Bike Bill Rides To Passage

A day after city transit advocates pedaled 45 miles to the Capitol , the state House of Representative late Wednesday night passed the proposal that fueled their ride: SB 502, aka ​“the bike bill.”

The bill, which previously passed the Senate, will go into effect July 1 assuming the governor signs it. The bill gives local and state engineers more flexibility in making roads safer and more convenient for bikers. The House vote was 139 – 6‑6 in favor of the bill.

City transit chief Doug Hausladen said he watched the livestream of the vote from his home Wednesday night.

“I was on cloud nine last night,” he said. He and city engineer Giovanni Zinn immediately began to plan future New Haven bike projects, to be made legal under the pending law.

State and city officials can then legally plan for a two-way cycletrack over the Tomlinson Bridge and for bike lanes going against the flow on several streets downtown, including Court Street, Wall Street, Crown Street and High Street.

“We now no longer have to worry. If we have the room on a one-way street, we can make [the bike lanes] two way,” Hausladen said.

And the city can switch its design focus for the Edgewood Avenue cycle track, from ​“having a one-way protected cycle track on each side of the road to having a two-way cycle track.”

Until now, state statute has not allowed cyclists to travel against the flow of traffic, unless the lane was separated or protected.

But Hausladen said the city still needs to seek funding for the projects.

Click here to see the recording of the vote, from 5:24:00 to 5:34:02 of the linked video.

The day before the vote, Hausladen and parking enforcement supervisor Ray Willis led a group of bike fanatics on a ride to the Capitol to lobby legislators to pass the bike bill. They got there a bit too late to participate in the main lobbying event ​“New Haven Day,” but they tracked down several representatives and urged them to vote for the bill.

Fairfield State Rep. Cristin McCarthy Vahey biked from New Haven to Hartford with New Haven local officials Tuesday. She introduced the bill to the House along with New Haven State Rep. Roland Lemar.

McCarthy Vahey said to fellow representatives: ​“I rise in support of this bill. As many of you know I am a big bike fan. I rode my bike up here last night. This bill will create 21st century infrastructure that will help attract and keep young people in our state and help to keep economic development going for our municipalities. It will provide improvements for the environment and I urge adoption of the bill.”