Martin

One more lane bro

And their landscapers NEED to park in front of their house for that immaculate front lawn. They are incapable of parking in driveways or side streets, apparently. They NEED to block a travel lane with their massive trailer.

Yea I think they realize that whining about parking in a lawn sign is a bad look, hence the “unsafe” pivot. The road is mostly residential with long driveways.

The current situation is unsafe. Cars & trucks parked on a road with no painted shoulder. The main thing we’re asking for is a parking prohibition.

Bike lanes aren’t just about bikes, they’re about giving people safer options, especially kids, seniors, and those without cars.

Opposing it says more about fear of change than concern for community wellbeing.

The Age of Double Speak:

Lying about bike lanes being "unsafe", because you just don't like them and you're too cowardly to say that your personal preferences are more important to you than safety.

This is mostly unprotected in front of residences. They’re fighting this much over a line of paint I’m trying to imagine how much they would fight over digging stuff up. We have big trees in our berms which complicate things. Old streets.

They say it would encourage people to bike on an unsafe road. They say the road is fundamentally dangerous to bike on. I believe that the bike lane will make it a safer road that is home to our only High School, leading to safety for pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers. People bike on it today.

When you park on Parker your vehicle intrudes into the lane. If it’s a larger vehicle, cars have to go into oncoming traffic to go around you. If cars are parked on both sides, all bets are off. Right now there is a new house being built, and the workers park on side streets just fine.

They actually claimed that safety measures like bollards & flex posts are ugly and would ruin the curb-appeal of the neighborhood. They claimed it was a sign of “Urbanization”

when they speak in public meetings it’s usually about parking. Engineers did a parking study and found most parking rarely used, since the road is too narrow for it. I never park on it. Folks don’t want to have to park on the side street. every property has a driveway.

The Ave currently has no painted shoulder and has a wide travel lane, encouraging speeding. It allows parking although it’s not safe. They claim the speeding makes the proposed bike lane too dangerous, without accounting for the traffic calming of the bike lane. Kids ride on it today to go to HS.

A lawn sign reads STOP THE BIKE LANES. Parker Ave families against unsafe bike lanes. Part of it has a red background.

You know you’re working on something important in your neighborhood when some of your neighbors launch a lawn-sign campaign against it. Most suburban thing ever. #bikelanes #nimby #maplewoodnj #suburbs #completestreets

Death of Cyclist in Paris Lays Bare Divide in Mayor’s War Against Cars Paul Varry was run over on a city street in what prosecutors suspect was a deliberate act of road rage, as bikers and drivers choose sides.

It sent a shock through Paris, a city striving to transform itself into one of the great cycling metropolises in the world: a bicycle rider, crushed under the wheels of an SUV in a bike lane just a few yards from La Madeleine, the landmark neoclassical church, in what prosecutors suspect was a deliberate act of road rage. A murder investigation has been opened, and last week, Mayor Anne Hidalgo led the Paris City Council in a minute of silence for the cyclist, Paul Varry, a 27-year-old who was also a cycling advocate. Ms. Hidalgo, a member of the Socialist Party, delivered an emotional speech in which she signaled she would continue to roll out her famously aggressive policies that aim to drastically reduce the role of the automobile in Parisian life. “I am truly angry,” she said. “The future does not belong to cars.”

An outpouring of emotion over Mr. Varry’s Oct. 15 death has put a spotlight on the dangers facing cyclists in a city that has seen an explosion in bikes and cycling lanes in recent years. But it has also underscored the frustrations that motorists increasingly feel in a place that has chosen to limit the movement, speed and parking options of cars. In recent weeks, as cycling organizations, spurred by the death of Mr. Varry, have demanded more protections from aggressive drivers, others have complained about Parisian bikers themselves, some of whom have earned a reputation as dangerous risk-takers.

The New York Times is giving a murder their “both-sides” treatment. What the hell is the matter with you?!? Someone kills a person with their car, and your reaction is to be like, “Some people think murder is bad, but others don’t like bike lanes, so 🤷‍♂️.”

Our pre-thanksgiving #bikebus had immaculate vibes. Thankful for the bike bus family every day we ride together.

A group of people poses with kids bikes and a bunch of filled grocery bags for donating to food pantries.

Today our #bikebus held our #cranksgiving ride to the grocery store for food donations. We donated over thirty bags of groceries to local food pantries. Bike bus is not just for getting to school, it’s a force for good in the community.

I started a bike bus starter pack. Let me know if you’d like to be added! #bikebus #kidicalmass go.bsky.app/RYFg31N

OMG YES FUCK YES

This is great. I love this. I love that someone went to the trouble (it's not actually that much). Because killing kids is too easy.

In our WhatsApp community I created a bike bus cycling group, maybe we can get some grown-ups together for some group rides when the weather is better.

I’m hoping we can make this a regular ride to south mountain. Maybe not over the winter (unless others want to lead as I’m out snowboarding with my son) but definitely in the spring. It’s not too short and not too long for the kids.

Student bikes locked to a vertical barrier at an elementary school.

Before our #BikeBus, this elementary school banned students from biking to school, claiming it was unsafe. They didn’t provide bike racks for students. We called the DPW and they brought barriers as temp racks. #BikeBus is a perfect example of “show, don’t tell” activism. Policies changed overnight.

You bag them? Or leave them on the berm?

A giant bulldozer scrapes up leaf piles on the side of the road to put in a truck while blocking traffic.

This is my town’s archaic process for collecting fall leaves, a giant claw blocking traffic and scraping up our roads. One of the reasons they cite for why we can’t have protected bike lanes. The invention of “brown bags” hasn’t made it to this part of New Jersey yet, unfortunately.

I’ll take “Signs you need protected bike lanes” for $200, Alex.

A sidewalk ends abruptly

Love finding these “desire paths”. A popular cafe & restaurant opened a year ago only a block from my kids school. To walk there you need to walk in the middle of the street. This is the Department of Public Works property on the right and they won’t even build a sidewalk. #maplewoodnj

Add me please

Yes I met with them! They are awesome!💛

A group of families biking together to school in what’s known as a bike bus

Hey 👋 I’m Martin and I started a #BikeBus in my town in New Jersey. It’s been a great community activity and source of joy for us while getting our kids to school. Any other bike bus organizers active on bluesky? #BikeBusWorld #BikeAdvocacy #Bikes