Texas Bicycling News Digest June 5th 2019
Bicyclist hit by car on West Side
By Ben Spicer | www.ksat.com
Incident occurred near Guadalupe Street, S. Zarzamora St.
SAN ANTONIO – A bicyclist was taken to an area hospital after he was hit by a vehicle overnight, San Antonio police said Wednesday.
The incident occurred just before 3:30 a.m. near Guadalupe Street and South Zarzamora Street on the city’s West Side. …
Lower Greenville bicycle shop with live-music leanings to close
lakewood.advocatemag.com
The only bike shop on Lower Greenville will close at the end of the month.
Transit Bicycle Co. opened originally in Uptown 10 years ago, taking over and rebranding the former West Village Cycles. The shop moved to Lower Greenville at Oram in 2013.
“It was an old bar. Not in great shape. A raw, grimy space for a raw, grimy bike shop,†says owner Fran Badgett.
Badgett says the …
A closer look at another HCAG-funded bike project: Heights MKT trail to White Oak Bayou Trial
Wilson | houstreets.com
Today I’m going to continue my series of bike infrastructure that is funded and coming, but you might now know about. This is another project that is being spearheaded by TxDOT Houston that was recently funded by the Houston-Galveston Area Council. These projects are typically majority funded by federal funds, with some percentage of local funds being used alongside. I recently detailed a similar project with a comparable timeline to connect the Heights MKT trail to Memorial Park.
Today, I want to look at the connector that is planned to connect the MKT Trail to the White Oak Bayou Trail. A 10′ wide sidewalk and bridge are to be constructed to link them utilizing existing TxDOT right-of-way (ROW). …
Surprising neighborhood support for white hockey-stick barriers
MichaelBluejay | bicycleaustin.info
On Nextdoor.com, a neighbor complained about the vertical white plastic barriers the City put in the street near some intersections, separating the car lane from the bike lane, saying they were an eyesore. Surprisingly, most neighbors disagreed with him, saying they enhance cyclist safety. Or maybe not so surprising: while the general public has a disdain for cyclists and their safety, people on Nextdoor.com are more likely to be community-minded, by definition.
Here’s the original complaint: …
Houston’s Near Northside neighborhood’s sidewalks, biking infrastructure surveyed by Kinder Institute
HEATHER LEIGHTON | kinder.rice.edu
On Saturday, Kinder Institute for Urban Research staff and community volunteers came together at the BakerRipley Leonel Castillo Community Center to conduct a walking and biking infrastructure survey of the Near Northside neighborhood.
Teams went out to canvas the condition of the neighborhood’s sidewalks — including whether they were clear of overgrowth and obstructions or had uneven pavement or breaks in the …
Team of UT students, grads biking to Alaska as part of nonprofit’s cancer fundraising, awareness effort
By Luke Henkhaus | www.theeagle.com
Students and recent graduates from the University of Texas take off on a day-long trek to Houston after breakfast at the Kettle restaurant in Bryan. After Houston, the group is headed to Arkansas, with their final destination being Anchorage, Alaska. The riders are part of Texas 4000, a nonprofit that offers prevention-focused education, support to those affected by cancer and funding for lifesaving research. Each summer, the group sends UT students on 70-day rides of more than 4,000 miles each. Since it was founded in 2004, the organization has raised more than $9.5 million for research and other cancer-fighting initiatives. …
BASTROP COUNTY Animal Center to host bicycle ride fundraiser
www.brownwoodtx.com
The Austin Animal Center will host its Ride for the Rescues fundraiser at 9 a.m. Sunday June 9th at Buescher State Park, 100 Park Road 1E, Smithville
The ride is about 25 miles on Park Road 1C to Bastrop State Park, and is open to all levels of cyclist, though there are a few steep hills. There will be no support or gear wagon.
The suggested donation is $25 in cash or check at the event. Reservations are requested at bit.ly/RidefortheRescues2.
Improvements to Longhorn Dam and a new bridge over Lady Bird Lake may be on their way
Author: Leslie Adami | www.kvue.com
The next community meeting is scheduled for Monday, June 10.
AUSTIN, Texas — On Monday, the City of Austin Public Works Department will be hosting its second community meeting over the Longhorn Dam Multimodal Improvement project.
Talks of change and improvements started in 2018 when the city began working on a preliminary engineering report to evaluate the possibility of a new pedestrian and bicycle bridge of Lady Bird Lake, as well as review some possible improvements to the existing bridge. …
Cycling with parrots Precious and Obedient
By Donna McCollum | www.ktre.com
NACOGDOCHES, Texas (KTRE) -Avid cyclist Craig Herman turns heads in Nacogdoches when he rides.
He has two special passengers, Precious and Obedient, that he takes with him just about everywhere, even on bike rides. Precious and Obedient are his pet parrots.
Donna McCollum talks to the parrot enthusiast in this Webxtra.