Governor Announces $32.5 Million for Non-Motorized Projects

Last week, Governor Jim Doyle announced $32.5 million for 56 transportation enhancement and bicycle and pedestrian facilities projects across the state. Congratulations to the 40-plus communities who will receive this funding for through 2014 as part of the federal Transportation Enhancements program and the state and federal Bicycle and Pedestrian Facilities Program, including a dozen communities who will complete bicycle and/or pedestrian plans.

The federal and state funding will close several gaps in Wisconsin's transportation system. It will extend the Beerline Trail in Milwaukee, launch the first phase of the Yahara River Trail connecting Madison and McFarland, connect school to parks and shopping in Crandall, and create a north-south shared bicycle-pedestrian route along the Winnebago-Calumet County border. Click here for the complete list of grant projects.

Two statewide projects also received funding in this round, including the Bike Fed's Share & Be Aware program. We'll work with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) Bureau of Transportation Safety to teach more bicyclists and motorists in 2011 about sharing the road. We're looking forward to being able to bring this important information to people throughout the state.

Bicycle Rights AND Responsibilities

We get lots of great questions in our info@bfw.org inbox, and many of them share common themes. Occasionally, we'll be posting some of the questions we get (along with their answers) on our blog.

One of the frequent themes is whether bicyclists need to follow the same laws as motorists. This question is often followed up with a request that the Bike Fed correct the rude behavior of some people who use bikes. Here's a recent one:

Dear Federation,

Your web pages apparently don't have a link to information about what is legal behavior on City streets or other roads and highways for bicycle riders and for the motorists who use the way with them.

Your web pages do mention bicycle "rights." I don't see anywhere any mention of bicycle riders' responsibilities.

So, I would like to see if it is legal for bicyclists to block lanes of traffic ever.

It seems like there is a general presumption that the bicyclists and their rights are the ones at risk and therefore, motorists need to take steps to recognize their "rights." Actually, rights are constitutional things whereas behavior, legal and illegal behavior, is written down as statutes.

But, it also seems to me that quite few bicyclists have seriously bad manners and very bad attitudes about motorists and can be very confrontational about that.

So, as I say, I would like to read about the appropriate behavior of both parties as written down in law.

In any event, as the Federation, I think you clearly have a responsibility to promote discussion of bicyclists' RESPONSIBILITIES just as much as about their "rights". There is no right to dangerous, rude, confrontational behavior on the part of anyone on bicycle or not. Not promoting this kind of discussion and public awareness, I think, is avoiding a very clear need. We need some balance here.

This was our response:

Thanks for your email, and sorry you had trouble finding the information you were looking for on our site. We are currently trying to make our site easier to navigate, but obviously there is still work to be done.

You can find information on the rules of the road and courteous bicycling/driving at www.bicycling101.bfw.org and www.share.bfw.org. We don't include city-specific statutes because we are a statewide organization, but we do address state-level laws that apply in every Wisconsin city.

I wish I could directly answer your question about blocking traffic, but the rules about impeding or slowing the flow of traffic depend on the situation. Hopefully, the links above will answer your questions. If you have further questions, please let me know.

We agree that no road users should act in a way that is rude or dangerous to others. We promote legal, responsible bicycling behavior. We regularly engage our members and others on these topics through our interactive forums, including Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. We also educate road users on the importance of safe and legal behavior through classes, workshops, public service announcements and other media. We welcome your ideas for venues in which to share this information.

Looking for answers in Allen Belonger's death

Allen Belonger was killed on July 11, 2009, while riding in Iowa County. As he descended a hill at 30 to 35 miles an hour, a 16-year-old driver named Eric Hendrickson "abruptly turned [his truck] in front of Belonger," according to a recently released state trooper's report. The report states that Hendrickson "failed to yield" even though Belonger was in his sight line for 10 seconds prior to the crash, and that the "manner in which Belonger was operating his bicycle was not a factor in this crash."

Despite these conclusions, no charges have been filed against Hendrickson. Nor has he received a ticket for failure to yield. According to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Hendrickson orginally received a citation related to intoxicated driving, but when tests showed no alcohol in his system, that citation was dropped and no other citations were made.

Belonger's friends at the Spring City Spinners cycling club are pressing Iowa County District Attorney Larry Nelson for answers. A recent letter to Nelson written by Spring City Spinners President Laura Fisher and co-signed by six other club members, along with Bonnie Belonger (Allen's widow) and Bike Fed Executive Director Kevin Hardman, says:

Our question is a simple one: Why was no ticket issued to Mr. Hendrickson? There is no defense to his driving that day. Our friend died a violent and needless death because this young man was not paying attention and violated the law, and not even a traffic ticket was issued. Why?

Please understand that we have no vendetta against Mr. Hendrickson. He must be
devastated by this tragedy, and no doubt will carry it with him the rest of his life. We also understand that you must be very busy in performing the important functions of your office. Nevertheless, it is our opinion that there must be some official condemnation of his actions. Otherwise, the public may very well and possibly quite reasonably conclude that your county does not take the safety and rights of bicyclists seriously. That type of attitude can only lead to a greater disrespect of cyclists' rights and therefore to more tragedy, not only in Iowa County, but throughout the State.

The Bike Fed fully supports the Spring City Spinners in their quest to find justice for Allen Belonger and make the roads safer for everyone, and we are working to educate motorists about the rules of the road as they pertain to bicyclists. (Please direct your friends and acquaintances to www.share4motorists.bfw.org for an introduction to these rules.) Yesterday, Tony Galli of WKOW 27 in Madison interviewed our Madison director, Amanda White, for a piece that laid out the problems with the case and why it's important for motorists to treat bicycles as the legal vehicles they are. You can see a summary of the piece, which aired on the evening news, here.

The Waukesha County case referred to at the end of the story was the Father's Day killing of Waukesha resident Brett Netke as he rode on Highway 18. He was hit from behind. The driver in the case has paid a $114 traffic ticket for failing to provide a safe passing distance and, according to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, may receive a three-point license deduction. You can see a story on the case from Milwaukee's TMJ 4 here.