kf5nd
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FM-359 Brookshire design bad, cyclists lose, TAKE ACTION NOW - 2005/08/24 04:53
Dear Cyclists:
I went to the public meeting tonight for the rebuild of FM-359 through the town of Brookshire. It's a short project, only about 2500 ft from I-10 to US-90, but it totally left out any consideration for cyclists. Therefore, it has the potential to turn Brookshire into a real danger zone along an otherwise "OK" FM-359 which has shoulders for cyclist use north and south of town.
I am asking you to TAKE ACTION NOW. Public comments must be received by mail by Sept. 2, 2005. I have attached Internet links to the official scanned forms, below.
Current situation: FM-359 in Brookshire has one lane in each direction, with a shoulder used by cyclists and pedestrians. Drainage is provided by a roadside ditch.
Proposed design: TXDOT wants to put two lanes in each direction, completely eliminate the shoulder and replace it with a curb-and-gutter drainage system in place of the ditch. Also, no sidewalk is currently proposed for pedestrians through this historic small town with 80 year old gingerbread homes and soaring oaks on both sides of the road; this would have the effect of stranding homeowners in their homes, and make them even more on internal combustion transport, even as gas prices soar.
What would the Founders of this town have thought about a child not being able to walk to school, a family not able to walk to Church? Shame!
The proposed lane width is 12 ft., which is recognized by the State of Texas as too narrow for bikes and motor vehicles to share safely; anything narrower than 14 ft. and bikes may (and should) take the entire lane to ensure their visibility and safety. TxDOT says there is not sufficient right-of-way to keep the shoulder and add another traffic lane, local landowners do not want to give up their property so that the right-of-way may grow.
My opinion: I have given written comments to TxDOT that the outside lane of FM-359 in Brookshire must be at least 14 ft wide to safely accomodate bikes and motor vehicles, also that "Share The Road With Bicyclists" signs should be posted along this 2500 ft stretch of road from I-10 to US-90 where the FM-359 shoulder is lost and bikes and motor vehicles have to co-mingle.
Comment Forms:
http://www.hal-pc.org/~pwang/FM359_brookshire006.bmp
http://www.hal-pc.org/~pwang/FM359_brookshire007.bmp
I tested these links, and found that the image files looked really huge when viewed in the Internet browser. I found it best to right-click on the image and do "Save Picture As...", save it to a file, then double-click on the file to bring up Windows Picture and Fax viewer, then print the images from there. Good luck.
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Sincerely,
Peter Wang
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