Cycling Claremont - Sustainability Dialogue recap...

The Claremont Bicycle / Pedestrian Advisory Committee presented a Sustainability Dialogue tonight and I rolled up to the front door just as they were getting underway. There were about 30 interested people in the audience, along with three presenters. Maria Tipping, engineer with the city, kicked things off with a discussion of policy changes at the State and Federal level with regard to active transportation and how these affect local jurisdictions. Following this, she was joined by Joan Presecan and Larry Scheetz, both of the advisory committee, and the dialogue turned to bicycle infrastructure enhancements within the city of Claremont, some of which we have begun to see, and others we will see in the near future. Among these enhancements are the Bike Priority Zone and, it's city council approved, extension south to Arrow Highway, the installation of sharrows within the BPZ, bicycle detection loops at all intersections with traffic signals, video detection at intersections along the proposed Citrus Regional Bikeway, installation of 100 new bike racks including at all public buildings and parks, and a look at the new Citrus Regional Bikeway connecting the cities of Claremont, La Verne, Pomona and San Dimas, along with cities in San Bernardino County along the Pacific Electric Trail. City councilman Sam Pedroza was in attendance, and as I mentioned in my last Sunday post, he seems to be an active supporter. Other members of the audience contributed with questions or comments of their own which contributed to an informative evening. There is a lot happening in this little city with regard to active transportation which, if carried out on a similar scale in a larger city would put such a city on the forefront of transportation change. As it is, I believe other cities could find much to emulate here.