On Bike Lanes and Neighborhood Connectivity

As much as I would like to advocate to have some sort of a shuttle that takes residents of Speedway from one end to the other, I fully recognize that such a service is likely prohibitively expensive. I would, in its place, like to advocate for a bike "thru-way" through our town. Such a thru-way could be done for a fraction of the cost and would provide a wonderful amenity for the people of Speedway.

First off, I think that the goals of the thru-way need to be clearly defined. I, for one, don't think that this bicycle trial should necessarily be built for the fitness gurus of the world. While it is great that some people slather on the spandex and want to go riding for scores of miles, I think that a lot more people simply want to ride their bikes down to Main St. or over to the grocery store.

Thus, Tabletop Joe's Principle #1: the thru-way is primarily for transportation.

The second thing is that it has to be inclusive. The way I figure it, there are essentially four (4) Speedway "neighborhoods" (for lack of a better term). I live in Meadowood, and I believe that Meadowood is one neighborhood. Some good friends live by Main, and I believe that the Old Speedway neighborhood (10th - Crawfordsville; Main - Lynhurst) is a second neighborhood. I think that the Allison neighborhood (Lynhurst - Georgetown; 25th - Crawfordsville) is a third neighborhood. I think the last neighborhood in Speedway is essentially the area that is from the River to Lynhurst, and 10th to Crawfordsville.

Tabletop Joe's Principle #2 is inclusivity. The bicycle thru-way should go through, and connect, each of these four neighborhoods.

The third thing is cost. I don't want boondoggles. We already have roads that go through Speedway's neighborhoods. I see no reason why some of these roads can't be painted something uniquely Speedway (probably checkered flags, or some sort of racing theme) to let people know what roads the bicycle thru-ways are on.

Tabletop Joe's Principle #3: Don't overspend. We don't need newly built trails a la Carmel. Simply paint the bicycle thru-way on the existing residential streets.

The fourth thing is access. I don't want to ride a bike on Crawfordsville Rd. or Lynhurst. I don't imagine many of my fellow townspeople do either. Keep the thru-way focused on the residential streets. Also, people generally don't want to ride a bike in the dark, as they're afraid they'll get run over. Keep the thru-way well lit via street lights.

Tabletop Joe's Principle #4: Access. Make it something that as many people as possible can use as often as possible.

My suggestion would be to ensure that people could get to the main commercial "hubs" at the four corners of Speedway: 30th/High School Rd.; IMS; Crawfordsville/High School Rd. strip mall; Main St.

I will post more in the future regarding proposed routes.