Refine the Bike Routes

Using the newly form bikerichmond.org group, we had multiple meetings where we would ride part of the routes together as a group, and then review the current draft map and discuss it.

The group review process was very valuable. Other riders suggests routes I wasn't aware of, cited reasons to avoid some of the routes I had recommended, and suggested useful tweaks as well. ("If you just move this segment one block over, it will go right by the museum").

Every time changes were made, I would post a new draft to the mailing list, listing out all the changes and why we made them. The process repeated until the list was quiet with refinements. Some rules of thumb we developed:

• If in doubt, leave it off. Getting the map produced at all is more important including any particular segment. Any controversial segment may or may not be a real safety issue, but the controversy itself could hold of the approval process.
  
• It's OK if there are gaps in the maps. You'll see them in the Albuquerque map. These represent areas that need infrastructure improvements to be recommendable. The gaps on the map become a great advocacy tool. "The map clearly illustrates three key problem spots for bike commuting. See here? We could really use a bike lane to get past the old Reid Hospital"