa communities and riders. Iowa has one of the best off-road trail systems in place in the country, thanks in large part to the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation and their almost 30 year mission to acquire abandoned rail corridors and other linear connections throughout the state. Iowa also has what is probably the largest mass-ride (maybe the oldest?): RAGBRAI .

Steve Durrant , Alta's senior landscape architect (Portland), and Ann Freiwald, from our Madison, WI office spent two cold January days in Des Moines presenting at the 2009 Iowa Bicycle Summit. The full-day session on Friday covered the background advocates need to practice to have convincing conversations with legislators, public works directors, and city council people: 'why is it so important to include bicycling in everyday life and infrastructure?' They covered on-road and off-road facility design, with a special session on bike/walk streets, and some of the innovations we are starting to see brought to the US including cycletracks, green bike lanes and bike boxes.

Steve was the keynote speaker at the grassroots day on Saturday. He reported back: "I can't tell you how impressed I was with the quality of their clubs, advocates and resources. Iowa has to be one of The Places to visit as a cyclist."

Alta will be starting the Des Moines Bicycle Master Plan and the Lewis and Clark Trail (150 miles) in the next few weeks.

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LandPeople Completes Pacific Crest Trail
Land Protection Inventory

Most people know of the Pacific Crest Trail, a legendary 2,650 mile scenic trail from Mexico to Canada that passes through the Mojave Desert and along the peaks of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade ranges. Many people have hiked portions of it, and a select few have accomplished "through hikes" the entire length of the trail - a classic American odyssey, along with hiking the Appalachian Trail.

Alta+Landpeople is helping to ensure that the route of the trail and experience of hiking or riding it is secure for future generations. The Pacific Crest Trail Association (PCTA) is a Sacramento-based non-profit organization with the mission "to protect, preserve and promote the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail as an internationally significant resource for the enjoyment of hikers and equestrians, and for the value that wild and scenic lands provide to all people". In June, 2008, PCTA retained Alta's LandPeople office to prepare a Land Protection Inventory for the entire trail.

The objective was to identify the parcel or easement acquisition needed to establish the trail and protect the experience of trail users, and to provide an estimate of the acquisition cost. LandPeople coordinated with Ann Van Leer of Land Conservation Brokerage, Inc., to input property values.

Land Acquisition Inventory click to view

New Employees and Offices

Alta has continued to expand our staff in order to provide more skills and a broader range of services. With the addition of two offices (Alta Midwest and Alta Las Vegas), we're now a network of 12 offices nationwide.

Below are employees listed by office location that have not been previously introduced in the Alta Update. Click on a link to find out more about them on their staff pages at altaplanning.com .

Alta's Recent Publications & Presentations

Here's a selection of our most recent publications and presentations. For a full list of available documents produced by Alta, check out the Presentations & Studies section of our website .

Alta Presents to Planning Students in the Netherlands
Alta Planning + Design has a history of working with students and educating young planners on the needs of bicyclists and pedestrians. Jeff Olson has been teaching one of the first bicycle and pedestrian planning classes in the country since the early 90’s. He has also worked with the State University of New York at Albany to create the Initiative for Healthy Infrastructure to promote healthy infrastructure policies. On the west coast, Alta Principal Mia Birk has been teaching a bicycle and pedestrian class at Portland State University for a number of years.

Most recently, Alta Planner Joshua Poppel was on hand at the NHTV ( Academy for Urban Development, Logistics and Mobility ) in Breda, Netherlands to work with Dutch planning students. He gave a presentation titled, " From Cycletracks to Singlespeeds: A Comparison of Bicycle Facilities and Cycling Culture between North America and Europe ." The presentation was attended by approximately 90 students and the ensuing discussion was very well received. As Professor Ineke Spape later stated, "The presentation really was fantastic: I think you opened the eyes of our students about planning differences between Europe and USA."

• Bike Sharing/Public Bikes: Programs, Vendors and Technologies published 1/28/09
• Cycle Tracks: Lessons Learned published 12/15/08
• Bicycle Interaction with Streetcars published 10/22/08