Organized by the Direct Democracy Project, bicyclists rode down the Main Street corridor to assert their right to be on the street and promote bicycle safety on the road. In recent weeks, bicycle advocates have been pushing for bike lanes on the Main Street corridor and more bike infrastructure in town.
About 25 people participated in the critical mass, which rode up Main Street to Beaufort and then on to the Normal Round-a-bout.
Participants intend on continuing the critical mass tradition the last Friday of the month, 5:30 pm, starting at the Old Courthouse.
Below are pictures of the action.
Pictures taken by Zachary Kirkton:
Pictures taken by Corey Mattson:
Pictures taken by Stefan Robinson:
Just BloNo 
Are you really truely ready for the United Nations agenda 21 to take over Bloomington also? Is that the social justice you speak of? This isn’t about bikers being on the same road. This is about a plan they are pushing to have jurisdiction over Bloomington thru Normal. Do you people really not get that?? Try finding an alternate route and presenting it too the counsel. That will be your plan not the plan of the UN over us. Or do you want the United Nations control?
The Gateway projects are the same. All the Trails are the same. There is nothing wrong with bikes trails but its pushing their agenda and its not worth America.
Posted by Dawn Nowlin | May 26, 2012, 2:06 pmI can only speak for myself, but there were others like me on the ride who are environmentalists and believe in sustainability. We don’t believe in the right-wing conspiracy surrounding the non-binding and weak UN Agenda 21 resolution. I, personally, support the results of the Main Street Transportation Feasibility Study, which says a bike lane would be feasible on the corridor, and I also support more bike lanes and bike paths throughout Bloomington and Normal. In respect to the corridor, it is extremely convenient to take as a bicyclist (compared to side roads) and there’s plenty of room for bikes. Bike lanes would make it safer. Also, I live in Bloomington, and I think Bloomington should also have a bike/pedestrian plan similar to what Normal currently has.
Posted by Corey Mattson | May 26, 2012, 8:47 pmDawn: Do you support bike lanes in other locations in the Bloomington-Normal area? Is it just the Main Street Corridor that is linked to Agenda 21 which you have a problem with? I’m struggling with the idea of making cycling safer in town and the connection to the the UN Agenda 21 so would love some clarification. Thanks!
Posted by Robert Wissler | May 26, 2012, 9:22 pmHello Robert and Corey I really appreciate you commenting back. Robert I don’t feel the bike lanes are safe there. I think its way too busy of a street. I wish you could come together with a better plan and of course one that doesnt include the United Nations. But in all honestly I do not believe any alternative would not be accepted because I truely believe in my heart of hearts that the only reason they are pushing this is because it ties into the Agenda 21. Here is a link to a lady I really feel explains Agenda 21 in great detail. Also Citywatch has a blog that you might be interested in. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEHWsdimVO4
Her name is Rosa Koire in case the link doesn’t work correctly.
Corey I believe in taking care of the earth. I try to reuse items all the time. For the most part I never throw anything away I just find a home for it or repurpose it. I think biking is a great way to get around. Im truely upset by what I see happening with the sustainable development plan. Too me the United Nations is much more threatening than most people think. That is just my oppinion but its not just right wing. They are going against our Constitution. I go too alot of the City meetings in Bloomington and smaller towns. I see the way the local govt is working. We call it upside down govt. The city managers are promoting the United Nations Agenda 21 plan. And they are pushing the counsel. For the most part the counsel claims they do not understand this. Its very possibly but they are being pushed. I believe, and many others as well, believe they are pushing a one world govt. I sure do not want this. I think American needs to remain independent. Sure there are socialist programs here but we still need to go by our founding fathers constitution. Under Agenda 21 having private property is an accumulation of wealth and therefore contributes to social inequity. Thanks for listening. I really appreciate it.
Posted by Dawn Nowlin | May 27, 2012, 7:00 amAgenda 21 is soft law and non binding unless it is pushed through with executive order which carries the full gravity of law which is exactly what happened. On the one year anniversary of Agenda 21 President Clinton issued a White House press release anouncing an executive order as a response too and method for Agenda 21 implementation in the United States. You can read the full press release yourself at President Clinton’s Presidental Center Online Archives. In addition, you can read H.CON.RES.353.RFS from the 102nd Congress that was written only a few months after President GW Bush signed onto Agenda 21 at the Rio Summit. H.CON.RES.353.RFS section B (The United States Government should encourage and facilitate at all levels of community and sectors of society, appropriate means for adopting individual Agenda 21 plans of action, including the establishment of local, county, State, business, and other boards and commissions for acheiving Sustainable Development.) This is not a Left or Right issue. The Left and Right is a false model. The left and right are both pushing for some form of global governance. Many of you support direct democracy and I can assure you the Main Street Feasability Study spits in the face of not only that concept but the concept of our representative democracy as well.The Feasabilty Study supplied you with the answers that you had to choose from. No matter which answer you chose the unelected planners can manipulate the survey however they want it. Furthermore, The study was brought to the city by the McLean County Regional Planning Commission. Who elected the McLean County Regional Planning Commission? Reference HCON 353 above about establishing boards to push Agenda 21. The McLean County Regional Planning Commission are unelected officals who answer to no one and this undermines any form of democracy that one may support. Also the McLean County Regional Planning Commission is partnered with the American Planning Association who recieved millions of dollars from President Clinton’s Council on Sustainable Development to write what is Known as the Legislative Guidebook on Smart Growth. J.Gary Lawarence an appointed member to the Presidents Council on Sustainable Development wrote in the Millennium Papers which he read as a speech to a UK Audience on Agenda 21 “…….would actively work to defeat any elected offical who joined the consipracy by undertaking LA21 (agenda 21 at local level), So we call our process something else, such as comprehensive planning, growth management or smart growth.” Ironically the costs of these projects are unsustainable. A recent letter to the editor by Vic Connor and a recent blog by Diane Benjamin both pointed out the town of Normal is currently 90,000,000(thats million) in debt.
Posted by Jeff Strange | May 28, 2012, 5:37 pmCorey Speaking only for myself I support only the minimal amount of government needed so I as an individual or part of group would rarely petition government to take more liberty from me, or advocate for a larger government role in my life to plan what I eat and how much, what kind of car I drive, ,how far I can drive, how much energy and water I can use, what doctor I can see, if I can get treatment and when. Because of my views in order to protect freedom and make decisions for my own life I as an American am forced to react when groups regularly petition government to take away the freedom to choose for our own lives.
Posted by Jeff Strange | May 28, 2012, 7:08 pmI have my criticisms of the UN, but in reading Agenda 21, I had no issue with its plans of action. I support a sustainable society and protection of the environment, both of which are impossible under the current economic system. Besides what we can do as individuals or in groups at the local level, I believe in lobbying the government to provide the green infrastructure and city planning we need as a society. I’m not opposed to the passage of municipal bonds to achieve some of those ends, and in the case of bike lanes, the costs are low.
Posted by Corey Mattson | May 28, 2012, 9:11 pmMuch of what we do in our lives is determined for us by business, corporations, and the banks. …Not just by government. What we eat has been negatively affected by large agribusiness, which has commodified and hurt food production. The oil industry and automobile industry have determined our lives for generations. GM buying the trolley cars and destroying them…. there’s a real conspiracy. Both big oil and automobile industries, until now, colluded to make sure an electric car would never see the light of day. Is this freedom of choice? (BTW, does freedom mean the right to do whatever one wants as an individual, even if that means hurting our future and the rights of others?) Health care is another area where profit-making, not the government, has taken away choice and quality. I understand that we have disagreements in these areas. My point above was the CityWatch’s current modus operandi, merely reacting to other people’s organizing with no program of its own, and its stalking, is a little strange.
Posted by Corey Mattson | May 28, 2012, 9:25 pm