Category: Interesting (Page 6 of 16)

Help the Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department by Completing a Survey by Sept 13, 2013

August 30, 2013 /

The Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department is conducting a survey about efforts that enable residents of all ages and abilities to walk, bicycle or use the bus or other forms of public transit in Lawrence and Douglas County, Kansas.

If you are a Douglas County resident, we invite you to take the online survey, available at

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ActiveDesign

A hard copy (PDF file) of the survey is also attached. This survey will also be published by Douglas County Senior Services in their upcoming “60 & Better” newsletter, available in print or online at http://www.dgcoseniorservices.org/60-better-newsletter/.

Also, we ask that you please share this email with other Douglas County residents that may wish to complete the survey. We are especially interested in understanding the needs and views of retirees, older adults and those that care for older residents of our community.

Please return completed surveys by September 13, 2013, to any of the following locations: 1) Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department, 200 Maine Street, Lawrence; 2) Douglas County Senior Center, 745 Vermont Street, Lawrence; or 3) Lawrence Public Library, 700 New Hampshire Street, Lawrence.

Participation in the survey is voluntary and anonymous. For more information, contact Charlie Bryan at [email protected] or 785-856-7357.

Annual Bicycle and Pedestrian Count Volunteers Needed!

July 29, 2013 /

Your help is needed to count bicyclists and pedestrians!

Transportation planning and design at all levels requires understanding of actual conditions. This involves determination of motor vehicle, bicyclist and pedestrian numbers. This data dealing with the characteristics of vehicle or people movement is obtained by undertaking traffic counts. Just like motor vehicle counts, counting bicyclists and pedestrians at specific locations will help us to more accurately estimate demand, measure the benefits of investments, and design our projects. This information will also help us target safety and mobility projects and improve our traffic models.

Data collected on bicycling and walking will assist City and Regional Leaders with estimating usage and demand for bicycle and pedestrian facilities. The counts will also be used to track the region’s progress on increasing the use of non-motorized transportation, strengthen grant applications to leverage additional federal funding for bicycle and pedestrian projects, evaluate existing projects, and help determine the location of future investments.

There’s four training sessions you can attend if you haven’t done it before and they are looking for people on various days in September in Lawrence, Eudora and Baldwin City.

To learn more about volunteering and available times, please visit www.lawrenceks.org/mpo/volunteer or contact Jessica Mortinger at [email protected] or (785) 832-3165.

Lawrence Habitat Hosting Bike and Build 2013 P2C Team

July 9, 2013 /

A group of 30 cross-country cyclists participating in this summer’s Bike & Build 2013 trek across the US. The team began its journey to raise awareness about affordable housing in Providence, R.I., and will continue its 4,173-mile biking trip west to Half Moon Bay, Calif. Entering its eighth summer, the Providence to California (P2C) trip will take its riders from the hills of New England to the wheat fields of Kansas, up and over the Rockies, and ultimately to the gorgeous Half Moon Bay. With many improvements over the course of the route, this summer’s journey is sure to be the most scenic yet!

After a two-day orientation in Providence and a build day with Providence Habitat, riders will head out across Connecticut and over the hills of New York towards their second build day in Harrisburg, PA. From there they’ll head across the rolling plains of the Midwest (Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska). Then it’s mountain time! Riders will see the gorgeous (pun intended) Rocky Mountains in Colorado and have a day off in Fort Collins before heading into Utah. Passing just south of the Salt Lake and into Nevada, riders will finally see the California border.

The P2C team (Providence to California) will make a pit stop in Lawrence this week to build a home with Lawrence Habitat for Humanity. The riders will work on Lawrence Habitat’s home at 212 N. Comfort lane from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. on Thursday and Friday.

Bike & Build fund projects planned and executed by young adults. Over the past 10 seasons they have donated more than $4M; built for more than 120,000 hours; pedaled over 6M miles; and engaged more than 1750 young adults in spreading the word about the affordable housing crisis in America.

For more info on the event check out the Bike and Build P2C’s page.

Not a Pro Racer? Still Lots To Do at This Year’s Tour of Lawrence

June 19, 2013 /

The weekend of June 28th you can enjoy bicycle racing at its best in beautiful and historic Lawrence. The Tour of Lawrence is a set of three separate USA Cycling Pro-AM competitive bicycle racing events.

The TOL actually consists of three competitive bicycle racing events and the weekend’s cash prize list totals over $20,000!

— on Friday night downtown are the Street Sprints sponsored this year by Laird Noller Automotive

— on Saturday, the challenging the KU Campus Circuit Race sponsored by Meadowbrook Apartments goes up and down the hills of Mt. Oread with over 400ft of climbing per lap and is this year’s KCA’s Kansas State Category Road Race Championships

— on Sunday, the Downtown Criterium sponsored by Free State Brewery is using the former two-time Collegiate National Championships course and this year’s KCA’s Kansas State Category Criterium Championships

If you’re not a competitive bike rider there’s lots of other opportunities.. You can volunteer to help at the TOL’s site http://www.touroflawrence.com/volunteers.php

Lawrence Central Rotary and one of our initiative’s Ride Lawrence is sponsoring the free Kid’s Zone on Friday night and Sunday. The fine folks from Lawrence’s Jump for Joy will have inflatables set up for the kids and it’s free! There’s also a host of other kids events that weekend. Click on the image below for more info, times & places!

On Sunday there’s a FREE Kids Bike Race at 11am and at 12:30 is the Mass Street Mile run down Mass Street.

It’s going to be a great weekend in Lawrence so come check it out!

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Our Community Bike Ride

June 12, 2013 /

Ride Lawrence and our partners are excited to present our third FREE community bike ride Saturday, July 20th 2013 to promote cycling as a part of a healthy lifestyle at the The Rotary Arboretum at Clinton Park (by the YSC Soccer fields).

There are three rides to choose from and they all travel along the South Lawrence Trafficway bike path, a paved surface that is a “car-free” environment:

• Ten-mile ride. It begins at 8 a.m. and travels near I-70 and back.

• Three-mile family ride. It begins at 8:30 a.m. and goes to the Clinton Lake Overlook and back.

• One-mile easy loop. It’s available anytime between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. and circles around the arboretum.

Other activities from 8 a.m.-11 a.m. include:

• A Training Wheel Takeoff. Experts will help children who are ready to take off their training wheels in a safe and fun environment.

• Safety Zone. Safe Kids Douglas County will help outfit children with helmets and other safety gear while supplies last along with providing cycling safety tips for kids of all ages.

Lawrence Central Rotary organizes and sponsors the event. Last year’s event drew about 200 participants.

We’re really excited and want to thank all those who are helping us to do the ride this year. Our 2013 Sponsors include: Anderson Rentals and Lawrence Central Rotary

The 2013 partners include: The Merc, TeamGP Velotek, Bev West Creative, McDonalds, and the Lawrence Bicycle Club.

And the 2013 Friends of the ride include: Booster Print, Sunflower Outdoor & Bike, Lawrence Memorial Hospital, EconoLodge Lawrence, Ortho Kansas and Safe Kids of Douglas County.

We’ll have them there, but if you want to pre-print a release to be a part of the ride you can download this form, print and fill it out and bring it to the event. It’s that easy!

Here’s more information and Ride Maps. We look forward to seeing you!