Chappaqua/Pleasantville Meeting

We had the Chappaqua/Pleasantville meeting last night, in my parent's living room, amidst the beginnings of an epic snowsnorm. Members of the Westchester Cycling Club gathered, along with myself and friend/s, to discuss how we could make our local community more conducive to bike and pedestrian use.

Overall, the general consensus was that improvements to State Route 117- a sidewalk or multiuse path, and widening the shoulder for bikes- was essential. Also agreed on was the potential for a multiuse path alongside the train tracks, running from Pleasantville to Chappaqua to Mount Kisco. A sharrowed system of bike paths could also run on local roads with minimal 117 use.

One neighbor mentioned the need for a safe bike path to the North County Trailway entrance in Pleasantville; another mentioned the lack of bus shelters or safe access to bus stops.

I'm in the process of contacting town planners for Chappaqua to find out the status of the sidewalk project, which has already been partially planned and is waiting to be implemented. We discussed the potential for starting a multi-town petition, in the case that the State DOT is in charge of the project, or that the planning board dismisses our ideas.

Bikes, Beers & Cheese!!!

The first meeting of the Chappaqua chapter of the Bike Walk Alliance of Westchester-Putnam! (BWAWP) is in the works.

On Wednesday, February 24th, at 7:30 pm,
Awesome workshop planned to discuss the potential future of biking and walking...in town..right here....with brew-skies.

Will include:
*introduction of BWAWP, it's goals, and current actions
*Brainstorming session to choose focused projects for Chappaqua.
*Visions on what is currently planned around Westchester and NYC
*Drawing, photos, and short films!
*yummy snacks and beer!

Come out to support biking and walking; to learn about what's happening in your community; to share your knowledge and opinions; to socialize...and to represent!

Hope to see you there!

BWAWP has plans to set up chapters in each township and hamlet of Westchester and Putnam, to advocate individualized biking plans to meet everyone's needs.

BikeNYCBurbs

Westchester County is a county with a tremendous amount of potential, and an enormous carbon footprint. According to Wikipedia, it "covers an area of 450 square miles and has a diverse population of approximately 950,000, residing in 45 municipalities". With the Hudson River on the west, the Long Island Sound and New York City to the South, it is an area rich with rivers, culture, cities, trees, and....some public transportation. And some bike paths.

But not enough.

I grew up, for the most part, in a small town in Northern Westchester named Chappaqua. While Chappaqua is an extremely wealthy area in terms of median income, it is tragic in terms of infrastructure. I have seen third world countries with better conditions. What is so wrong?

The roads have no sidewalks.

The buses have no shelters.

The buses often only come every hour and a half.

There are no bike paths.

The roads are windy, people drive fast, and are dangerous.

There are a number of small introductions that could be done to this area, to make it bike, walk, and public transportation friendly. A number of the residents don't have cars: youth under the age of 16, the elderly, people with disabilities, some immigrants, some NYC natives. My goal with this site is to capture what potential lies in this wealthy area, to inspire conversation and ideally, action. Are you with me? I hope so. If you live in the area, are interested in advocacy and don't know where to begin, please contact me at arielleb@pdx.edu. Thank you!