Matt Schickling, the Wire
Some use bikes to commute, others for recreation, some think it reflects healthy living and environmentally friendly attitudes in their communities.
Regardless of the reasons, this is a need that many municipalities are starting to address. Philadelphia, as a general example, rolled out a large-scale bike share program last week. More locally, bicycle renting services are now available on Montgomery County’s Schuylkill and Pennypack trails.
Abington commissioners hosted a meeting on April 20 to get resident input on what could be done to make their town more bicycle-friendly.
“This isn’t something that’s a fad,” Peter Simone, a project consultant for the plan, said. “This is something that we think is going to be here for a very long time, hopefully forever.”
The township applied for a grant with Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission and was awarded $60,000 last October, Steven Kline, vice president of the township’s board of commissioners, said. Abington supplied $15,000 to do a study on the possibilities and, through a bid process, chose Simone Collins Landscape Architecture as consultant for the plans.
“There have been no plans made,” Kline said. “The idea for tonight is really to get your input, your ideas, your thoughts, your concerns so they can go on and start working on a plan.”
Simone presented to several Abington cyclists and members of the board of commissioners to outline potential improvements to the township’s bicycle network. The plan, which he predicts will take 20 or more years to complete, is aimed at improving safety and accessibility for cyclists within the township and connecting Abington’s roads and trails with already-established bicycle routes in surrounding areas.
“It’s really a transportation system,” Simone said.
For that reason, the system will be designed mostly for adult cyclists. Some of the concepts presented called for narrowing larger motorist lanes and expanding shoulders to accommodate bike lanes. PennDOT is usually amenable to taking larger roads of 13 to 16 feet down to 11 feet, which still provides enough space for motorists. Another common solution is to use “sharrows,” a nickname for arrows painted on roads that indicate when a road has a shared lane. These would be in addition to bike routes already implemented into township streets, like the one on Valley Road.
Simone pointed out the benefits of implementing a large-scale bicycle plan into a township like Abington.
Many of the present cyclists already commute within and out of the township. Some suggested that riding on the roads as they stand can be a dangerous prospect. Huntingdon Pike, for example, was called a “no man’s land” for bikes.
“I’m really just looking for an easy way to get to the Baederwood Shopping Center without getting killed,” one resident said.
“Roads go everywhere, bicycles don’t,” another added.
Ideally, the network would connect all Abington residents to local destinations, like Keswick Village, Jenkintown shops and restaurants, Willow Grove Mall and green spaces including Lorimer and Alverthorpe parks, Hillside Cemetery and the Pennypack trail.
Simone also emphasized the health component to providing bike routes.
“It’s developing into a mass consciousness,” Simone said.
The consultants are going to meet with SEPTA to find out if there are any ways to better incorporate bicycles into its services. For example, providing bike racks at local train stations would likely increase the use of bicycles for commuters.
Another concept of the presentation is to connect the network to local schools so students could ride their bikes instead of walking or taking a bus.
Ward 11 Commissioner John Spiegelman said that he already reached out to schools, who said their major concerns were liability for injury and stolen bikes.
“That’s something to keep in mind as an important obstacle to clear,” he said.
For many residents, the most discouraging obstacle is the timeframe presented. Twenty years is a long time to wait for something many of them want right now.
Lora Lehmann, an Abington resident who attended the meeting, supports the idea that small projects can be completed gradually as the larger, conceptual project may take two decades to be completely finished.
“Overall, I was pleased in many ways,” she said. “It looks like a very good thing.”
The project committee will be hosting three more public meetings through January 2016 as the planning process moves along.
Simone said that nothing is stopping the township from making improvements before the plan is set, but it will likely take a push from residents.
“You need citizen advocates. you need champions,” he said. “That’s part of moving this forward.”
For information, visit www.abington.org.
