[flickr]photo:6629283461[/flickr]
Streets should be made safe for everyone.
Come to the first meeting for the Streets for Cycling Plan 2020 at Garfield Park Conservatory, 300 N Central Park Avenue, on Wednesday, January 18, at 6 PM (see it on Google Calendar).
I asked the plan leaders Mark de la Vergne of Sam Schwartz Engineering and Mike Amsden of the Chicago Department of Transportation what people can expect here, and how it will be different from the December 1, 2011, open house. Amsden replied:
The three public meetings will provide interested citizens an opportunity to learn more about the Streets for Cycling Plan 2020. The meetings will begin with a half-hour presentation describing the project steps, timeline and outcomes, as well as educational information on the different types of bikeways being considered for the 2020 bicycle network. After the presentation, there will be a brief Q & A session followed by a mapping activity similar to what was done at the Open House. Those in attendance will be able to share with CDOT what they like about bicycling in their neighborhoods and most importantly – what they’d like to see improved.
There are two other meetings plus one district meeting. Which will you be attending?
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 – add to your calendar
Far South Side district
7 to 8:30 PM
9625 S Longwood Drive
Wednesday, January 25, 2012 – add to your calendar
6 to 8 PM
Woodson Regional Library
9525 S Halsted Street
Wednesday, February 1, 2012 – add to your calendar
6 to 8 PM
Sulzer Regional Library
4455 N Lincoln Avenue
Read our past coverage of the Streets for Cycling Plan 2020 development.
I hope that tonight’s meeting and the other regional meetings will get decent turnouts, and that some regular folks who don’t necessary consider themselves part of the bike community will show up.
I was glad to get a small but dedicated group at last night’s meeting in Beverly. They were members of the Major Taylor and Beverly bike clubs and a few others who are active in the community. Most of them are long-term residents in their respective locations, so there was plenty of local knowledge.
About those “regular folks”, how do you imagine they would have heard about this? It would probably have to be disseminated to them by cycling advocates.
John and I are both going to tonight’s meeting. And I’m bringing a guest.
I really think that there ought to be a lot of high school and college students here.
Looking forward to enjoying the tropical weather at the conservatory!
I made a point to ensure that two of our biggest channels of communication within the 19th ward (BAPA‘s Villager monthly newspaper and their weekly e-mail blast) got information about S4C. The Villager is circulated to every household in the 19th ward. I’m not sure how many people are on the e-mail list, but I’d imagine it’s at least a few thousand. Both publicized the 1/25 meeting.
Unfortunately, getting the venue confirmed for the 1/17 meeting happened late enough that I was not able to get that meeting publicized through the same channels, because there wasn’t enough lead time.
I did get the word out through EveryBlock and on my neighborhood blog, as well as the Chainlink and Facebook. This week I’ve been circulating flyers for the 1/25 meeting at Woodson at nearby libraries and parks, as well as several neighborhood businesses that have community bulletin boards.
I plan to visit nearby Metra stations over the weekend and post additional flyers there. When I post flyers at Metra stations for local bike events, I also put one on each of the commuter bikes locked up at the station. There aren’t too many at this time of year, but if they’re riding to the train, there’s a good chance they’ll be interested in S4C.
I wish I could have gotten the venue lined up sooner for the 1/17 meeting so I could have done similar publicity throughout the neighborhood. Between libraries, parks, cafes and Metra stations, those flyers may be seen by a lot of people who ride but may not identify as cyclists.
I’m very impressed at the lengths you’re going to in order to promote the meetings.