Pedaling the Pueblo – Bicycle Boulevards + Ice Cream Socials
In late June, 2019 Living Streets Alliance (LSA) partnered with the Tucson Department of Transportation Bicycle and Pedestrian Program to try out a different format for the traditional transportation project open house.
In 2017, Tucson Mayor and Council unanimously adopted the City of Tucson Bicycle Boulevard Master Plan, and funding has been made available for the Timrod and Arcadia Bicycle Boulevard projects which span from Grant Rd. to 22nd St. and from Alvernon Way to Craycroft Rd. Funding sources only require the Department of Transportation to hold an open house to notify the public of the changes to the two residential streets, but LSA was curious to see what would happen – specifically, would more people attend and would the conversations be different – if we changed up the traditional open house format to something fun, easy to get to, and more inclusive.
LSA hosted an Ice Cream Social and Bike-In movie at Pinecrest Park, just one of the 3 parks touched by the Arcadia Bicycle Boulevard project. LSA offered free bike repair, free ice cream from Isabella’s Ice Cream, and the City of Tucson brought out their roll plot maps and information boards from the previous open houses they hosted twice earlier in the week. Once the sun went down, everyone watched E.T. The Extraterrestrial on LSA’s outdoor movie screen.
Officials from TDOT said attendance was 5 times what they saw at the previous open houses. They ran out out of survey forms at the park.
Conversations were… interesting, and constructive. Officials from TDOT said they recognized a handful of residents at the event at the park from the previous open houses and, notably, they were not happy with the proposed changes to the residential streets. They cited a number of reasons for opposing the projects: nobody bikes on the streets, the speed tables will slow down cars and ruin the car undercarriage, people walk in the street, at night, and are hard to see, so sidewalks should go in instead, and streetlights (neither of which are included in the scope of the two bicycle boulevard projects, unfortunately, but good information to have for future investments). It was a sign of their commitment to opposing the projects to go out of their way to attend not one, not two, but all three open house events to express their opinions. And these over-represented voices are typically older, whiter and more well-off and have time to attend these meetings.
Read the entire article here to find out more about how the evening went and where you can expect to see more of these events in the future.
Pedaling the Pueblo – Bicycle Boulevards + Ice Cream Socials
Pedaling the Pueblo is a mini-program and podcast that connects people to news and information about Tucson’s bicycle culture. A collective of bicycle enthusiasts host and produce weekly programs covering a wide variety of topics. From community events to questions about how bicycle funding works; tips to start riding more to interviews with local bicycling legends, Pedaling the Pueblo explores life on two wheels from a “people first” approach, allowing us all to have an open dialogue about how people move through our shared built environment.
Content is responsive to and driven by the community, so if you have a question or topic you’d like to hear covered, email us at [email protected]. You can also find us on Facebook.
