*BEA Eisenhower endorsement

[Bruce Dwyer]

Mr. Robert O. Cassada
Programming and Scheduling Division
Virginia Department of Transportation
1401 East Broad Street
Richmond, VA 23219

Dear Mr. Cassada:
The Bicycling Education Association (BEA) supports the greenway project
being proposed by the City of Alexandria for TEA-21 funding.  BEA is a
not-for-profit organization whose purpose is to promote responsible and safe
bicycling for transportation, recreation, and health and fitness.  We do
this through educating the general public in effective cycling behavior,
distributing bicycle safety helmets, and conducting non-competitive
bicycling tours to promote bicycling and to emphasize safe bicycling
practices. We have conducted tours throughout most of the state for 13
years.  While most of the miles of our tours are on country roads, we do
spend many of our overnights in smaller urban areas and have traveled
through the larger urban areas of Richmond, Hampton Roads, and Roanoke.  Our
observation of the urban areas is that they generally are in need of
substantial improvements to create safe environment for bicyclists.  Many
urban trails cover short distances and have discontinuous segments difficult
for the cyclist to connect.  In our opinion, the 4-mile Eisenhower Valley
greenway with its connections to other bike trails is the kind of project
that will create a safe environment for urban bicyclists.
The traditional focus of the BEA has been on improving the practices of
bicyclists and increasing the awareness of the motoring public to the rights
of bicyclists on our roads.  Our experience from leading tours in Europe is
that building safe bicycle facilities is also very important to creating an
environment that encourages bicycling as a clean, efficient mode of
transportation.  We urge your consideration of the Alexandria project as one
that will go a long way in this direction.
Sincerely,

Allen Turnbull
Executive Director
Bicycling Education Association