AMES, Iowa – Like Mason City, another mid-sized Iowa town has upgraded its traffic tools for bike riders, but without the direction of a Blue Zone.
As part of the Blue Zones project, Mason City uses “sharrows” and other (expensive) pavement markings to alert motorists that bike riders have equal right to use roadways.
Like Mason City, the city of Ames – a vibrant college town – is striving to become a “more bike-friendly community”. However, Ames is not participating in the Blue Zones project, as officials there concluded in 2012 that they “could better serve Ames residents if it took a self-directed path.”
Part of this “path” in Ames to reach its bicycle-friendly goals was to add radar-based bicycle detection at traffic signal locations.
To alert bicyclists that traffic signals can detect bikers, multiple intersections in Ames have been marked with the “Bicycle Detector Pavement Marking.” The marking is placed in the center of the lane and behind the stop bar to indicate where cyclists should wait to activate the light. This will prevent the need for cyclists to dismount and press the pedestrian push-button to get a green light.
“In addition to focusing on multi-model transportation on all our street redesigns, this is another example of the steps the City of Ames is taking to improve safety for cycling in the community for those cyclists wanting to ride on the street,” said Ames Traffic Engineer Damion Pregitzer.
Ames seems to be using the expertise of city leaders and staff already employed by the city in order to accomplish progressive goals that benefit the overall wellness of the community. In Mason City, that leadership may be nonexistent, as a a Blue Zones director had to be hired in order to follow and implement that plan. At any rate, both communities are adding features that should put a smile on a bike rider’s face.
What leadership in Mason City???? All we have is people who know how to rip off the taxpayers for their special projects and friends.
Eric didn’t really mean to steal from City Hall. It was all an honest mistake. Scottie didn’t mean to help his neighbor score hundreds of thousands in tax breaks and free money from the Corridor. All a big coincidence. Janet didn’t intentionally request a no-parking sign in front of her office door on 2nd Street, the Street Dept. was bored so they found something to do. And, once and for all, she really does not hate Mexicans and their music. Travis didn’t unlawfully use his power as a councilman to shirk the Zoning Board’s order that he connect his illegal garages. You don’t see any connected garages at McDonald’s, do you?. Jean felt real bad when she ran out of a council meeting and blew off a blind man who couldn’t walk down a sidewalk without tripping… she had a prior engagement to sip martinis at the FLW Hotel. See, we got it all wrong. The mayor and the council are great people who work hard for all the interests of every person in Mason City. They are not greedy, power-hungry under-achievers who serve only the elite. Just simply no proof of that at all.
THIS WOMAN DOES NOT HATE MEXICANS AND DOES NOT (OFTEN) CALL COPS ON CHILDREN WAITING FOR THE SCHOOL BUS
@Matt-Good points on all of them. I just didn’t have the words.