Traffic Flow On Eighth Street Experiment

First the removal of the Boardman River dams, now another good decision.

Via the RE: Part of Eighth Street to go three lanes

I predict this experiment will be successful in improving traffic flow on Eighth St.

The Transportation Issue

Many articles here for cities like Traverse City that are thinking about traffic problems and solutions.

GOOD Magazine - The Transportation Issue

This Would Finish Off Michigan

Update 9 April, 2009: What's Up With the Organic E-Mail Scare?

Sounds like this may be based on fear-mongering.

The automobile industry is already dead. If Michigan's small farmers are killed by this bill then Michigan will have no future.

Cryptogon: Change We Can Believe In: How About the End of Farmers Markets? Say Hello to H.R. 875: Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009

What this will do is force anyone who produces food of any kind, and then transports it to a different location for sale, to register with a new federal agency called the “Food Safety Administration.” Even growers who only sell only fruit and/or vegetables at farmers markets would not only have to register, but they would be subject inspections by federal agents of their property and all records related to food production. The frequency of these inspections will be determined by the whim of the Food Safety Administration. Mandatory “safety” records would have to be kept. Anyone who fails to register and comply with all of this nonsense could be facing a fine of up to $1,000,000 per violation.

Innovation Cannot Be Legislated

Things Michigan politicians should know:
CJ: Innovation in Its Place
CC: Crisis Geography

...invest in skills and human capital; “beware industrial policies aimed at keeping America tied to heavy industry;” stop trying to breathe life back into declining regions; and encourage mobility.

Tap, Tap, Blink

A clever pedestrian crossing in Seattle.

Via Streetfilms: Seattle Crosswalk: Tap foot, Lights blink, Cross street

Waste Not

This is good news for downtown Traverse City.

RE: Recycling containers headed to downtown TC

And I make use of the ability to recycle all plastic with the containers at Oryana from Bay Area Recycling.

But what I would really like to see in the future is this solar powered trash compaction system from BigBelly Solar.

BigBelly is the world's only solar-powered cordless compaction system. It uses the sun's energy to automatically compact trash at the point of disposal, dramatically increasing capacity by 5 times within the same footprint as ordinary receptacles. Increased capacity reduces collection trips and can cut related fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions by 80%. The enclosed design keeps pests out and litter in. Safe and easy to use, the BigBelly has proven successful in urban streets, parks, colleges, arenas - and in all weather conditions.

The NYT has an article about the city of Somerville, MA adding text messaging ability to these trash cans so they can tell you when they are full. This would be useful during the Cherry Festival when it seems like all the trash cans are full. If only there were a way for Port-A-Potties to send a message when they were full.

See: Big-Bellied, Text-Messaging Trash Cans?