ABC participates in Phoenix's "Adopt a Street" program. Our designated roadway is Maryland Avenue from 20th Steet to 12th Street. Of course, many club members know that Granada Park is at 20th Street and Maryland Avenue. What you might not have thought about is the subtle irony that a car can't drive down Maryland Avenue from Granada Park to 12th Street... but a bicycle can! There is this "thing" in the way, it's called the Piestawa Freeway or SR-51. A bicycle can go under the Freeway through a bicycle/pedestrian underpass, but a car has to go a half-mile south to Bethany Home Road to get to the other side of the Freeway.
Looking at the Maricopa Association of Governments Bikeways Map, it is hard not to notice that within a few miles of Granada Park, there are numerous roadway underpasses along the Arizona Canal path. There are three bike/pedestrian bridges associated with the Freeway in the Dreamy Draw area and many more to the north. And, there are multiple underpasses allowing cyclists and pedesrians to cross under the Freeway.
When I moved to the Valley in '92, the Squaw Peak Parkway pretty much ended at Dreamy Draw and dumped traffic onto surface streets. A few years later, The Freeway pushed north to Shea, then to Union Hills Drive, and finally, all the way to the 101 loop. So, much of the design and construction work for the majority of these heavily used bicycle and pedestrian accomodations, which many people now seem to take for granted, was already completed before I even got to Arizona. But now, looking back roughly two decades, one thing is clear. This didn't happen by accident! The Arizona Bicycle Club played an important role in insuring that development in the area did not ignore the needs of area bicyclists.
Founded by Eugene and Sylvia Berlatsky in 1964, ABC has served cyclists in the Phoenix Metro area and across Arizona. ABC has grown over the years into a large and robust organization of over 400 members. ABC is a club affiliate of the League of American Bicyclists (LAB). For over 125 years, LAB has been the premier national membership organization for bicyclists, and serves as a strong voice for cyclists' rights and effective education so bicyclists can share the roads and paths of this nation with safety and confidence. Gene and other club members were instrumental in the establishment of the Phoenix Sonoran Bikeway which connects South Mountain Park with Carefree Highway.
Erected in 2005, the Eugene Berlatsky Bicycle and Pedestrian Bridge on Maryland Avenue, crosses I-17. No other east-west road in Phoenix has a dedicated bicycle and pedestrian accomodation across BOTH I-17 and SR-51 freeways.
In February 2010, ADOT and FHWA hosted public scoping meetings as an opportunity for community members to participate in the scoping process. Scoping is the first step in the stucy process and is intended to inform and involve the public agencies, and special interst groups. The public scoping meetings marked the beginning of ADOT's public outreach program that will continue throughout the study. Public comments regarding the I-17 Study are currently being accepted and can be submitted by using the Public Meeting Comment Form.
Inspired that one person, can make a difference, I attended one of these meetings. What would Gene do?
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