RE-EVALUATING ALL INFRASTRUCTURE STANDARDS EVERYWHERE

RE-EVALUATING ALL INFRASTRUCTURE STANDARDS EVERYWHERE

We believe that our City means well when it develops pedestrian and bike infrastructure, and we know that often their hands are tied in many ways thanks to outdated practices in the current edition of the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), but we also believe we can and should do much better. Current new bike lanes, like those on Central and Magnolia, do nothing to protect cyclists from vehicles, and ‘sharrows’ (‘shared arrows’ painted in the middle of traffic lanes) do even less to help keep cyclists safe. This campaign will work to educate City Engineering and policy makers to change the understanding and culture of building bike infrastructure from the ‘minimum acceptable by code’ to spending tax money more wisely and only allowing the development of fully protected bike lanes. Other cities have built more, and better lanes, and there is nothing stopping us but political will and public demand. This campaign will also work to promote the need for continued, rapid expansion of sidewalks in the city, and proper maintenance of existing streets, as well as better pedestrian infrastructure, such as raised crosswalks and intersections.  

Join us in working toward ‘raising all infrastructure standards everywhere.’

SAYING YES TO MUCH BETTER INFRASTRUCTURE STANDARDS

Our initiatives are based on simple concepts, like having infrastructure that treats people with dignity, whether they are in a car, on a bike, or walking. This initiative will seek to change the culture of the City from building the bare minimum that code will accept to giving us truly world-class places to safely bike and walk. Because the bare minimum is often not enough.

HOW TO SAY YES

  • The easiest way for you to show your support for this initiative is to email us and join our organization. It’s free, and the more people our movement has behind it, the more powerful our collective voice becomes when we speak to the City or to the Planning Commission. In your email, make the the subject line ‘YES, PLEASE’ and provide us with your basic details like name and street address. Your address will stay private, but it helps us know where in town our supporters are. We may use your name for petitioning purposes.

  • If you want to take immediate action, alongside joining our movement, go to https://www.knoxvilletn.gov/government/city_council and find your City Council representative and email them. Tell them you support protected bike lanes and pedestrian infrastructure like raised crosswalks - and that you support YES! Knoxville’s RAISE Initiative to change our culture from building the bare minimum to only accepting the best.

  • Want to help us do ground work advocacy? This may involve showing up to neighborhood meetings to explain your desire for more protected bike lanes and better pedestrian infrastructure, it may involve helping us recruit more neighbors to support this initiative, or it may involve your design skills to help us create visions of what could be. Who knows! But if you want to be directly involved in the RAISE Initiative, email us with the subject line ‘RAISE TEAM’ and we’ll get in touch!