TAMPA -- It was a day of bicycle safety ideas at the bicycle safety action plan workshop put on by the Hillsborough/Tampa MPO, which hired the planning/engineering consulting company of Tindale Oliver to lead the workshop.
About 35-40 planners and engineers from the DOT, MPO, Hillsborough County, city of Tampa and Temple Terrace -- along with local bicycle advocates -- gathered to come up with a game plan in response to the uptick in the number of bicyclists who have been killed by motorists in Hillsborough County and Tampa the past four months.
I was there on behalf of SWFBUD and was proud to know that our lobbying efforts with Hillsborough County Commissioner Mark Sharpe and Tampa City Councilwoman Mary Mulhern paid off in both officials prompting their respective governing boards to initiate this bike safety action plan in October.
Much of today's workshop discussion focused on building on what the local governments are doing right now -- more Share the Road signs, more road markings called "Sharows," more education and outreach -- especially to the working-poor bicyclists.
There is a 6-8 PM meeting set for bicyclists and the public to weigh in with their ideas -- tonight's workshop session will be at the Hillsborough County Government Center at 601 Kennedy Ave. in downtown Tampa. Please attend and share your suggestions and ideas.
We bicyclists have to make our voices heard.
More coverage after 8 PM tonight.
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