New Road Funding Models - New Road Design Categories

How does the pedestrian and cycling community assert their space on our public rights of way?

Capacity engineering has held sway for at least the last 50 years. That capacity was strictly for automobiles, though somehow most roads still have a sidewalk. Many sidewalks seem to have taken on the appearance of emergency sidewalks, like you find along the freeway bridge; only to be used in case your car breaks down.

Simply waiting for increased cycling to inspire politicians has little effect outside of cities like mine who are desperate to attract the younger crowd. That itself is not currently working all that well, though it's still in its early stages.

I suggest some basic frameworks:


Funding and Design

Much has been written about the shrinking pie of maintenance funding for all of our public infrastructure.
Roads and bridges are crumbling, stormwater flooding from sprawl is increasing un-abated, electrical blackouts and brownouts are evidence of development beyond its capability to sustain.

In the case of roadways, I propose three major funding and design classes:

Limited Access Highways
All Access Roads
Restricted Access Roads

Limited Access Highways: The high speed highway system is to be funded predominantly with a MUCH higher federal gas tax. Increasing the fuel taxes will help encourage alternative fuel technology.

As, (hopefully,) alternative fuel vehicles take a larger proportion, a use fee, such as a endorsement on your registration could provide an increasing amount of funding as gas tax revenues dwindle. Of course, at some point if everything goes well, it will become apparent that not all of our freeways can be maintained.

Excellent. Enabling sprawl, many of them are senseless 'pork' projects anyhow.

If high speed track systems, (trains) were ever made part of this geography, the requisite federal construction funding could be added for their construction and maintenance.

All-Access Roads: There should be a mixture of an equal share of that gas tax and additional, more traditional funding sources to be handled by the US State following the current status quo.

All motorized and non-motorized vehicles are required to be given EQUAL access, meaning equal space allocation, along with (those deemed necessary) segregation structures, such as car lanes, bike lanes and sufficient sidewalks. Mass Transit included.

Motorized vehicles speed limited to 20-30 MPH.

Restricted access roads: To be funded at the US State and local level with a proportion of private support. These road designs would restrict motorized vehicles to emergency or law enforcement only, along with limited, permitted small delivery vehicles. All non-motorized vehicles allowed at slow speeds with pedestrians given priority.

Commercial and Recreational development within the ROW encouraged, (alfresco dining, etc.,) within design capacity. Developers share in the maintenance cost of this development by permit.

These roadways should be the least expensive to maintain with public funds.

Pocket Neighborhoods

There must be several dozen places in Cleveland where this type of car-lite development can be done.

http://www.pocket-neighborhoods.net/

Indeed, within a couple miles of the destroyed urban core there once existed many of these patterns, the remains of which are still discernible and ignored or worse, refitted for automobiles.

Redevelopment in the city so far has been geared towards restaurants, bars, and other playgrounds which obviously succeed best when attracting suburbanites.

Some of my friends have resigned themselves to this pattern hoping that the  neighborhood they saved as pioneering artists will return to livability once  'the next neighborhood' gets hot.

Our political leaders have finally noticed the bar-resto pattern for the misleading and fickle 'vibrancy' it provides. The business owners receive preferential treatment in zoning variances on a regular basis.

Pocket Neighborhoods, especially around a shared green-space and agricultural zone could provide the model for true urban rebirth.

In the city, a development like this would require some premeditation and multi-cultural cooperation: a particularly tricky business never successfully achieved to my knowledge.

How about a real future for CLE?

Cleveland: Hollywood Whore

Well I knew things would be tense on my way out the door during Hollywood's holiday weekend-long takeover of a major public thoroughfare in my desperate, starstruck little town.

Whoring

I had parked my bike on Euclid Ave and had to cross into the film set which extends from E 18th to E 6th.

As I unlocked my bike at E 14th and (reluctantly, shamefully) headed east along Euclid so I could cross the street and GO HOME I witnessed a Gestapo-like, 100-200 strong army of dickheads with walkie talkies herd several homeless types who had wandered down Euclid into doorways so they could film another 2 second shot of their mostly digitized 'blockbuster' crap-ass action movie.

They achieved this with derision and snide little comments of disbelief as if "doesn't everybody in this little decimated city know we are from Hollywood and have come here to save you?"

When they started at me they got a surprise.

First I heard them chuckle, "No he isn't in the movie, ha ha," before they demanded I get off the street; yes I mean demanded I get off the street, as if they were all the personal bodyguards of Samuel L. Jackson.

I told the little assholes to fuck themselves and they had no right to shut off a major public street for an entire weekend.

Keep in mind that at lunch I had already watched as the second little army of publicly funded Cleveland cops, who should be out oh, I don't know...policing the city(?) barked loudly and authoritatively at any pedestrian who even looked like they were going to cross the street.

See What Can Happen When The Cops Are Starring in Movies?

I did get the attention of a cop but he decided it was more important to keep yelling at the automobiles trying to use the street as well. Good thing or I'm sure I would have had a nightstick up my ass by the time it was over.

I was pretty damn angry.


The irony of it all is that they were filming a crazy crashy automobile scene, you know, the stock content of every superhero blockbuster since superhero blockbusters first transformed films into movies.

Yes, a celebration of automobile violence.

Last time Hollywood was here I was in a bar in my trendy neighborhood when we happened upon a couple hollywood guys on a slow Monday night.

They only seemed interested in us as characters, wanting us to perform as some sort of down and out blue collar slobs for them.

One of my friends and I are professional and amateur actors, (respectively) so they seemed surprised and disappointed after they had bought us a beer. They then wanted to know where they could go to experience the 'real Cleveland,' perhaps a bar with all Harvey Pekars all the time!

So, you may like superhero blockbusters and special effects but it's not about that. It's not about the ephemeral rise in hotel and restaurant revenue, blah blah blah.

It's about the arrogance of a billion dollar film company taking advantage of a rust-belt city to avoid paying California taxes and treating the city like shit, including its musicians:

Let us tell you how real hollywood music is done

The movie is set in Washington DC and other more important places.

Cleveland will not be mentioned, just like it wasn't in The Avengers, or Spiderman 3.

Maybe my bicycle will be famous. It was in the shot all day.

Walkable? Cleveland?

There are many great beginning points about walkable neighborhoods in this article by Freshwater Cleveland:

Walkthisway

Some of the scores granted to Cleveland neighborhoods by Walkscore are ridiculously high.

Walkscore seems to equate a relatively high number of pedestrians with 'walkablity.'
That's classic "correlation-not-causation" analysis.

The Playhouse Square neighborhood where I work receives a 98 out of 100!

This despite the fact that E 14 is a MAJOR cut-through for automobiles avoiding E 9th.

I've suggested to Cleveland that indeed Playhouse Square could be a fantastic walking district but will not be until E 14th auto traffic is re-routed to E 18th where it belongs. This is a no-brainer.

Quick Map of E 14th to E 18th Reroute


No one yet is going 'full bore' about walking neighborhoods in Cleveland.

That means NO CARS. Cleveland's leaders remain firmly convinced that more cars = greater viability.

I've been trying to get some support started to make certain old neighborhoods, (built before cars,) retro-fitted to eliminate them altogether.

Cleveland is always trying to attract people to the city, mostly building adult playgrounds for suburban tourists.

How many people around the US would come to Cleveland if it built and supported several car-free neighborhoods?

As far as I know, not other US city has attempted this.

How about it CLE?

"Thanks For Not Killing Me" Crosswalks

It's telling to watch people cross a busy street within culturally established paint lines; those with no signal.

A full third of them will wait for cars to pass, then wave "Thanks!" if one should happen to approach.

We're supposed to thank them!

Note: this guy was NOT 'thankful!'

Strict Liability Law

This is a hot topic in Scotland and the rest of the UK within the cycling community.

It is inconceivable in the US at this moment.

BBC Strict Liability Law

Basically, it explicitly affirms the simple, (maybe obvious?) but fading idea that the most powerful road users have the greatest responsibility to use the road safely.

This was once understood in the US at the outset of motorized automobile technology in public space as documented in the publication "Fighting Traffic: The Dawn Of The Motor Age In The American City" by Peter D. Norton.

It seems a no-brainer but opponents are obviously grumbling irrational fears aloud as they often and always do.

A codified standard of liability is a necessary and critical goal of road sharing. It won't happen without it.

Also, please check out this excellent lecture given by Peter Norton at Florida Atlantic University:

Peter D. Norton Lecture

Incredibly, predictably, motorists accuse cyclists of 'arrogance.'

Automobile Priority

Whereas the idea of a public right-of-way through private property has been around for hundreds of years, the idea that all of them should be given over to accommodate 200 sq ft of metal powered by an engine with the power of 3-400 horses is rather recent.

Even for the first several decades of common automobile ownership the saturation rate, particularly in urban areas was far below what it is today.

My city is 100% available to automobiles.

100%

Our addiction to convenience requires that we have as close to drive-up access for every conceivable service.
For the first time in human history we can spend an entire day, every day travelling hundreds of miles using our legs a total of 100 yards or less.

Most of my cycling friends are counting on increased participation to introduce the need for equal road access, safety and legal standing.

I have my doubts.

I know somewhere around 12 people who use a bicycle for primary daily transport:
Maybe 4-6 in the depth of a Lake Erie winter, 12-24 in nice weather.

Of those, and the additional occasional riders, I still see many of them riding 10-15 MPH on sidewalks, in the wrong direction, blowing through major traffic signals, terrified to death of sharing the proper roadway with their motorized travelers: (and for good reason.)

I am convinced that an increase in equality of access for pedestrians and cyclists will only come at the expense of that for automobiles.

This is more serious than many alternative transportation advocates realize. Automobile culture defines American culture more than anything else. If you think taking guns away is something, wait until you start removing automobiles from a small percentage of roadways, or even reducing speed allowances.

I predict even more cyclists and pedestrians will be killed, only this time 'accidentally on purpose.'

Buy and wear a camera.