Among the many ways that the League of American Bicyclists advocates for bike safety is their training of League Cycling Instructors. These instructors are certified to teach Smart Cycling classes to both children and adults, with the goal of helping people feel more secure on their bikes, and to ensure that bicyclists know how to ride safely and legally.
In mid-October, Trailnet hosted League Cycling coach Preston Tyree and twelve candidates at a League Cycling Instructor Seminar. The seminar provided three days of intensive training that included both classroom instruction and on-bike skills development. All of the candidates were experienced bicyclists. The seminar provided them with techniques that they will use to share their knowledge with less-seasoned bicyclists. Most of the seminar participants were St. Louis residents, and it is Trailnet’s hope that these instructors will provide grassroots instruction in their communities to help bicyclists improve their skills and confidence levels.
All of the seminar participants were evaluated by Coach Tyree and local League Cycling Instructors. Each participant made several classroom presentations, and was also evaluated for their competence at performing on-bike handling skills and safely negotiating traffic.
Candidates plan on using their certification in a variety of ways. Some wanted to become certified in order to help their communities or workplaces to attain Bicycle Friendly status. Some were already working with youth or adults and hope to broaden their capacity to help other bicyclists. All of the candidates shared a passion for bicycling and a desire to spread their enthusiasm.
Trailnet thanks Kaemmerlen Electric for providing us with a parking lot on which to practice bike handling skills, Papa John’s for donation of pizza, and The Fountain on Locust for welcoming twenty hungry cyclists with indoor bike parking and a fantastic lunch. Special thanks to Great Rivers Greenway for funding the seminar and to Ariell Heacox and Preston Tyree of The Bike League for their support and excellent coaching. Finally, congratulations to all twelve of the candidates who successfully completed their certification. We appreciate your hard work and dedication and know that you will be valuable resources for other bicyclists in your communities.
Pop-up demonstrations just around the corner
The first of four pop-up traffic calming demonstrations will take place this Saturday, October 10, in Dutchtown on the 3100 block of Gasconade Street. Come out and see proven methods for making safer streets. Representatives from the Healthy Eating, Active Living Partnership, including Trailnet staff, will be at the corner of Compton Avenue and Gasconade Street from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. to foster discussion with the community.
Trailnet is currently seeking volunteers for all four events. Those interested can sign up for a time slot below.
Trailnet has been working to compile a database of our projects aimed at demonstrating methods to slow traffic, increase pedestrian and bike activity, and decrease accidents in the area. The collection of projects make up what we are calling our Traffic Calming Library.
Below is a sneak peek at how the Traffic Calming Library is coming together. The painted tires will be used in our pop-up demonstrations.
For more information on the demonstrations, check out our press release and the following fliers:
Trailnet brings 25 regional leaders to innovative walking and biking conference
Justin Carney
The Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals Professional Development Seminar took place in St. Louis September 28 – October 1. Trailnet applied to host the conference in St. Louis as a way of building the capacity of our leaders to further improve walking and biking. As the presenting sponsor and host committee coordinator of the conference, Trailnet provided free registrations to 25 regional leaders. These leaders realize the important impact Trailnet is having on our community by providing access to education about cutting-edge infrastructure and strategies. Here’s what a few of them have to say:
Justin Carney, Senior Planner, Strategy + Innovation, Office of County Executive, St. Louis County
“A scholarship is important for me as someone in the County where budgets are slim and training opportunities are slim, but it’s still very important for us to be part of the conversation. As we’re developing and implementing our Complete Streets policy, which brings our health, planning, and transportation departments together, it’s necessary to have all of those departments represented. The scholarships allowed us to have an interdisciplinary presence at the conference and it’s been really beneficial for us.”
Jim Wild
Jim Wild, Interim Executive Director, East-West Gateway Council of Governments
“It’s important that Trailnet and other groups provide access to conferences like these so we can learn effective strategies to create a well-rounded transportation system to create a better quality of life for our region.”
Larry Welty (pictured right) with John Hicks, St. Louis County Transportation Development Analyst
Larry Welty, Improvement Programs Manager, Transportation and Public Works, St. Louis County
“The detailed information from the conference is inspiring and reenergizing. Everyone was impressed with the mobile tours of the Arch and the riverfront. It was great for us to tell the story of what’s so great about St. Louis.”
Nichalos Gardner
Nichalos Gardner, Director, Transportation and Public Works, St. Louis County
“I think the conference definitely created more of a synergy and energy around improving the transportation network—to get more pedestrians and bicycles on the road. I also hope it’s going to help with our education of the public—getting them involved and helping them understand exactly what needs to be done. Good conference!”
Trailnet teaches youth about active living during bike weeks
For students at several schools in Webster Groves and Kirkwood, PE class now includes bicycling! In September, Trailnet worked with the Webster Groves Computer School and Keysor Elementary in Kirkwood to teach kids bike handling skills, rules of riding safely, and some basic bike mechanics.
Trailnet staff presented the “ABC Quick Check,” an easy way for kids and parents to make sure that a bike is safe to ride before taking a spin. Students learned how to measure tire pressures, how to change a flat, and how to check their brakes and chain.
Keysor students were also introduced to Trailnet’s advocacy efforts aimed at making the St. Louis region a better place to ride a bicycle. Asked whether they thought a kid could be an advocate to improve bike safety, students were eager to give examples of how they might make a difference in their community. Their ideas included: “if I saw a pothole in the street I would call city hall and tell them to fix it”…“we need a crosswalk on my street – I am going to write to the president”…”when I see trash on the sidewalk I stop and pick it up.”
Robinson Elementary, another Kirkwood school, is holding its first Bike Week this week. Trailnet looks forward to helping make the week a big success and to sharing the thrill of bicycling with a new group of kids.
Thanks to Great Rivers Greenway for providing funding for these bike education programs.
A movement to end traffic deaths and disabling injuries known as Vision Zero, which began as an Act of Parliament in Sweden in 1997, is gaining traction in the U.S. where traffic fatalities are twice that of EU countries and almost twice that of Canada.
Vision Zero is a philosophy, a policy, and a paradigm shift. It holds that “all traffic deaths and serious injuries are unacceptable and preventable.”
The U.S. Conference of Mayors endorsed Vision Zero this year, and ten cities including New York, San Antonio, Los Angeles and Seattle are developing or implementing Vision Zero plans.
Vision Zero cities have taken these steps:
The Mayor has publicly, officially committed to Vision Zero.
A clear goal of eliminating traffic fatalities and severe injuries has been set.
A Vision Zero plan or strategy is in place, or the Mayor has committed to doingso in clear time frame.
Key city departments (including police, transportation and public health)are engaged.
Vision Zero is a Trailnet priority because the St. Louis region is now at a five‐year high for traffic deaths. It’s time to systematically address and ultimately end the crash carnage. Trailnet urges Mayor Slay to publicly announce a commitment to Vision Zero and embark on the other three steps necessary to make St. Louis a recognized Vision Zero city. We will be an engaged partner in this bold journey.
Walk audits identify need to calm traffic
The Federal Highway Administration recently flagged St. Louis as a focus city for its high rate of traffic-related deaths. Of all pedestrian-related traffic crashes in the state of Missouri, 24 percent occur in the city of St. Louis. This year, 18 pedestrians have been fatally struck in the city. This is more than those killed in the previous two years combined.
While the data is alarming, Trailnet has been working to unite St. Louis neighborhoods to improve safety for people who walk and ride bikes by organizing walk audits.
Walk audits are guided walking tours meant to bring together local stakeholders and evaluate how the built environment affects their communities. The walk audits target the neighborhoods of JeffVanderLou, The Ville/Greater Ville, Dutchtown, and Carondelet.
The primary concern voiced by participants throughout the audits was the speed of motor vehicles moving through their neighborhoods. Residents shared that people driving would often blow through stop signs and drive around curb corners at a high rate of speed.
The audits also revealed that many crosswalks did not meet requirements set forth by the Americans with Disabilities Act as they were missing curb ramps and/or markings. In addition, many existing crosswalks were fading and needed to be re-striped.
The objectives for the walk audits include:
Ensure participants know what’s working and what’s not for safe walking in their neighborhood.
Endure participants can talk confidently about what needs to be fixed and know how to report it.
Ensure participants have identified potential long and short-term projects to improve walkability.
Trailnet was recently awarded a Plan4Health grant in collaboration with the HEAL Partnership, providing resources for the organization to conduct the walk audits.
The walk audits were essential to the progress of Trailnet’s work with Plan4Health in identifying four pop-up traffic calming demonstration locations, which will take place this October and November. The demonstrations are meant to educate communities on what neighborhoods would look like with features meant to reduce traffic speeds and encourage safety.
The audits also helped Trailnet in its work with the city’s Board of Public Service and Streets Department to create site plans for the demonstrations.
Here’s a sneak peak at how the site plans are coming together:
Plan4Health Traffic Calming Library Update
Trailnet has been working to compile a database of our projects related to traffic calming. The collection of projects make up what we are calling our Traffic Calming Library. These projects aim to slow traffic, increase pedestrian and bike activity, and decrease accidents in the area. While the library has been coming together quite well, we are continually brainstorming creative ways to create more traffic calming demonstrations.
Additionally, in aiming for sustainability, Trailnet pursues traffic calming demonstrations that can be installed with reusable materials. One method involves using old tires to create narrow areas of the street—referred to as chicanes—in order to slow traffic.
To actively engage residents and enhance the appearance of these installments, participants spent a day spray-painting tires a variety of colors. It was even more fun rolling them out to the streets on which they once carried vehicles–then repurposed to make for safer, slower roads.
The photos below provide glimpse of how things went at the Jefferson Collaborative for the South City Health Festival in Fox Park on a sunny, warm August Saturday.
Trailnet staff preps tires for pop-up traffic calming demonstration.
Spray-painted tires meant to stand out when used for curb bump-outs.
Paint set our for a temporary crosswalk in the Fox Park neighborhood.
We installed a small parking space park during our event in Fox Park in August.
We demonstrated a number of different traffic calming methods during the Fox Park event. These included a temporary crosswalk and curbside bump-outs.
The Plan4Health grant has further helped spur new projects for Trailnet to promote pop-up traffic calming demonstrations. This purple crosswalk is one of the many changes we envision and hope to occur from our pop-up traffic calming demonstrations.
For more information about Plan4Health, contact us at trailnet@trailnet.org .
Letter to St. Charles County concerning O’Fallon’s Main Street
Trailnet’s advocacy is regional in scope (as are our rides, programs, membership, and community support). This week we urged St. Charles County leadership to reconsider their recent action limiting O’Fallon’s right to re-design their own Main Street. The very mention of “road diets” is apparently not a good idea in St. Charles County.
Public Hearing on Des Peres Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan
Trailnet has been working with the City of Des Peres, Missouri, to develop a Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan. On September 14, Trailnet and the City of Des Peres will hold a public hearing on the contents of the Master Plan Draft. This event will begin at 7 p.m. at the Des Peres City Hall. For directions, click here. To view a copy of the draft Master Plan, click here.
Among the many ways that the League of American Bicyclists advocates for bike safety is their training of League Cycling Instructors. These instructors are certified to teach Smart Cycling classes to both children and adults, with the goal of helping people feel more secure on their bikes, and to ensure that bicyclists know how to ride safely and legally.
All of the seminar participants were evaluated by Coach Tyree and local League Cycling Instructors. Each participant made several classroom presentations, and was also evaluated for their competence at performing on-bike handling skills and safely negotiating traffic.
The Federal Highway Administration recently flagged St. Louis as a focus city for its high rate of traffic-related deaths. Of all pedestrian-related traffic crashes in the state of Missouri, 24 percent occur in the city of St. Louis. This year, 18 pedestrians have been fatally struck in the city. This is more than those killed in the previous two years combined.
Trailnet was recently awarded a 
