Who Wants Bike Paths Downtown?

Is there any harshness in living without an automobile or is it a modern-day utopia? Are we perhaps living in the land of contraries?  Either way, the City of Bristol is moving forward with it's agenda of providing a system of bicycle routes, beginning in the most controversial location possible.  As proposed, the Veterans Memorial Boulevard will become a gateway to the city by cutting off one lane of vehicular traffic.

We are told that this idea originated locally from our Park Board, Veterans Board and the Bristol Police Department.  And who is the average Joe to complain?  We the citizens are given a variety of reasons why we should shut up and deal with it.  We are told by some that since the veterans sacrificed their lives for our country and they are okay with it..."  and we are told that "the police department is in charge of traffic", and that., "the experts whom did the traffic study know what is best."    We are also told that, "It was at the Park Commission city meeting and if you didn't go you have no right to complain."  Yet even though the issue did not make print, nor was it mentioned anywhere prior to it being approved, this is the narrative.  One other half truth floating around is that the Memorial Boulevard closes into one lane at each end when in fact it breaks down to three lanes at the west end.   Nevertheless, I heard a rumor  that there is going to be a new city meeting about it on the 20th to allow the public to participate in the process, but I can't seem to locate any information about it on the city website, in the local paper, nor the mayor's Facebook page.  Is this a coincidence or a pattern?

If you believe the "official story" being put forth you must not have seen anything that precedes this local processes as of late. So where did the bicycle lane idea come from?   Let's have a look back in time and you can decide for yourself where this idea originates.

The City of Bristol conducted a survey of it's residents as part of it's Plan of Conservation and Development.   In this instance, according to the contracted firm's representative, what kind of bicycle path would be suggested was not explained.  Survey participants were simply asked with the leading questions below.   Would you suppose that the person at the end of the telephone was suggesting closing one lane of Memorial Boulevard?

So here it is, bicycle paths in Bristol's PoCD (Plan of Conservation and Development) which was approved in June of 2015.  It appears that this happened more than seven months months before the Park Board had it on their agenda


Bicycle circulation pathways are mentioned several times in the 2015-2025 PoCD for Bristol.

The Plan of Development also suggests that the city "reduce city street widths", which could prove costly should high snowfall totals accumulate over the course of the winter in these areas.We even see the suggestion of painting bicycle lanes in the PoCD as well as the establishment of a network of bicycle routes. The planning commission included a map of suitable locations for the network in the Plan. 

I had not noticed earlier but the route from the Planning Commission PoCD map places the route along Riverside Avenue and not on Memorial Boulevard.  The safety of that route appears to be questionable.  Perhaps the city's Park Commission facilitated the change from state guidelines which appear to suggest the pathways follow state highways.   Riverside Avenue is the roadway that is designated as Route 72 despite the awkwardness of the detour from a straighter path.

One would think that a roadway described as a "Gateway to Bristol" would have a planned two-lane road for automobiles if the goal were to improve traffic flow and improve commercial activity.   But the course that the city is on will close one lane and make the gateway a "bicyclist's utopia" as initiated by planners, developers and big government.   The DOT has been working on a statewide plan for bicycles for quite some time.  In 2009 they adopted a plan that identifies Bristol's lack of inventory of such a system of bicycle routes and the city's PoCD identifies this while addressing the survey results.  

This is all connected to the New Urbanist "walkability" concept, where bicycle racks become a primary concern over the creation of jobs that would allow residents to live self-sustaining lives without having to forfeit their personal transportation.



The PoCD tells a different tale than the local paper and some of our local politicians and their political allies.     Bristol does not live in a bubble where state and federal policy does not influence decision making.   The City of Bristol's Master Plan calls for integrated planning and undertaking of actions to "improve public transit options".

Complete Streets is mentioned in this segment of the PoCD as well as the federally funded nonprofit, "SmartgrowthAmerica".  SmartgrowthAmerica and the National Complete Streets Coalition have teamed up to address climate change by making efforts to reduce carbon emissions, according to their website.

    

The policy shares the same goals as the CTFastrak Bus-Rapid Transit program.     The adoption of Complete Streets law dates back to 2009 and is modeled for incorporation to TOD projects such as the CTFastrak oriented plan for Bristol's downtown.


The State of Connecticut Department of Transportation Complete Streets Report states that,

"motor vehicle users have been the prime consideration for designers.   This has created a motorized vehicle dependent society."  

Do you think that rings true?

Either way, the Master Plan for New Britain's Fastrak-Oriented development appears not on their city website, but on the Capitol Region Council of Government's website.  Unlike in the local press, the incorporation of the practice was widely publicized prior to implementation.

Another thing that Bristol shared with New Britain besides it's transportation planning is the fact that relevant planning documents appear on state websites instead of the city's.   The PoCD mentions the Forestville Plan, which appears on the Central Connecticut Regional Planning Agency (CCRPA)  website.   The CCRPA includes the plans of the bicycle routes in it's 2012 report.

Also mentioned in the CCRPA 2012 Report is fact that the CCRPA worked with Renaissance Downtowns providing the traffic counts and took part in the development of bicycle routes..   Their 2011 Concept plan illustrates the fact that the effort began long ago under a premise that is now being buried.

  The CCRPA is now a defunct but the Bristol's Metropolitan Planning Organization is the CCMPO, whose involvement is illustrated on the Capitol Region Council of Governments website..    You might be able to influence the outcome of this development, but it.appears unlikely to me.

But don't take my word for it.   Listen to Bristol's Transportation Committee official explain it to local Democrat councilors eager to connect the trail to Plainville at a city meeting.