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Old Posted Feb 18, 2014, 7:05 PM
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Bringing Back Mississippi Riverfront Towns Through Bike Trails

Read More: http://www.theatlanticcities.com/job...e-trails/8382/

Quote:
The Mississippi River has come a long way since Huck Finn went rafting down the banks of the waterway that flows from northern Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico.

In that time, the Great River has transitioned from steamboat commerce to broader agricultural and industrial development. But time hasn't been a friend to the communities that sit on the shores of the second-longest river in the country: Pollution levels rose steadily and development destroyed much of the natural wildlife that used to grace its shores. However, in recent decades, different riverfront-development organizations have sprung up along the Mississippi River that have helped boost communities' economies, promote recreation, and stem the flow of pollution.

One of those groups is River Action—a small nonprofit outfit based in Davenport, Iowa, one of the cities in Illinois and Iowa that make up the Quad Cities area along the Mississippi and Rock Rivers. The area has a long industrial history, having served as the hub for John Deere, an agriculture machinery company. Now in its 30th year, the group not only leads educational efforts about the important waterway, but also seeks federal and state grants for projects that help boost local commerce and the environment. A new focus on riverfront development has made downtown areas on both sides of Mississippi River enjoy booming housing and business, all without forgetting its industrial past. Now, the Quad Cities area is seen as one of the most affordable areas in the country, ranking second in the nation for beating the housing bubble.

"We want to get people to the river to get that first-hand personal experience," says Amy Bandman, program director at River Action. "We can create better stewards of the environment by our rivers through these educational and environmental projects." --- One of the biggest issues facing the Quad Cities is the environmental damage that decades of agriculture, relying heavily on pesticides, have done to the area water, wildlife, marshes, and wetlands. In order to deal with these runoff pollutants—fertilizers, chemicals, oil, grease, sediment, salts, and bacteria—River Action worked with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency on several recent projects.

To prevent these pollutants from entering the Rock River, in this latest example, the group provided funding and managed the restoration of a stream bank and native plants on a commercial drainage ditch in Rock Island, Illinois. Additionally, it helped build rain gardens on a Black Hawk College parking lot in Moline, Illinois, and also worked on restoring wetlands and streams in a nature preserve in the same town. This sort of wetland restoration is happening all over the country, not just along the Mississippi River. Beyond these programs, River Action has been key to developing more than 65 miles of riverfront biking and walking trails in the Quad Cities area. When the organization was founded 30 years ago, there were only two miles of trails.

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LA’s first Bicycle Friendly Business District is coming to Northeast Los Angeles

Read More: http://ladotbikeblog.wordpress.com/2...t-los-angeles/

Quote:
We are happy to announce that the City of Los Angeles is working on establishing its first Bicycle Friendly Business District in Northeast Los Angeles. For the past year, the Bike Program has been developing a Bicycle Friendly Business District (BFBD) program to foster a broad and engaging range of bicycle friendly features in business districts or corridors.

- The program aims to provide districts with adequate bicycle facilities including bicycle parking and repair stations, bikeways, creating maps of the bikeway network, installing signage, and facilitating bicycle wayfinding. By cultivating bicycle friendly business practices in local businesses and developing local business districts to welcome patrons on bicycles, these districts seek to build community, increase physical activity, and make streets less congested while supporting Los Angeles neighborhood businesses.

- A BFBD is a partnership between the City, neighborhood and business organizations, and local businesses that improves a business district’s Bicycle Friendliness through bicycle infrastructure and local business promotions to people travelling by bicycle. The district encourages and promotes short, local trips, especially for shopping, dining and recreation.

- The BFBD program complements complete streets and traffic calming objectives in order to capture local dollars and further neighborhood development in Los Angeles. Districts cooperate with the LADOT, the Council Office, and local community partners to implement services already offered free of charge through the LADOT Bike Program. These services, infrastructure, and other program elements combine with local investment in bicycle amenities and programs privately funded by neighborhood and business partners.

The pilot targets Northeast LA’s primary business corridors: Colorado Boulevard, York Boulevard, Eagle Rock Boulevard, and N. Figueroa Street. The area was selected for study because of its recent additions of bicycle infrastructure, including:

• The implementation of a Road Diet, Bike Lanes, and the City’s first Bike Corral on York Boulevard

• The completion of Bike Lanes on Eagle Rock Boulevard

• The implementation of a Road Diet, Buffered Bike Lanes, and Pedestrian safety enhancements on Colorado Boulevard

• The conceptual plans for Bike Lanes on N. Figueroa Street

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