Bike Plan Presentation

This is a message I sent to members of the Bike Edina Task Force. I'm posting it here because the accomplishments and possibilities truly represent what we can accomplish as citizens, as volunteers, as government officials, and as members of a society that better walking, biking, and transit options.

Hello friends, I have some great news to share with you about last night's Edina Transportation Commission (ETC) meeting. Also I have a recap of recent and next activities that are helping us make prpogress on our Bike Edina mission statement.

First of all, there was strong bike plan support expressed by the comissioners at the ETC meeting last night. Dwaine, Alice, Matthew, Antonio, and I attended on your behalf. Last night's presentation that Antonio gave included several core concepts and striking visuals depicting current roadways before and after bikeway treatments. Comments such as "this is a wonderful plan" and "this is one of the best plans I've read" were just a few that you can hear for yourself if you watch the meeting video. After the meeting, I actually got a high-five from one of the commissioners! What impressed me was that the questions reflected thoughtful considerations of what the possibilities are. I am truly optimistic that the Bike Edina community, the ETC, the City Council, and the Planning Commission are already demonstrating genuine interest in our new comprehensive bike plan. Tactically, Mr. Sullivan suggested a mid-December ETC workshop to go through the bike plan, and so this is one of the actionable items where we can make a positive difference as we partner together. More to come on that later.

Second, apart from our specific bike plan presentation: We observed considerations, questions, and comments about bicycling while talking about transportation in general. Specifically, during the other agenda topics, the Chair (Les W.), the other commissioners, and the other presenting consultants (we heard from the Northeast Edina Traffic Study Implementation, the Edina Gateway - Pentagon Redevelopment, and comments about the roundabouts) were doing things such as showing photos of bicyclists, talking about bicyling experiences, addressing bicycle safety at an initial level, reducing the carbon footprint, and other bicycle aspects. I believe this is a remarkable indication that our collective efforts are making a positive difference already. This will be reflected in the upcoming plans and decisions that our community will make regarding transportation options.

Our Transportation Commission is a hard-working, thoughtful group that is addressing a vast amount of issues and projects. Dwaine and I will continue to be your bike representatives to develop relationships with the ETC. We will partner together constructively, and we always welcome more particiaption when you can regarding our link with the ETC. Others in the bike group are doing the same thing with City Council and the Planning Commission.

Our collective efforts will increase the quality of life in Edina in health, safety, environmental, and social aspects--you have made a difference already! Thank you for your efforts to get us this far! I am so thankful to Steve for starting the BETF. I'm grateful for everyone's contributions during the past months, and CDG has been wonderfully supportive.

In closing I think that if you are not already very proud of our group's results, and proud of our City staff, commissions, councilmembers, Community Design Group, citizens, and others for what has been initiated...well gosh we can definitely feel that way. The proof is in the November 5th City Council meeting, this ETC meeting last night, and the various efforts underway. We still have a lot of work to do. I hope that this message offers some helpful information and will motivate you and your network to stay engaged.


--
Kirk (Logan) Johnson
Kirk.johnson@LoganLogic.com