The Bicyclist Safety Act has been signed by the governor, and will take effect July 1.
There are eleven days left for each house to complete work on its own legislation (except budget bills).
Highlights: two VBF-supported bills – both introduced by Senator Surovell – have passed the Senate: Vulnerable Road User (SB437), passed last week (25 to 15), and Distracted Driving (SB160) passed this week (33 to 7). On the other hand, Senator Surovell’s Contributory Negligence (SB 659) was defeated (“Passed By Indefinitely”) in the Senate Judiciary Committee (14 to 1). [continue reading…]
Virginia State Capitol
The 2020 General Assembly session (1/7/2020-3/6/2020) is well underway, and eight of nine Virginia Bicycling Federation (VBF) legislative initiatives for this session have been introduced. While most VBF initiatives are pending a hearing in a committee or sub-committee, one bill, Senator Surovell’s Vulnerable Road User (SB437), passed the Senate (25 to 15) this week, and will next be heard in the House. The successful introduction of these bills is due to the active advocacy of people across the Commonwealth! [continue reading…]
Harry W. Nice Memorial Bridge, Rt. 301 over the Potomac
The Maryland Transportation Authority will meet this Thursday, November 21, 9:00 AM, to vote on the design of the proposed Nice-Middleton Bridge replacement connecting Charles County with Virginia on Route 301. It appears they do not support a requirement for a separated bike-ped lane. This is a 100-year decision, and needs to be done right! Gov. Hogan said he supported separated bike-ped lanes when he announced the project. Please contact Gov. Hogan and the Maryland Transportation Authority to urge the adoption of a separated bike-ped lane. [continue reading…]
With so many gravel roads in Virginia, it was inevitable that somebody would put together a complete cross-state gravel ride:
“Ride from DC to Damascus to cross Virginia in 550 miles on mostly unpaved country and forest roads, double track and rail trails. Explore Virginia’s best backcountry riding on this new gravel bikepacking and touring route focused on ridable, non-technical, unpaved terrain intended for multi-day trips carrying overnight gear.”
The inaugural Grand Depart ride is underway now, but see the TransVirginia Bike Route website to plan your own ride, with full route information, suggested itinerary, ride reports, a Facebook page, and of course, plenty of Instagram photos.
Sorry to be missing in action for the last week, but once things started to get confusing regarding the status of our two bills banning hand held cell phones by drivers, I put my communications on Pause until I could get a more definite idea of what was happening.
After both bills (HB1811 & SB1341) passed both Houses by substantial margins such as 73-29 & 34-6 , it really did appear that these bills were heading for the Governor’s desk for his signature.
Unfortunately, up jumped some late in the session amendments. [continue reading…]
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