New Haven Independent

posted by: Martin Christopher on September 1, 2010  8:53am

Where is Elm City cycling and all of the screaming cycle-egalitarians?  Why have they not made dixwell, the hill, fair haven and the poorer sections of town a priority for their protests and clamoring?  why doesn’t critical mass go up Shelton, whalley or Columbus avenues?
This is precisely why i don’t respect their arguments.

posted by: juli on September 1, 2010  11:16am

critical mass most certainly does travel those streets—the ride takes a different route through the city each time. but critical mass is not elm city cycling. critical mass is a broader group of cyclists with no leader.

elm city cycling has done several bike safety events all over new haven. do you want to help? the next meeting is sept 13th, the general meeting starts at six and the bicycle education committee meets at five just before it, in city hall.

while you are wasting your time bashing ECC for not doing enough, you could be educating kids on cycling yourself.
when you point one finger at someone, four point back at you, sir.

i wish this young person the best in his recovery. please remember that while sidewalks do offer some refuge for kids on bikes, they can also deem cyclists invisible to drivers exiting and entering. and it sounds like this boy was making his way onto the roadway and wasnt seen by the drivers to his left before he did.

be safe, be seen.

posted by: anon on September 1, 2010  11:56am

Martin:

A bike lane on the entirety Dixwell Avenue was planned by the city (by both the transportation, city plan and public works departments) in 2002.  Obviously it hasn’t been implemented yet, even though the city hears requests for it all the time. 

A number of people in Dixwell and elsewhere would agree that this project should be prioritized, but it is hard to implement priorities when there are no systems for accountability. 

Perhaps you’d be willing to join one of the many neighborhood coalitions, block watches or Elm City Cycling and work towards creating such a system?

posted by: streever on September 1, 2010  1:41pm

Martin, ECC does not run or operate Crit Mass. We did plan a comprehensive detailed bike plan which shows safe bike routes & accommodations for EVERY neighborhood in the entire city.

However, you are wrong: I personally do ride Critical Mass. This month we rode in Fairhaven and Newhallville area. We rode in the Hill last month. We rode in Newhallville the month before.

I can think of two rides in the entire length of time I’ve ridden Crit Mass here that only went around downtown: the weather was 10+ below freezing and snow was falling.

For the last few years, Crit Mass has visited every neighborhood in this city almost every month.