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New Orleans, Louisiana
Words by Dan Jatres
From the tree-lined boulevards of Uptown, to the narrow streets of the French Quarter and onto the Katrina scarred neighborhoods of the 9th Ward, bicyclists wind through New Orleans much like the mighty Mississippi River. And like the city we call home, the cyclists of New Orleans are a wild and diverse crowd, decorating our bikes with Mardi Gras beads and constructing bike trailers with barbecues for tailgating at the Superdome. While this quirky bike culture has existed for years, it was never a priority for City Hall, and cyclists remained an underserved community. This began to slowly change in the mid-1990s with the construction of the Mississippi River Levee Trail, a greenway project that was a long-fought battle for local bike advocacy groups.
The Metro Bicycle Coalition (MBC) was established in 2003 to bring cyclists together to lobby the city for dedicated bicycle and pedestrian funds in an upcoming bond issue. The “5% for Bikes” campaign elevated bicycle issues into the public spotlight, garnering the attention of citizens and elected officials. With the support of hundreds of cyclists, MBC successfully secured a $4 million dollar line item for bicycles and pedestrians in the bond, which the voters of Orleans Parish approved in 2004. This success was soon followed by the construction of the first on street bike routes in a number of neighborhoods across the City.
Then everything changed in the waning days of August 2005. When Hurricane Katrina hit, the city’s future became as murky as the floodwaters. But the water eventually receded and we returned to find our beloved city forever changed. We were still determined to rebuild. In the months that followed, New Orleanians came together in one of the largest planning process in American history, envisioning a New Orleans rising above the problems of the past while remaining true to our culture and history. Seeking to revitalize our neighborhoods, a common theme emerged: creating livable communities. Thus began a renaissance for cycling in the Crescent City.
Following Katrina, MBC was faced with the challenge of regrouping and reestablishing relationships with members now scattered across the country, many still struggling to rebuild their homes. The board continued their monthly meetings while members advocated for bicycle projects in the neighborhood planning process. At the same time, a variety of other cycling groups in the city strove to return to normalcy. The Crescent City Cyclists rides resumed along the river levee and long stretches of US 90 through the swamps of East New Orleans. Meanwhile, the New Orleans Metro Area Mountain Bike Organization worked to restore the trails in nearby St. Charles Parish.
As the recovery progressed, the city attracted large numbers of young people and migrant workers, two groups that helped swell the number of cyclists around town. Two community bike shops, RUBARB and Plan B, supported this growing cyclist population. Founded in early 2006, RUBARB (Rusted Up Beyond All Recognition Bikes) set out to collect flood-damaged bikes and bike parts and reuse them in order to provide affordable bikes for residents and volunteers. In the years since, RUBARB has grown into a full-blown bike shop and offers a variety of programs including bike lending, bike building workshops, and maintenance assistance. Plan B, the New Orleans Community Bike Project, provides an open workshop with professional bike tools for public use. Together, these groups have played a crucial role in providing affordable bikes and the skills to maintain them to the citizens of New Orleans.
As 2008 began, MBC was looking to bring an annual family bicycle event back to the city after having successfully collaborating with the Jefferson Chamber of Commerce on the inaugural Tour de Jefferson in neighboring Jefferson Parish. Despite their determination, success would not come until the spring of 2009. Nonetheless, 2008 emerged as a turning point for cycling in New Orleans. In May, MBC celebrated the completion of the New Orleans’ first bike lanes. The St. Claude Avenue bike lanes represented both a practical and symbolic triumph for MBC, the city, and the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD). On the practical front, the bike lanes serve neighborhoods such as the Marigny and Bywater, which are home to large numbers of cyclists; the U.S. Census Bureau reports 10-12% of commuters in the area are cyclists. Perhaps just as important was the symbolic importance of the bike lanes. The project represented a commitment to implementing neighborhood recovery plans that rebuild communities to better than were before, instead of simply returning to the old ways.
On the heels of the new bike lanes, the decade-long project to complete the Wisner Shared-Use Trail finished in October of 2008. The Wisner Trail—with its picturesque location along the banks of Bayou St. John—connected a number of existing facilities, creating the beginnings of an interconnected bicycle network in the neighborhoods of Lakeview and Gentilly. By the end of the year, the number of miles of bike facilities in New Orleans had doubled from 11 to 22 miles.
With this momentum and the prospect of federally funded recovery road projects on the horizon, MBC recognized the potential to significantly increase the amount of on-street bicycle facilities throughout the city. MBC members began surveying roads across the region in order to develop recommendations for the inclusion of appropriate bike facilities. Unfortunately, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) decided that the proposed bicycle and pedestrian accommodations were ineligible for funding through the Emergency Relief Program. With this decision, it appeared as if New Orleans would miss out on a one of a kind opportunity to dramatically increase on-street bike facilities. However, with the support of the Robert Mendoza, the City’s Director of Public Works and the Regional Planning Commission (RPC), an agreement was worked out with FHWA to allow the city to include the proposed bike facilities at the city’s expense.
While these victories were important and marked a major step forward for cycling in New Orleans, they were still on a project-by-project basis instead of occurring as part of an institutionalized process. With this in mind, MBC became involved in the New Orleans Master Plan process in fall 2008 and engaged the transportation planning team. Over the next few months of neighborhood and committee meetings, the Master Plan took shape. When it was released in March 2009, the transportation component represented a seismic shift in the city’s transportation approach. Through the hard work of MBC volunteers and the support of the consulting team, pedestrian, bicycle, and transit policies had taken a central role in the City’s transportation future. With recommendations including complete streets policies, bike-parking ordinances, education programs and more, the Master Plan represents the culmination of years of advocacy for bicycle best practices in New Orleans. With the final draft scheduled for release in September 2009, MBC remains hopeful that the Plan will pass the City Council by early next year, concluding a major victory towards a more bicycle friendly New Orleans.
Beyond MBC’s successes, 2008 also saw the creation of two new exciting bicycle groups: NolaCycle and Where Ya’ Rack?. NolaCycle is a community bike-mapping project that has set out to record the condition of every street block in the city in order to produce digital and printed bicycle maps of the city. Every weekend, volunteers met up to explore a specific neighborhood, record road conditions, and socialize. Over the past year, hundreds of people have participated in the meetups and the first maps will go online by the end of 2009. Where Ya’ Rack? is a local non-profit project that is seeking businesses and individuals interested in donating bicycle racks for installation around the city. After a successful fundraiser in conjunction with Whole Foods, racks will start going in the ground this fall.
With so many positive developments in the works, attention shifted back to organizing a new bicycle event in the city to highlight cycling and recent successes. Utilizing a generous donation and the support of the New Orleans Office of Recovery and Development Administration, MBC organized the inaugural Bicycle Second Line Parade. The event combined bicycling with a uniquely New Orleans cultural event, the jazz second line. For several hours, a group of over 100 cyclists and a jazz band paraded through the streets of New Orleans with more people joining the parade at every turn before ending with a jambalaya cookout in City Park. The event received amazing feedback with positive stories in the local media and participants wanting to know when the next second line would be held. Combined with MBC’s upcoming New Orleans Bike Festival in November, which will include movie screenings, various rides, and a bike polo tournament, New Orleans again has a series of fun and unique bicycle events that highlight the best the city has to offer.
With the recent four-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, there is a growing sense that New Orleans is emerging from the shadow of the storm. The city is awash with new residents and new ideas, both of which are strengthening the bicycle community. As the upcoming mayoral elections approaches, MBC and our fellow bicycle groups are looking for strong and innovative leadership from our elected officials. The vision for New Orleans’ future is taking shape and thanks to the tireless efforts of so many, bicycling has established itself as a means to a healthier, greener, and more prosperous city. While there is certainly more work ahead for New Orleans to meet it potential as a truly bicycle friendly city, the necessary elements are in place—a growing population and a rejuvenated culture that is ready to embrace cycling and make it part of the spirit of New Orleans.
