Over the last several years, I’ve had the opportunity to talk with elected officials, community groups and individuals aboutthe tremendous benefits the city could accrue from encouraging more citizens and visitors to take to our streets on bicycles. While I think most people can get their heads around the general idea, there’s a disconnect for some who can’t imagine riding a bike to work, to the store or to school. It doesn’t compute for them. They nod and smile, but in the back of there minds, I can tell they are thinking, “Wouldn’t it be easier to drive?”

It’s important to remember that some people don’t have that option. Because of financial, health or other reasons, bicycles are not alternative transportation, but transportation plain and simple. The rest of us, who do have the option to drive, may be curious about the beneficial aspects of riding a bike to work. If there’s one day to give it a try, it’s this Friday. National Bike-to-Work Day will be observed in Savannah with a 2Wheels 2Work bicycle convoy, sponsored by the Savannah Bicycle Campaign, The City of Savannah and the Chatham Environmental Forum. Bicycle commuters will enjoy free coffee from Jittery Joe’s and the company of other cyclists. Full details are available on the Savannah Bicycle Campaign Web site.

Local media outlets, over the last several years, have published and aired scores of stories about the dangers faced by pedestrians on our streets. These accounts usually follow the death or injury of a pedestrian and almost always include quotes from law enforcement officials warning pedestrians to use crosswalks, even when doing so would require a pedestrian to walk miles out of his or her way. Even when there’s no compelling evidence a pedestrian would have been safer in a crosswalk. Local journalists have seemed unable to make the connection between pedestrian casualties and streets that are dangerous by design. Until now.

In yesterday’s Savannah Morning News, Eric Curl included the words “street design” in his story “Parents, officials decry speeders at Montgomery Crossroad school zone.” As far as I can tell, this is the first time a local news story has used these words and made the connection between the design of the street and the danger it presents to pedestrians. To be sure, other local media personnel — City Talk columnist Bill Dawers being chief among them — have argued that a Complete Streets approach will make streets safer. However, Curl’s may be the first story about pedestrian safety to suggest automobile-centric street design makes streets dangerous.

Curl begins to zero in on the problem with this passage:

Those familiar with the problem say enforcement is only one component to solving it. Signage, street design and education also play a role.

Yes! He actually wrote the words “street design.” Now we are getting somewhere. Here’s a passage that describes potential solutions:

Many would like to see signs and lights added over the road so that they would be easier to see. In addition, the brush needs to be trimmed back in some areas where it obscures the signs, Stewart said. Road markers are another option being considered.

OK. Now we are talking about things next to the street, above the street and painted on the street. But what about the street itself? Is there something about it that makes it inherently dangerous for pedestrians? Could it be that it is five (and in some places, six) lanes wide and designed to maximize motor vehicle speed? We almost get there. But not quite. Here are some thoughts from two police officers:

“I am not an expert in traffic engineering so will yield to their expertise,” he said. Police Capt. Scott Simpkins said the problem is not unique to St. James. “It’s a continuing problem with the multilane roadways,” Simpkins said. “We’re doing what we can.”

Astute readers will note that yielding to the expertise of traffic engineers is exactly what produced the current dangerous situation. Afterall, Montgomery Crossroad isn’t a natural occurrence. It isn’t a path worn away over the eons by tidal creeks. It was designed by traffic engineers. Its design encourages speeding. Its design makes the street deadly for pedestrians. Without addressing these core issues, it will continue to be dangerous no matter how much enforcement attention is focused on it.

Still, Simpkins defines the scope of the situation and connect the dots between local streets that claim the lives of people who walk. Abercorn Street Extension. Ogeechee Road. Montgomery Crossroad. Mall Boulevard. Hodgson Memorial. All are multilane. All have pedestrian crossings spaced widely apart. All were designed to maximize car capacity and speed. All are dangerous by design.

Healthy Savannah is sponsoring a community forum on April 29 at 6 p.m. at the Savannah Civic Center. The forum takes an important, but not often examined (at least locally) angle on community health. Instead of focusing entirely on personal nutrition and exercise, the forum will examine the health impacts of infrastructure — specifically related to transportation — along with physical activity, nutrition and smoking.

A press release describes the goal of the forum “is to help people understand what factors have the greatest impact on our health in Savannah. Keynote speaker Dr. Evelyn Lewis will provide an opportunity for citizens to learn about how their health is affected by factors like public policy and the environment in which we live. Participants will also engage in active dialogue around actions we can take to improve our health individually and within the communities where we live.”

Healthy Savannah — coalition of businesses, nonprofits, healthcare agencies, governments, schools and neighborhoods — is an initiative of City of Savannah Mayor Otis Johnson formed in 2007.  It is a public/private collaboration of over 65 community organizations and growing. The community forum is sponsored by the Junior League of Savannah, The 100 Black Men of Savannah, The City of Savannah, St. Joseph’s/Candler Health System, Memorial Medical Center, GeoVista Credit Union, Savannah State University and the A Phillip Randolph Institute.

Thee vent is free and open to the public. For more information, visit the Healthy Savannah Web site or call Kimberly Pannell at (912) 658-8769.

The students at Islands Elementary School are holding a Recycled Art Festival, which will include an art exhibit, performances by a recycled band, a recycled pre-K marching band and a chorus, and a fashion show. Doors open for the exhibit at 5:30 and the fashion show begins at 6 p.m. The concert starts at 6:30 p.m. The school is located at 4595 US Highway 80 East on Wilmington Island.

I attended two public meetings yesterday and heard two expressions of concerns about the safety of Savannah’s cyclists. One was from an elected official, the other from a citizen. Each called for education and awareness programs aimed at reducing unsafe practices.

The elected official worried about wrong-way cyclists and those who operate their vehicles at night without lights. I worry about this, too. The citizen fretted over the threat posed to pedestrians by cyclists riding on sidewalks. I fret about this, as well. Both concerns are completely valid and I agree we need education and outreach to cyclists, who needlessly endanger themselves and others. I am pleased to report that both individuals were supportive of cycling and I’m certain both were truly sincere in their concern for the health and safety of cyclists. I’m grateful for their comments and I support their ideas.

Still, I couldn’t help notice the context within which the comments were made. Both were offered within larger discussions of new facilities for bicyclists. Are similar suggestions about combating unsafe driving ever prompted by discussions of new roadways? I can’t remember a single instance. All sorts of elected officials had all sorts of things to say at the groundbreaking for the fifth phase of the Truman Parkway last month, but did any mention the need to educate motorists about speeding or aggressive driving? Car crashes, too often resulting in fatalities, are a regular occurrences on the existing portions of the limited access freeway. Wouldn’t a groundbreaking ceremony present an excellent opportunity to warn about the dangers of distracted or impaired driving and call for new programs to better educate motorists who use the Truman Parkway?

Again, I appreciate any concern expressed for the most vulnerable road users, but I’m curious about the requisite safety discussions that accompany our conversations about bicycling. Is there a subtle expectation that as cyclists we must earn, through good behavior, any new infrastructure made available to us, no matter how small? Is this expectation self-imposed? I must admit, I’ve caught myself thinking (and sometimes saying) things along these lines. Meanwhile, as motorists we are invited to enjoy colossal new facilities ($67.5 million in the case of Truman Parkway Phase Five), without being asked to consider how to ensure their safe and responsible use.