This is a report previously circulated on a limited basis, primarily to the Ferguson City Council who provided the 20% local match needed to obtain the remaining 80% funding from the Federal Highways Administration (FHWA).
Metro St. Louis was (and still is) out of compliance with the federal Clean Air Act, and the project was approved from among competitive proposals for a Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) grant.
The purpose of the federal grant was to implement proposed ways to encourage cycling to two major activity centers within a roughly 10 mile radius of Ferguson in North St. Louis County. The activity centers were the former McDonnell Douglas Co., now part of Boeing, and the University of Missouri – St. Louis (UMSL). This initial report was to determine the baseline bicycling situation for later comparison as the project progressed or ended.
The goal was to encourage more bicycling to Boeing and UMSL by soundly-based bicycle education, based on the League of American Bicyclists foundation minimum 9 hour Road I course, combined with bike-related on-site facilities improvements. At Boeing, this was envisaged as being primarily improved and additional bike parking, locker facilities for holding a change of clothes etc., and benches and showers. On the UMSL campus the focus was on substantially increased and improved bike parking.
Appended below relating to the baseline survey are the following:
1) The TIP409Report (Transportation Improvement Project) 20 page text-only report.
2) The figures accompanying the report are featured in a detailed descriptive PowerPoint slideshow Ferguson_BIKE_Survey_BPAC4d presented to East-West Gateway Council of Governments (EW Gateway) Bicycle-Pedestrian Advisory Committee in October 2004. EW Gateway was responsible for originally approving the project for the FHWA grant.
A few of the subsequent activities and improvements are described elsewhere on this blog:
Quality Ferguson Bike Racks installed in 2006.
ThinkBicycling 