 | The yellow "Share The Road" caution signs on the right are a message to motorists that cyclists have every right to be on this road as they do. This is a view of Colorado State Road, 121, a.k.a., Wadsworth Boulevard in Lakewood, Colorado.
The average daily traffic volume is about 60,000 a day.
Since this is a State road, this is an open invitation to Colorado Governor, John Hickenlooper and the Lakewood Colorado City Council members to test the 3 foot Colorado State Law that states motorists must give cyclists that much distance when passing.
You Guys be Careful Out There, OK!!!
[See the Colorado State Patrol video below].
Scene: 1225 Wadsworth Boulevard, Lakewood, Colorado 80214,
looking south, July 25, 2012 |
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THE BACK FENCE NEWSLETTER
The Newsletter Featuring Livable Community Items That Readers Value and Highlights of Happenings Along the West Corridor on the RTD West Rail Line Serving Golden, Lakewood & Denver. |
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The "W" Line Opens
in
271 Days
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Hi Everyone! This is Bill Spriggs and I have found several news articles, links and blogs that I wanted to share along THE BACK FENCE & beyond in this Sunday Edition, July 29, 2012. |
Local Businesses Take Note!!!
Here's Your Chance to Become a Sponsor of the RTD West Rail Line's Tour de FasTracks Bike Event - September 15, 2012
Click on the Logo to Learn More!
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West Corridor, Denver & Region
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TheDenverPost.com
Editorial: RTD Rail Project Picking up Speed
The Denver Post, Jul 27, 2012 The Regional Transportation District's approval of a proposal that will result in the construction of a 10-mile stretch of FasTracks light rail years earlier than expected is positive for several reasons.
READ MORE...
Blogs.DenverPost.com
Big Solar Plants on Western Public Land Could Power 7 Million Homes By Mark Jaffe, Jul 24, 2012
The Department of Interior has made 285,000 acres at 17 sites in six western states, including four in Colorado, Solar Energy Zones where development of utility-scale solar projects can be fast tracked.
READ MORE...TheDenverPost.com
Editorial: Not Your Average Ride in the Park
July 29, 2012
We applaud the National Park Service for letting each park set its own policies on whether to expand access for bicycle riders.
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National
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DC.StreetsBlog.org
Highway Builders to Party Leaders: The Future Is "More Than Just Roadways"
By Tanya Snyder, Jul 26, 2012
Over the past two weeks, the American Road & Transportation Builders Association has sent letters to the Republican National Committee and the Democratic National Committee, asking them to consider inserting a plank in their platforms about transportation. And they were clear in their letter that, despite being major cheerleaders for road-building, the future they see is multi-modal.
READ MORE...DC.StreetsBlog.org Study: Access to Light Rail Can Reduce Obesity Risk - If You Use It By Angie Schmitt, Jul 26, 2012 Living near transit can help you stay trim and healthy. That's the result of a study published last year in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine. This study is a little old - it was published in August 2011 - but we just came across it in the Reconnecting America resource center and the results are too interesting not to share.
READ MORE... StreetsBlog.net
Coming to a Walkable Place Near You: More Efficient Housing
By Angie Schmitt, Jul 26, 2012
Meeting the demand for housing is one of the biggest challenges facing America's most walkable, transit-oriented cities. TheNewYorkTimes.com
Retailers' Idea: Think Smaller in Urban Push By Stephanie Clifford, Jul 26, 2012 As young Americans move to cities, retailers that grew up in the suburbs are following them. And unlike previous efforts, they are doing it the cities' way. READ MORE... Blogs.BostonMagazine.com Why We Should Pay People to Bike to Work By Patrick Doyle, Jul 25, 2012 Healthier, wealthier employees and less traffic are wins for everyone. READ MORE... Blog.BikeLeague.org Getting Creative in Funding Bicycle Projects By Matt Wempe, Jul 26, 2012 Bicycles are here to stay as part of our transportation system. While MAP-21 reorganizes and reduces funding opportunities, advocates and agency staff will need to look beyond Transportation Alternatives. This may be the Highway Safety Improvement Program, Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program, Surface Transportation Program, or a number of other federal and state sources. PSMag.com Bicycle Studies Pick Up Speed in Academia
By Leighton W. Klein, Jul 25, 2012 At the end of the Tour de France and the start of the Olympics, we take note of the growing attraction that universities and think tanks have for the study of the bicycle. Not so long ago, the term "cycling studies" would have been seen as puzzling in the United States-why study what were effectively perceived as toys?
READ MORE...DC.StreetsBlog.org
When Livability Projects Meet Eisenhower-Era Design Standards [Updated]
By Angie Schmitt, Jul 25, 2012
Tearing down highways, as New Haven, Connecticut is planning to do to a short section of Route 34, is a rare...outcome in American transportation policy. Some highway removals are unintended consequences of neglect or disaster, like the collapse of New York's Miller Highway...But the New Haven project is the first planned highway teardown to receive funding from the federal government, which awarded the project a TIGER grant in 2010. OriginalGreen.org Walk Appeal by Steve Mouzon, Jul 24, 2012 Walk Appeal promises to be a major new tool for understanding and building walkable places, and it explains several things that were heretofore either contradictory or mysterious. It begins with the assertion that the quarter-mile radius (or 5-minute walk,) which has been held up for a century as the distance Americans will walk before driving, is actually a myth. BikePortland.org Researcher Considers Cargo Bikes as Tools For Social Justice By Jonathan Maus, Jul 25, 2012 If more people of modest means had access to an affordable, dependable cargo bike, could they avoid being sucked into "forced car ownership"? Can cargo bikes play a role in rebuilding a city devastated by a major earthquake? |
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International (when available)
| | TheAtlanticCities.com
3 Lessons Every Olympic City Should Take to Heart
By Brent Toderian, Jul 27, 2012 Earlier this week I wrote about how Vancouver's 2010 Olympics energized and transformed the city through the power of "collective experience." The Games also acted as catalyst for many physical city-building legacies, changes that while generally positive and powerful, show signs of a more mixed legacy.
READ MORE...ThisBigCity.net
Creating Safe Streets For People, One Parking Space at a Time By Rachel Smith, Jul 20, 2012
Earlier in the month I spent a day with Innes and Ruben from Stiftung Freizeit transforming Berlin's car parking spaces into spaces for people (and shared some photos from the process on This Big City). We believe that streets and public spaces should be for everyone, and should address the needs of children, an ageing population, people with disabilities, pedestrians and cyclists. |
| Sunday's Film (when available)
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 | | Colorado State Patrol Trooper Mike Duncan explains Colorado's Three Foot Law |
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Things you need to know along the West Corridor
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Photo: Heritage Culture & the Arts
>Lakewood, Saturday August 11, 10am 2pm
Denver & Intermountain Interurban Trolley, Car No. 25, Open House.
Bring the whole family to enjoy a free ride on this completely restored trolley car that connected early Lakewood Colorado citizens to the booming downtown Denver at the turn of the 20th Century.
Location:
Denver Federal Center, Bldg No. 78
Enter on Kipling St. South of 6th Ave. Gate I, Follow the Yellow Signs.
[All adults need a government photo ID (i.e. Driver's License) to enter the Federal Center. Sorry, pets are not permitted].
>Lakewood, Wednesday, August 08, 2012, 7:30am - 8:30am
Lakewood City Council members Cindy Baroway and Scott Koop, Ward 2 will meet with residents and considerate guests for their monthly outreach meeting. The future light rail line will traverse the northwest section of their Ward. Lakewood West Colfax Business Improvement District Office, 7125 West Colfax Avenue, Lakewood, Co. 80214 >Lakewood, Saturday, August 18, 9-10:30am
Lakewood City Council members Karen Kellen and Ramey Johnson, Ward 1, will meet with residents and considerate guests for their monthly outreach meeting. The future light rail line will traverse east and west through the northern part of their Ward. Lakewood West Colfax Business Improvement District Office, 7125 West Colfax Avenue, Lakewood, Co. 80214 >Lakewood, Thursday, Sept 13, 2012 7pm. Mary Harris Auditorium on the Campus of the Rocky Mountain College of Art & Design. 1600 Pierce Street, Lakewood, Colorado 80214. Music! Singing! Dancing! Comedy! Oh My! A variety show produced by the 40 West Arts District showcasing the performing arts with an array of upbeat, high-energy, family-friendly acts. The inaugural show, emceed by the inimitable "Naughty Pierre" from Lannie's Clocktower, is set for September 13 at the Mary Harris Auditorium - Click here to learn more and purchase tickets.
[Note: in just 9 short months West Corridor residents will be able bike to a West Rail Line station, jump on board with their bikes, get off at Union Station & cycle just six blocks to Coors Field and LEAVE THE CAR BEHIND. But until then, those of you adventurous souls who can commute to downtown, check out the facilities in place this year.]
2012 schedule of Ride to the
Rockies Games
Aug 05, & Sept 02. All games are Sunday Day games.
Over the course of 20 games this season the Rockies along with media partners ROOT SPORTS, 850 KOA and The Denver Post will once again be enlisting players and fans toward making a positive impact on the environment through the 2012 Games of Green initiative.
NEXT BIKE TO THE GAME!
WHEN: Sunday, August 05, for the game against the SF Giants. Bike lot opens at 11:30 a.m. and closes 10 minutes after the game ends.
WHERE: Coors Field, the special Bike to the Game secure parking lot at 21st and Blake St., across from Gate C.
WHAT: Check in at the Bike to the Game Tent at the entrance to the bike lot at 21st and Blake to enter a drawing for great prizes, like a Rockies Batting Practice experience, Rockies tickets, autographed items and more.
The very popular RTD West Corridor bus tours will be ending soon! Only two remaining!, The tours will be from 9am to 11am on the 3rd Friday of the month (August & September). Each reservation that is made is for one seat only; please sign-up all attendees individually. You will receive e-mail confirmation within one week of your registration. Click here to register
AUGUST 20-26th, 2012
SEPTEMBER 21-23RD, 2012
Denver Union Station
Construction Cam
Golden Jeffco Station
Construction Cam
Wish You Could Find an Apartment/Condo near a Light Rail Station? As part of TBF's continuing efforts to bring TOD's to the West Corridor & elsewhere, this link from Walk Score.com will now be a permanent feature. Thanks. |
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Residential Real Estate Agents
Who Get the "Big Picture" of Transit Oriented Living
| Jim Smith
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Things You Need to Know Around the Region
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THE TRANSIT ALLIANCE
IS NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR THE FALL 2012 AND SPRING 2013 ACADEMIES!
Please note that the Academy application process is competitive as they only have 50 slots available and usually have 100 applicants or more. Applications must be submitted by 5 PM on August 24th to be considered for the Fall 2012 Academy.
The Fall Academy (2012-02) will begin September 12 and end on October 24, 2012.
Tour de FasTracks - West Rail Ride Bike Event
Saturday, Sept 15, 2012
Calling all cyclists in Golden, Lakewood, west Denver.
The RTD FasTracks West Rail Line which will serve our West Corridor will host a bike event on Saturday, September 15, 2012 to show off its magnificent bike path that parallels most of the future "W" line.
The Back Fence, in the coming months, always a huge supporter of alternatives to the single occupier automobile, will advocate for the "final mile" and call for more and safer cycle access from the future light rail stations. We also consider the bicycle as not only a recreational vehicle, but a tool of economic empowerment that helps our citizens stay healthy and keeps more expendable cash in their pockets in which to enhance our local businesses; and I won't bore you with lectures on sustainability, oil dependence and air quality.
Although the Tour de FasTracks event is billed as a "leisurely ride" that will start at the future Oak Street Station parking area and end at the Decatur Federal Station, there also will be a stage for the intermediate and advanced cyclists that will start at the Jefferson County Government Center-Golden Station. Details will be forthcoming, but you can. Click Here to View the current RTD Bike Path.
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| The opinions expressed in this newsletter are those of William A. Spriggs and no one else. |
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