I think you have a couple of questions here. First, what is a _reasonable_ grade for a bike route. That is, if you are starting from scratch, what grades would you map or build as bike routes. U.S. ADA standards mandate a maximum of 8.3%, but you then have to have rest areas (flat areas.) A continuous grade of 5% is the maximum without a rest. Here's the Wisconsin rules: http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/projects/state/docs/ped-ada.pdf
Obviously, this is for people with disabilities who may need to use a wheelchair, but it gives you an idea of what paths are built to these days. Then there is the question of what routes do people normally take by bike. Completely different question. There are paths in the Madison area that greatly exceed the maximum ADA grade. Certain hills on the Cap City Trail - for instance eastbound coming out of the ravine and up to the bridge crossing Fish Hatchery Rd. You won't be able to use Streetview, since it is a path, not a road, but that is way too steep for a decent bike route, IMHO. People looking for a challenge may not mind, but to the average commuter going to work, sticking to ADA standards is better. Madison is not the place to ask about what grades people bike on a regular basis for commuting. Try San Francisco. They even mapped<https://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Duboce+Ave+and+Church+Street,+San+Francisco,+San+Francisco,+California,+United+States&daddr=duboce+%26+sanchez,+sf,+ca+to:Steiner+St+%4037.770980,+-122.431890+to:Waller+St+%4037.770770,+-122.433530+to:37.771495,-122.434001+to:Haight+St+%4037.771480,+-122.435390+to:Scott+St+%4037.774270,+-122.435940+to:Fell+St+%4037.773620,+-122.440930&hl=en&geocode=%3B%3BFeRWQAIdbtaz-A%3BFRJWQAIdBtCz-A%3B%3BFdhYQAIdwsiz-A%3BFb5jQAIdnMaz-A%3BFTRhQAIdHrOz-A&mra=dpe&mrsp=4&sz=15&via=4&sll=37.7718,-122.435025&sspn=0.014315,0.031972&ie=UTF8&t=p&;>something called The Wiggle <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wiggle> to avoid one of the worst hills in SF. "The Wiggle inclines average 3% and never exceed 6%." If you go to Streetview on that, you will see lots of bicyclists in the photos. Here is the SF bike map: http://www.sfbike.org/download/SF_Bike_Map_2011.pdf You will have to zoom in on the legend in the lower right corner, but you can see they rate the streets by grade: 0-5% 5-10% 10-18% >18% That should give you some places to investigate via Streetview. Robbie Webber Transportation Policy Analyst State Smart Transportation Initiative www.ssti.us 608-263-9984 (o) 608-225-0002 (c) [email protected] On Thu, Feb 6, 2014 at 11:15 AM, Matthew Berigan <[email protected]>wrote: > Hi! > > The city I live in is going through a mobility crisis as the economy here > has resulted in a bumper crop of cars on streets designed in the early > 1900s. > > There ARE a lot of bikers but usually those involved in public policy are > leisure/sport bikers and the large mass of commuters is mostly untapped for > their views. > > I believe in data being used to determine best solutions for creating > routes. I'd like to know if* anybody can tell me* what bike > route/path/lane/boulevard has the steepest grade in Madison (what is the > grade and street name/numbers so I can streetview it)? > > They say our streets are too steep for people to consider commuting (and > there are some steep places but there are also ways/routes to deal with > that). They also say it gets too hot here (avg 68ºF-88ºF). I know..... > > I'd also like to know if folks have any preferred tools for > measuring/mapping gradient. I've been playing with Google's My Tracks app > but it won't work on my phone - only my tablet: > MyTracks site http://www.google.com/mobile/mytracks/ > An example from here (if you click on the end point -lower right- you can > see the data) > https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=212638913161739896841.0004ed42fb622ebc15c44&msa=0 > > -- > Matthew (Mateus) Berigan > *- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - * > Campina Grande, Paraiba Brasil > 083-8787-4929 (Brasil cell) > 608-237-1596 (U.S. line) > [email protected] > [email protected] > [email protected] > [email protected] > [email protected] > [email protected] > > > _______________________________________________ > Bikies mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org > >
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