National Scenic Byways Program Nominations
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) announced the sixth National Scenic Byways Program nomination cycle. A hard copy of the completed nomination and completion of the online nomination are due from the State, Indian tribe, or Federal land management agencies to the FHWA Division Offices by December 17, 2008. All nomination applications must be completed online and submitted both electronically and as a signed hard copy. The hard copy should include the corridor management plan, route map, digital photos, and letters of support.
The FHWA produced several documents to help potential nominees prepare their nomination, available at www.bywaysonline.org/nominations/ including:
FHWA will conduct outreach to prospective applicants. See www.bywaysonline.org/nominations for additional information.
Call to Activity: Getting Kids Moving in the Great Outdoors
The President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports posted Call to Activity: Getting Kids Moving in the Great Outdoors to encourage youth participation in outdoor activities. This is a joint project of the Federal Interagency Working Group on Public Health and Recreation.
National Wildlife Federation: Make Tracks!™ Family Trail Weekend!
Walk, bike, roll, or stroll to a trail near you this Columbus Day Weekend (October 11 -13th, 2008) for the first annual Make Tracks Family Trail Weekend! Join families across the country for a Green Hour® you won't forget. See www.nwf.org/maketracks/ for more information and see www.nwf.org/maketracks/mediapage.cfm for a helpful media toolkit that includes a customizable press release, downloadable flyer, and Make Tracks! banners.
Call for Presentations for the 2009 Professional Traibuilders Conference
The 2009 Professional Traibuilders Conference will be held in lovely Asheville, North Carolina. The core conference dates will be March 17-19, 2009, with Pre-conference workshops on March 15-16, 2009, and Post-conference workshops on March 20, 2009.
We are developing the speaker schedule for the conference and are seeking ideas for presentations from the trailbuilding community. If you have a presentation that you would like to give at the 2009 conference, please email mpasso@trailbuilders.org with a subject title of "Session Proposal" and include your name, contact information for all presenters, session title, and a brief (100 word) description of the proposed session.
The PTBA Board is especially interested in Session Proposals addressing the following topics:
Please send proposals to Michael Passo, Professional Trailbuilders Association, mpasso@trailbuilders.org.
Call for Presentations for the 2009 National Scenic Byways Conference
The America's Byways Resource Center and the Federal Highway Administration invite you to submit a proposal for the 2009 National Scenic Byways Conference, August 23-26, 2009 in Denver, Colorado. We're seeking experienced and knowledgeable instructors, leaders, researchers, and professionals to contribute within five core learning areas critical to byway success and sustainability:
Proposals for roundtable discussions, workshops, presentations, or best-practices forums should be geared to help achieve our 2009 conference goals.
We updated our Equestrian webpage to include a section on Buggy Lanes on Highways and Buggies on Shared Use Paths. Thank you to Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania for your contributions. Ohio and Pennsylvania have additional resources available.
Transportation Planning Update
The FHWA and FTA [Federal Transit Administration] released the Summer 2008 Transportation Planning Update quarterly newsletter. It has articles on:
If you have items you would like to see in this update, please contact ben.williams@dot.gov.
The National Trails System is the network of scenic, historic, and recreation trails created by the National Trails System Act of 1968. These trails provide for outdoor recreation needs, promote the enjoyment, appreciation, and preservation of open-air, outdoor areas and historic resources, and encourage public access and citizen involvement. See www.nps.gov/nts/. The National Trails System Act celebrates its 40th Anniversary on October 2, 2008.
See www.apbp.org to learn more about the benefits of being an APBP member.
October Webinar: What's in the new AASHTO Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities? Wednesday, October 15, 2008 3:00 - 4:00 pm et.
Register at www.bikewalk.org/webinar.php.
The AASHTO [American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials] Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities is the national guideline for planning and design of bikeways in the U.S. Its next edition, to be released in 2009, is the first to be developed as an NCHRP [National Cooperative Highway Research Program] research project under the direction of a panel of experts. Hear how this edition will differ from previous versions, and the major research and practice experience that prompts new design guidance among other changes. The presenters are Jennifer Toole, ASLA, AICP, and Eric Mongelli, P.E., both of Toole Design Group. Jennifer is the Principal Investigator on the NCHRP research project developing the new AASHTO Guide and is a contributor to the current edition; Eric is the Director of Engineering at Toole Design Group. One APA CM credit has been applied for. Jennifer was recognized at Pro Walk/Pro Bike as APBP's 2008 Professional of the Year - Private Sector. Congratulations, Jennifer! Read more about Jennifer and our other award winners in the next APBP newsletter.
The Professional Development Webinar Series is set up so you can invite your colleagues or clients to attend a webinar for one very reasonable price ($50/site for APBP members; $60/site for non-members) at your host site or theirs. Reserve your space in a webinar by visiting www.bikewalk.org/webinar.php or downloading a registration/payment form from www.apbp.org.
A Cool Tool from PBIC
The FHWA-supported Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center (PBIC) developed an informative flyer that tells what some communities have done to facilitate pedestrian and bicycling. It includes links to resources and case studies (some of which APBP prepared for PBIC). Download the flyer at www.walkinginfo.org/library/details.cfm?id=4306.
Videos from Pro Walk/Pro Bike Plenary Sessions Now Online
If you couldn't attend Pro Walk/Pro Bike in Seattle (September 2008), thank John Wetmore (producer of Perils for Pedestrians and a good friend to APBP) for taping and uploading the speeches at the plenary sessions to Google Video. See www.pedestrians.org/.
State Trail Administrators Meeting
The 2008 State Trail Administrators Meeting will be held November 13-15, 2008, in Little Rock AR. This meeting is for State trail administrators and Federal agency personnel who are involved with statewide or national trail programs. State Transportation Enhancement Managers, Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinators, and State Scenic Byway Coordinators also are invited. Registration is now open. There is no registration fee, but everyone must register for the Mobile Workshops to ensure that there is enough space.
We will have open discussion sessions aimed at providing you an opportunity to present General and Technical questions to FHWA. Please pre-submit your questions to Jonathan LeClere at jonathan.leclere@dot.gov so that we are able to research and prepare answers. Please feel free to submit a question even if you are unable to attend the training workshop. We plan to have teleconference capability for Plenary Session portions of the meeting.
