Dallas – A “Bike Friendly” Town?

Over the last year I’ve become aware of a handful of local, neighborhood-driven bike advocacy groups around our city.  These organizations mobilize grassroots support in making the Dallas area more bike-friendly by establishing discounts with local merchants, working with city council-folk to create cycle tracks on major thoroughfares (a first in Dallas), and hosting event-themed, recreational rides around town.

These groups must be having an effect – Dallas is creating a Bicycle Transportation Advisory Committee and is currently seeking applications.  The committee is going to be a 15-person board and will help in developing Dallas’ future comprehensive bicycle plan (meeting monthly).  Please email your applications to Max Kalhammer (Sr. Planner – Bicycle Coordinator), by Feb 15th, with the subject line “BAC Application.”

So dust off that ol’ Schwinn Stingray and get out to support these important local groups!  If one doesn’t exist in your neighborhood, contact any of the below “friendly” organizers to learn what steps you can take to start one around your community.  Happy Riding!

Bike Friendly Oak Cliff
Bike Friendly Knox-Henderson
Bike Friendly North Dallas
Bike Friendly Richardson
Bike Friendly Arlington
Bike Friendly Fort Worth
Bike Denton
Biking In Dallas
PEDALLAS

Living with the Trinity: A River’s Story

This week KERA launched the multimedia project Living with the Trinity that explores the history North Texans’ relationship with the Trinity River. Visitors to the website can explore the geography, ecology and cultural history of the Trinity River through interactive maps, videos and photographs. In addition to a series of radio reports which airs May 12-15 on KERA-FM (transcripts & podcasts are available), a television documentary is planned to air in the fall of 2009.

April 2010 Update (From Meg Fullwood @ KERA)
KERA CELEBRATES 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF EARTH DAY WITH STATEWIDE TELEVISION BROADCAST OF “LIVING WITH THE TRINITY,” NEW WEB CONTENT AND RADIO REPORTS

In connection with the 40th anniversary of the nation’s first Earth Day celebration in April of 1970, a documentary about an important environmental battle in Texas will be broadcast on Texas public television stations statewide. KERA-TV’s Living with the Trinity explores the conflict that developed in the early 1970s over plans to transform the entire length of the Trinity River into a barge canal linking Dallas and Fort Worth to the Gulf of Mexico. The controversy placed Texas in the national spotlight and spawned a lawsuit against a proposed dam at the mouth of the river near Houston that signaled a new era in environmental politics. The fate of the Trinity River was ultimately decided by a vote.

Living with the Trinity explores this fascinating chapter in the river’s political history. The one-hour program airs on public television stations statewide in April and May. Please check local listings. Living with the Trinity airs Tuesday, April 20, 2010, at 8:00 p.m. on KERA-TV and rebroadcasts Wednesday, April 21 at 10:00 p.m.  Additionally, KERA will update its ongoing radio series Banking on the Trinity. The reports will air Tuesday, April 13 to Thursday, April 15 during Morning Edition and All Things Considered on KERA-FM.

Living with the Trinity is featured on a related Web site at http://www.TrinityRiverTexas.org.

November 2009 Update
The four-part radio series Banking on the River airs November 17-20 on KERA-FM.  A one-hour television documentary, Living with the Trinity, premieres at 9:00 p.m. Monday, November 23 on KERA-TV. The documentary focuses on the period from 1965 to 1973 when the Trinity River was nearly transformed into a barge canal. The television program and radio reports will be posted on the website after broadcast.

From the site: The intent of Living with the Trinity is to make the Trinity River visible again, to restore the river to its rightful place in the consciousness of those who depend upon it.  In doing so, we seek to connect a knowledge of our historical relationship to the Trinity to the way we live our lives today.  It is our hope that this knowledge will enable all of us to make better choices regarding our future relationship to the river and to the environment through which it flows.

White Rock Lake Museum – Beyond Green: Toward a Sustainable Art

The BEYOND GREEN: TOWARD A SUSTAINABLE ART exhibit presented by the City of Dallas Storm Water Mgmt Dept. will be on display until January 2009. The exhibition provides general information on storm water pollution and gives tips on how to prevent contamination in our waterways. In addition, the exhibition highlights pollution effects in three areas: herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizers; used oil and toxic materials; and illicit discharges. The primary goal of this display is to make people aware of the everyday behaviors that can have an impact on the health of local creeks, lakes, and rivers.

Date: August 30, 2008 – January 3, 2009
Location: White Rock Lake – Bath House Cultural Center – 521 Lawther Dr, Dallas, 75218.
Phone: 214-670-8749
Website: Bath House Cultural Center

Trinity River Audubon Center – General Info

The Trinity River Audubon Center is schedule to open in October 2008. This new facility “will serve as the gateway to explore the amazing natural resources” of the Trinity River.

Grand Opening weekend: October 18 – 19, 2008

The center is located at 6500 S. Loop 12, Dallas, 75217 (Google map OR Audubon Center PDF Map with hiking/biking trail routes).

For more information about the Audubon Center’s calendar of events/educational programs or to join their newsletter, please visit their site: http://www.tx.audubon.org/Trinity.html

White Rock Lake – For the Love of the Lake

For the Love of the Lake (FTLOTL) “is an enthusiastic, energetic group of volunteers dedicated to the preservation and enhancement of White Rock Lake Park as an urban oasis.” Volunteer opportunities exist for all ages (monthly, second Saturday, lake shoreline spruce-ups; the adopt-a-shoreline program).

More info is available on the FTLOTL site.

2008 Dates:

• September 13th
• October 11th
• November 8th
• December 13th

Registration Location: FTLOTL Office – 1152 N Buckner Blvd, Dallas, TX 75218 (map). NE Corner of Garland Rd. & Buckner Blvd. in Casa Linda Plaza (Facing Buckner & Doctors Hospital)
Registration Time: 8-9 AM – Enjoy complimentary breakfast and beverages, get your clean up material (trash bag, recycling bag, gloves, trash picker-upper) and meet fellow volunteers.
Clean up Time: 9-11 AM (2 hours)
Questions? Phone: 972-622-SAVE (7283)

The Trinity Trust Affinity Groups

The Trinity Trust has two groups, the River Rats and the Rat Pack, who are “friends of The Trinity Trust who support the Trinity Project – environmental efforts, outdoor recreation, real estate development, project design, and community rehabilitation.”

More info is available on the Trinity Trust site.