Two great articles in today’s news

Posted on November 5, 2007 
Filed Under bikes, elsewhere, urban design

Associated Press
Nov 5, 2007 : 7:17 am ET

South Korea Promotes Bicycles to Ease Traffic

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea is turning to an old-fashioned solution for dealing with its always-clogged roads: encouraging people to ride bicycles.

The Herald-Sun editorial: Welcome accord on new bike path
Nov 5, 2007

We plead guilty to supporting bike lanes, bike trails and pedestrian paths and sidewalks.

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea is turning to an old-fashioned solution for dealing with its always-clogged roads: encouraging people to ride bicycles.

The Home Affairs Ministry announced a campaign Monday to promote bicycle use as a way to cope with traffic, pollution and soaring oil prices. The ministry said it will seek to increase the number of bicycle-only roads and bicycle racks, along with revising related ordinances.

“The important role of bicycles as a commuting means for students and workers over short distances has disappeared due to a sharp increase in the number of automobiles following rapid growth in the national economy and income in the late 1970s,” the ministry said.

Promoting more bicycle use is also aimed at promoting a healthy society, it said.

The ministry said it expects one in every four South Koreans to own a bicycle by 2015, up from about one in every seven. About 60 percent of Japanese, 74 percent of Germans and 75 percent of the Dutch own a bicycle, according to the ministry.

We plead guilty to supporting bike lanes, bike trails and pedestrian paths and sidewalks. It doesn’t take a visionary to see a future when more people will be seeking alternatives to the internal combustion engine. So we were pleased to see that a deal has been struck to create bike lanes and sidewalks along a section of Old Durham-Chapel Hill Road between Page Road and Garrett Road.

We appreciate the inter-governmental cooperation that led to the agreement and the foresight of all those involved, including the N.C. Department of Transportation and the governments of Durham and Chapel Hill.

As you look around the Triangle, it’s clear that more and more folks are biking and walking for recreation, shopping and commuting. They do so for a variety of good reasons, including offsetting the high cost of gasoline and for the health and environmental benefits.

But all those good reasons quickly evaporate if the roads aren’t safe. Riding or walking along a highway with no shoulder as trucks whiz by inches away will make even the most diehard alternative transportation advocate rethink the risk-to-benefit ratio.

One of the more dangerous stretches for bikers and walkers is along the route between Durham and Chapel Hill. Which is unfortunate, because both communities have many bikers and walkers. But there’s no decent bike path along Old Chapel Hill Road, and 15-501, the main highway, is far too dangerous.

Chapel Hill Town Councilman Ed Harrison should get credit for pushing this idea for many years until an agreement was finally reached last month. Harrison is one of those locals whose interests have always straddled the county line.

The major contributor to the $3.83 million project will be DOT, which allocated $400,000, along with $2.74 million from the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization. Of the remainder, the City of Durham will pick up $445,640, and the Town of Chapel Hill will pay $239,960. The difference in funding is based on the mileage within each municipality. The project is expected to start construction in 2009 and conclude in 2010.

We hope this is a sign that bike lanes and pedestrian paths will play a more major role in future transportation planning.

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