|
Paul
Gannon meant business as he pedaled up to the bike rack in front
of Miami Beach City Hall last Thursday afternoon. Upon
dismounting his bicycle, he noticed two motorcycles taking up
room on the entranceway by the bike rack. It wasn’t the first
time he’d seen motorcycles parked there. Fed up, he called
parking enforcement on his cell phone and asked for them to be
removed.
Gannon, a
natural health consultant at the Standard Spa, is on a mission
to make Miami Beach more bike-friendly. Ever since moving to the
beach from Aspen, Colo. about a year ago, he’s been bothered by
what he sees as dangerous riding conditions due to
out-of-control traffic, and lack of bike racks. Rather than sit
back and complain, Gannon got involved.
He is a
member of the Mayor’s Blue Ribbon Task Force for Bicycle
Facilities, which was created a year-and-a-half ago to help with
the city’s bicycle master plan. Now Gannon and fellow task force
member Gabrielle Redfern have gone one step further by forming a
grass-roots organization called Bicycle Activists for a Safe,
Integrated City, or BASIC.
Their
purpose is to keep the city’s bicyclists informed of projects
and votes that affect them, and to mobilize those riders to
speak their minds to city government.
“What I
found through my 10 years of activism in this city is that the
political powers are particularly swayed by bodies in the
galley,” Redfern told the SunPost.
After
Gannon finished reporting the illegally parked motorcycles, he
turned to address a group of about 10 cyclists who were gathered
for BASIC’s first battle.
“There’s a
plan to put bike lanes across 16th Street, which a few residents
want to scrap,” Gannon told them.
The bike
lanes are part of a nearly $9 million facelift planned for 16th
Street between Collins Avenue and Alton Road. Called the 16th
Street Operational Safety Improvements and Enhancement Plan, it
includes traffic calming elements such as concrete bulb-outs,
bike lanes, shade trees and wider sidewalks.
Because in
the last month or so Flamingo Park Neighborhood Association was
vocal in its opposition to bike lanes on 16th Street, the Miami
Beach Finance and Citywide Projects Committee had to vote at its
April 19 meeting, whether or not to keep bike lanes in the
design. Redfern and Gannon worried that if cyclists didn’t
outnumber Flamingo Park Neighborhood Association members at that
meeting, the committee would vote to scrap the bike lanes. BASIC
drew a lot more people to the meeting than the Flamingo Park
Neighborhood Association, and thus was heard. The committee
voted unanimously to keep the bike lanes.
“We’ve
never had a show of force for bicycles in this town,” an
enthusiastic Redfern said.
Still, the
debate was intense.
“I
understand cyclists want bike paths, but why 16th Street?”
Flamingo Park Neighborhood Association member Dave Carlson said
to the SunPost during the meeting.
The BASIC
contingent argued that there is no better traffic calming device
than bicycles.
“These
cars are flying around South Beach like there’s no tomorrow, but
they slow down when they see bicyclists,” Gannon told the
SunPost. “Bikes are the best method of traffic calming. And
with more bike lanes, more people will bike and there will be
safety in numbers.”
Carlson
said the real issue with traffic is enforcement.
“If they
want bike lanes, the city should insist they’re used, not the
sidewalks,” Carlson said. “Police in Miami Beach need to enforce
the traffic laws and bicycle laws.”
The
sticking point in the debate over bike lanes was an area of
public land between the current sidewalks and the buildings.
Right now the sidewalks along 16th Street are five feet wide.
Between the sidewalk and where the condominium building’s yards
start is an area of green space that is owned by the city, and
thus is public. But over time many of the building owners have
planted trees, shrubs, flowers and other plants in this
city-owned area, making it look like private property. This is
the area the Flamingo Park Neighborhood Association was arguing
should remain untouched by the widening of sidewalks. But if the
sidewalks were widened in the direction of the street, there
wouldn’t be enough room for bike lanes in the street.
Commissioner Richard Steinberg broke the stalemate. He pointed
out that widening the sidewalks toward the buildings would not,
in fact, encroach upon private property, but that in reality the
private property was encroaching upon city land. Because of this
he saw no reason not to extend the sidewalks toward the
buildings, leaving room for bike lanes in the street.
“I don’t
think we should legitimize an encroachment,” Steinberg said.
After that
the three commissioners who make up the board — Steinberg, Saul
Gross and Matti Herrera Bower — voted in favor of the bike
lanes. The commissioners even agreed to paint temporary lanes
along 16th Street before the rest of the project begins. Riders
should see the lanes in about a month.
Whether or
not the bikers’ show of force saved the bike lanes is unknown,
but Gannon and Redfern are celebrating the vote as BASIC’s first
victory.
“I believe
firmly that if there had been more Flamingo Park residents than
bicyclists, the bike lanes would have been cut,” Redfern told
the SunPost a few days after the meeting.
Redfern is
active in Miami Beach politics, even where bicycles aren’t
concerned. She made national media in the spring of 2005 when
she breast-fed her 1-year-old daughter during Mayor David
Dermer’s State of the City address. That incident led 16 other
women to stage a “nurse in” at the April 21, 2005 Miami Beach
City Commission meeting, during which they breast-fed their
babies in plain view.
The
activist has hopes of being a Miami Beach city commissioner, and
has already signed up to run for Seat 2 when Gross terms out in
2009.
Bicyclists’ rights are an issue Redfern has worked on since
moving to Miami Beach in the mid-’90s.
“When I
arrived here 10 years ago from Washington, D.C., I arrived with
a bag and my bike,” Redfern said. “The first thing I did was
un-pack my bike and discovered that there was nowhere to ride.”
She began
attending City Commission meetings and pushing for bike lanes.
“I was so
shocked at how difficult it was to get people to talk about
biking facilities,” Redfern said.
To be
fair, the city of Miami Beach is working to improve conditions
for bicyclists. In November 2005 the city hired Christine Leduc
to be its first full-time bicycle program coordinator.
Leduc is
in charge of the Bicycle Safety Camp at the North Shore Youth
Center. She handles the once-a-month Community Bike Ride, which
follows a 17-mile course and is accompanied by a police escort.
Leduc is
also overseeing the installation of bike racks throughout the
city. The first phase, which should be done in the next couple
of months, will place 20 racks throughout the South Pointe
Neighborhood below Fifth Street.
The city
is developing a series of bikeways called the Atlantic Greenway
Network that will provide bicyclists’ routes throughout the
North, Middle and South Beach neighborhoods. Some of the lanes,
like one across the Venetian Causeway, are already on the road.
“What we
are trying to do is get more people on their bikes and out of
their cars,” Leduc said.
Redfern
agrees the city is making headway at becoming more
bike-rider-friendly, but thinks much more needs to be done. She
and Gannon hope BASIC will be the catalyst for change.
“The show
of biker support kept it [bike lanes] from being scrapped,”
Gannon said. “That’s exactly why we formed BASIC.”
The next
BASIC public meeting will be Wednesday, May 23, at 6:30 p.m. at
the Seymour, 945 Pennsylvania Ave., Miami Beach.
For
information about BASIC, e-mail
bikemb@gmail.com. |
