In recent weeks, Lansdale Borough has placed a new set of site-customized bike racks and a new bike fix-it station along the Liberty Bell Trail, next to the historic Fright House on South Broad Street, across from Borough Hall. This is part of the improvement work on the Freight House property, which started with re-engineering and re-surfacing of the parking lot and will eventually include the restoration of the interior and exterior of the Freight House itself, turning it into a welcome center/community space when completed. 

The fix-it station is the second for the borough in 2024, after the first was installed in Stoney Creek Park in the spring. Wayfinding signs were also added to the location recently, identifying the location as a “trail head.” 

Jacqui Baxter-Rollins Presenting Bike Audit Report Findings to Hatfield Township.

On December 18, The Partnership TMA of Montgomery County presented to Hatfield Township commissioners a readout of the findings of their Bike Audit performed earlier in 2024 covering key intersections in both Hatfield Borough and Hatfield Township (a similar presentation to Hatfield Borough was provided at a separate meeting). This audit is part of The Partnership TMA’s “Bike More – Drive Less” initiative which focused on bike lanes on South Broad Street in Upper Gwynedd Township in 2023 and moved to Hatfield Borough and Hatfield Township in 2024.  

The presentation included details of observations made at key intersections, identifying aspects which often make navigation by bike difficult. In addition to TMA staffers Lucas Oshman and Jacqui Baxter-Rollins, Hatfield resident, (TMA volunteer and BNP member) Jerry Weltman reviewed details of the report. Megan Kochersperger (BNP member), who manages operations for a Hatfield-based manufacturer, spoke to challenges her employees have when commuting through Hatfield Township and Hatfield Borough by bike.  

Jerry Weltman Presenting Bike Audit Report Findings to Hatfield Township.

Lucas Oshman Presenting Bike Audit Report Findings to Hatfield Township.

Megan Kochersperger providing her perspective on challenges employees biking to their jobs at a Hatfield-based manufacturer.

The Partnership TMA now expects to use the report to work with the municipalities to come up with recommendations for improvements for these intersections. 

Here is a link to news coverage in “The Reporter.”

The elections for 2025 are now complete. Participation was rather low – six people voting by paper ballots and two votes online. Since there were no contested positions, this was rather straightforward, but participation in voting is an important process for any organization. For voting for 2026, we will try to do better making it a more formal and properly promoted activity well in advance of the voting window.  

With that said, for 2025, the results are: 

• William Jackson – President 
• Geary Kochersperger – Vice President 

As we move to make Bike North Penn a more formal and effective organization in 2025, we will be asking for and hoping to get more participation from regulars at our meetings and events and reaching out to attract additional active members.

The support of all members of the group is appreciated! Please do keep bringing your ideas to Geary and I about how we can improve Bike North Penn in 2026.  

Thank you! 

William Jackson
President
Bike North Penn 

Voting is open to any Bike North Penn participant residing in one of the seven municipalities of the North Penn Region: Lansdale Borough, North Wales Borough, Hatfield Borough, Montgomery Township, Towamencin Township, Hatfield Township, Upper Gwynedd Township.

Voting closes at 5 PM on Wednesday, December 18. This online voting option is in addition to in-person paper voting at the Bike North Penn monthly meeting on Thursday, December 12.

Here is the link to the December monthly meeting presentation (PDF): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hqhEREO33YmhMyQn-gMx3-aNnSryp2yX/view?usp=sharing

Here is a link to the MS Teams meeting recording:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hqhEREO33YmhMyQn-gMx3-aNnSryp2yX/view?usp=sharing

There was a national conference for bike share operators  – North American Bikeshare and Scootershare Association (NABSA) –  recently held in Philadelphia. Here are key takeaways from the conference:

https://betterbikeshare.org/2024/10/17/key-takeaways-from-the-2024-nabsa-conference/

Montco 2050

As part of Montgomery County’s “Project 2050” there is seven more days to provide your input via an online survey, which leans heavy into questions related to county bike trails, bike lanes an bike infrastructure. Privide you input on important questions. The survey takes about ten minutes to complete.

Here is the link directly to the survey:

https://engage.montgomerycountypa.gov/en/projects/topic-input-transportation

As discussed in our recent monthly meetings, the leadership of Bike North Penn needs to expand and become more formalized. Our group has been around since August of 2022, and it is time for an upgrade!

Therefore, the group is seeking candidates to run for one year terms (calendar year 2025) in the following positions:

• President
• Vice President
• Treasurer
• Membership Director

Interested parties should declare their intentions no later than our organizational meeting on November 14. 

Each candidate is asked to:

• Submit a short written appear for their candidacy
• Take a few questions from members about their intention and vision for their service in the position at either the October, November or December organizational meetings.

The election will be held at the group organizational meeting on December 12, with mail-in voting (for those who cannot attend the Dec. 12 meeting) starting on November 15.

For those interested in running for office, please send your written appeals via email ASAP: [email protected]

Upper Gwynedd Township has released a draft version of their Comprehensive Recreation, Park and Open Space Plan – available here.

The report covers many details which are relevant – by extension – to the bikeabilty of Upper Gwynedd Township, but information directly affecting bikeability is on pages 92 and 93. Here, there are recommendations for streets to get bike lanes, others to get sharrows and in one case, a “Buffered Contraflow Lane.”

The township will hold a special meeting to review the report on Oct. 14. All Bike North Penn members are asked to turn out for this.

They are also asking for citizen feedback to the report in advance of the Oct. 14 meeting. Comments to should be submitted via email to BOTH of these email addresses:

• Tim Adams at [email protected]
• Sarah Prebis at [email protected]

showing proposed trails, bike lanes and sharrows.

Page from Upper Gwynedd Draft Report – Particular to biking and active transportation.

Street Map of Lansdale Borough

On Oct. 30, 2024 there will be a Lansdale Borough meeting to specifically review the report from the recent traffic study, meant to address traffic, moving at excessive speeds on neighborhood streets by those trying to avoid congested primary streets and intersections.

In addition to presenting the reports findings, there will also be a review of proposed solutions and there will be an opportunity for attendees to ask questions and make comments.

Here is a link to a recent article in The Reporter by local journalist Dan Sokol.

Lansdale Borough residents and Bike North Penn members are encouraged to turnout for this important meeting.