News

PSU Director of Transportation Teresa Davis and landscape architect Thomas Flynn presented Penn State’s new campus bike/ped traffic plan at CRBC’s January meeting. If approved and implemented, Davis and Flynn said the plan should improve safety and better connect campus destinations while improving links to the regional bikeway network. The current campus ban of bicycling on sidewalks would be eliminated, but bikes would not be allowed on sidewalks adjacent to roads. Bikes traffic would mix with motor traffic on campus streets.

The plan includes:
•  Bike climbing lanes for steep uphill road sections (Burrowes and Shortlidge Streets).
•  Showering and changing facilities within a five minute walk of all major campus destinations.
•  More Bike racks on campus
•  Covered bike parking within five minutes of major destinations.
•  Large bike parking courts at major destinations.
•  Secure bike parking rooms in residence halls.
•  Bike paths along Park Avenue and University Drive .
•  On-road bike lanes or separated paths around the periphery of campus.
•  More effective snow clearance from paths and around bike parking.
•  A new path to connect campus to Millbrook Marsh and the Puddintown extension of the College Township Bikeway.
•  An education program for cyclists, pedestrians and drivers to ensure the plan works effectively.

CRBC has suggested a mandatory bicycle education class for all entering freshmen, similar to the successful online course in use at Cornell University. This course could be given along with the new alcohol education course required for entering PSU freshmen. CRBC members and PSU officials traveled to Ithaca three years ago to study Cornell’s bike education program and declared it a useful model for Penn State. When asked if an effort will be made to enforce the 15 mph campus speed limit since the plan forces cyclists to mix with motor vehicle traffic, Davis and Flynn said they were advised that 15 mph speed limits are not enforceable in Pennsylvania. It was pointed out that 15 mph is enforced in school zones and that PSU is a school.

In response to CRBC’s request of last September, Penn DOT has repaired the dangerous drain grates on Elmwood Avenue in Lemont (see article below). The photo above left shows one of the grates before the repair. The photo at right, taken yesterday, shows the same grate after the repair. CRBC wishes to thank Penn DOT, College Township, and the Centre Region Planning office for their help in correcting these cycle traps.

The Pedal People, a cooperative human-powered delivery and hauling service for the Northampton, Massachusetts area appeared at a special CRBC event Friday, April 27 hosted by Freeze Thaw Cycles. The Pedal People ride year round, hauling garbage (which is independently contracted in Northampton), furniture, delivering groceries and packages of all kinds. All on bikes.

In addition, they offer classes in bike maintenance, and they serve as a catalyst to practical bicycling as a transportation alternative in their region. You can read about them at their great website :

“The Co-op uses bicycles and bicycle trailers to transport things, and is committed to using human power despite the culture of dependence on motorized vehicles. We hope that our use of relatively simple tools in sound business practice will debunk the prevailing belief that more technology is needed to solve problems.

We believe that social change is possible, and we share inspiration and education with people wanting to choose more sustainable lifestyles. We aim to make a living in a fair, noble way, exploiting no one.

We believe in the idea of low-income living as a counter to the work-consume-spend lifestyle common in America today. We also believe that by spending less time making a living, we can have more time to contribute to the community and live life at a human pace rather than a motorized pace.”