2015 Closing on Positive Notes, Ready for 2016

By Bruce Cohen - December 28, 2015

Maryland LCI Graduating Class 2015

We’ve had a very productive year at Bike Maryland and look forward to 2016.  2015 is closing out on positive notes including:

• 10 Marylanders recently passed their League Certified Instructors (LCIs) training. Thanks to the Baltimore Bicycling Club for a generous grant to Bike AAA for making this possible.  These new LCIs will help support our education program and help more Marylanders bike safely.
• Our year end campaign raised nearly $13,000 and over 150 new members.
• For details on all our accomplishments in 2015, please download and review the 2015 Bike Maryland Annual Report

This past year has seen personnel changes at the Department of Transportation and State Highway Administration. Bike Maryland thanks former state bicycle coordinator Michael Jackson for his years of service and looks forward to working with the Maryland Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee under the leadership of new chairman Eric Brenner. Eric is an accomplished cyclist and recently retired from the Governor’s Grants office.

Over the past year, many advocates were concerned that the Complete Streets policies the state has used over the past 10 years would be set aside in order to keep project costs down. With the Complete Streets policies, the Maryland State Highway Administration required new bike lanes and sidewalk improvements for most projects when the curb line has been changed. In a meeting with Maryland Department of Transportation officials, if bike amenities are called for in a Bicycle Master Plan or Comprehensive Plan, then bicycle improvements will be included with those projects. Fortunately, most counties have elements of a bicycle master plan in place.

The Maryland State Highway Administration is undertaking some long needed revisions to their bike route system. In the past, a ‘bike route’ sign was installed on roads where bicycle traffic was observed, without attention to connecting routes or destinations. Manged by SHA’s new bicycle coordinator Tony Campbell, a comprehensive bike route system will be focused on Carroll County over the coming year.

The progress we’ve seen over the past month has set the stage for an exciting New Year!   Please mark your calendar for these important dates!

• Maryland Bicycle Symposium – February 10 in Annapolis, MD
• Urban Adventure – April 30 from the HandleBar Cafe in Baltimore, MD.  After a successful inaugural run at the 2015 Tour du Port, the Urban Adventure mountain bike/cyclocross route will be starting and ending at the HandleBar Cafe.
• Ride of Silence – May 18 in Multiple Locations
• Bike To Work Day – May 20 in Metro DC and Central Maryland
• Tour dem Parks, Hon – June 12th in Baltimore, MD
• Indian Head 100 – September 5 in Indian Head, MD
• Rally in The Valley – September 17 and 18 in Patapsco Valley State Park
• Larry’s Ride – September 25 in Cockeysville, MD
• MoCo Epic – October 8-9 in Montgomery County. An epic mountain bike adventure with possible road routes.
• Seagull Century, October 8 in Salisbury, MD

Due to escalating operating costs and declining attendance, Bike Maryland will not hold the Tour du Port in 2016.