We previously covered the controversy surrounding a proposal to install bike lanes on West Broad Street in the Hilltop here. Basically, the city wanted to strip parking from the north side of the street in order to install bike lanes (see Figure III below), but business owners wanted to keep on-street parking.
The City’s Transportation and Pedestrian Commission has recommended a compromise by implementing the alternative above for most of West Broad Street, but allowing parking and providing a signed shared lane instead of a bike lane on westbound Broad Street from Wheatland to Eureka.
Any westbound cyclists who feel uncomfortable on the three-block portion of the route without a marked bike lane would be routed north on Wheatland, west on Steele, and south on Eureka.
The Dispatch coverage of the issue is below, but they ignore the orange line in the map above and make it sound like all westbound cyclists would be diverted along the route marked by the green line. In reality the 14′ westbound curb lane will be wide enough to make the three-block segment very comfortable for cyclists on Broad Street.
Hilltop bike route
Plans differ on W. Broad parking
Wednesday, May 19, 2010 2:52 AM
By Mark Ferenchik
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCHA city advisory group recommended a bike route through the Hilltop yesterday that would save on-street parking for a section of W. Broad Street, but not as much as some residents and businesses want.
By a 4-1 vote, members of the city’s Transportation and Pedestrian Commission endorsed a plan that significantly differs from one the Greater Hilltop Area Commission approved last week.
The transportation commission is suggesting a route that would send bikers north on Wheatland Avenue, west on Steele Avenue and south on Eureka Avenue to connect them back to W. Broad Street. That would save three blocks of on-street parking along the north side of W. Broad for businesses and residents.
But the area commission wants a longer alternative route, sending cyclists up Wheatland, west onto Steele and past Hague Avenue, then south on Westgate Avenue. That would keep about 11 blocks of on-street parking.
Given the reasonably comfortable 14′ wide westbound curb lane, the green diversion route to Steele seems a bit pointless to me. If a cyclist were to follow the diverted route on Wheatland/Steele/Eureka, he or she would travel a total of 3,540 feet instead of the 925 feet on W. Broad from Wheatland to Eureka. That is almost exactly half a mile farther, or 283% longer than staying on West Broad Street. Do you know any cyclists that would do this? Before you answer, consider that most cyclists will lock up to just about any sign post or tree instead of a bike rack if it’s 50 feet closer to their destination. So the three block detour seems like a useless gesture to me.
The area commission has instead suggested using Steele from Wheatland to Westgate. This would be a 1.6 mile route compared to a 1.1 mile route, still a 0.5-mile difference, but only 49% farther than the direct route. This route would not be ideal for people passing through the Hilltop, but if you’re a resident of the area living north of Broad, it could be very nice while still having reasonably comfortable accommodations on Broad Street.
They’re going with the area commission’s suggestion from Wheatland to Westgate.
http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/05/27/copy/hilltop-plan-routes-bikes-north-of-broad-street.html?adsec=politics&sid=101
I think this is a good compromise to allow parking in the business district.
I see the word “comfortable” several times regarding the bike lanes, but the word “safe” doesn’t appear once. This is precisely the issue with the bike lanes. While the stretch of bike lane without on-street parking is better by avoiding any door-zone issue and problems of visibility from intersections that would otherwise be blocked by parked cars, safer is not the same as safest. You don’t have to take my word for it: contact a local LAB instructor about safely riding on the street. Riding against parked cars or the curb are both a big no-no.
Interesting observation on my word choice Columbusite. I used the word comfortable (or uncomfortable) four times, which I agree is excessively repetitive.
I did avoid using the word safe or unsafe because of the controversy surrounding the safety of bike lanes. I have yet to see any research showing negative safety impacts due to bike lanes. I have seen one study from the LAB that shows an increase in safety due to bike lanes, but I don’t think it’s a very scientifically rigorous study. Sharrows don’t seem to have been researched at all. I think we need more research on this topic and will happily read and consider any relevant papers.
What I do believe is that the safety in numbers effect is real. More cyclists = lower crash rate. It follows that we can make roads safer by getting more cyclists to use them. That’s where bike lanes are useful. They make a road feel safer (i.e., more comfortable).
As for safer vs. safest, nothing is fool-proof. It is possible to ride safely or unsafely in either bike lanes or in mixed traffic. I personally believe it is quite easy to ride safely in bike lanes (just ride on the left edge). I do it frequently and do feel more comfortable in them.
Hey John. Great post, it really got me caught up on all this information. And I second your post. Well said.
I bike Broad Street every day. I have a high peformance bike, and I wear a safety vest, helmet with reflective “slow moving vehicle” stickers, and I utilize a flashing White LED flare on the front of my bike and a blinking red LED on the back of my bike. I have travelled 1044 miles, since April 2010, back and forth to work, much of it on W. Broad Street through the Hill Top.
Safety is paramount in any plan, not comfort. Riding a bike is not always comfortable in 91 degree heat at 58% humidity, with cars and trucks spewing exhaust in your face.
Is riding on Broad Street currently safe? That partially depends on what time you are riding, and the number of cars that are passing you, and whether or not you are riding on a 3 lane or 2 lane section of Broad St.
In the morning, if it is betweeen 8 and 9 a.m. it is relatively safe. Between 7 and 8:00 a.m. not so much. I try to be as visible to drivers as possible, but there are always a few idiots that have no regard that you are also a vehicle.
If you are riding on a 3 lane section of the street, cars generally stay in the left two lanes, but only if you occupy the center of the right lane. If you stay all the way to the right, cars will sometimes come within inches of you (very bad!).
The other side to this story, is that I see very few if any other cyclists wearing safety vests and helmets or using flashing LEDs. The Flare 5 on the front of my bike gets motorists attention, especially the one’s that who start to turn in front of me from the other side of the street. In fact, one motorist actually caught up with me and apologized for how far that had turned before seeing me. (Shock)!
I don’t so much care about bike lanes, especially if they are not street cleaned. If bike lanes are installed on Broad Street, budgeting for regular street cleaning (at least once a week) needs to be in place, because of all of the debris from cars that accumulates in the bike lane.
Often, it is glass, and that is hard on tires. I now ride with Armadillo Kevlar tires, and that has prevented getting many flats. An example of this problem is on Roberts road. They created a bike lane on between International St, and Hilliard Rome, and it always has glass and debris covering the lane on both sides. (Very Bad)!
I average 15 mph, and when I am traveling East on Broad St., I usually ride faster than the buses due to tail winds and it is down hill. West bound is slower, because of climbing the “Hill”, and the prevailing winds are in your face.
On my daily return trip to the West Side, I usually by-pass Broad Street from Souder to Wilson via McKinley and Valley View because the pavement in the right lane going West on Broad through the Hilltop is so lousy. If they just re-paved Broad St., it would be a huge improvement to safety, otherwise I feel like I have to to travel on the right side of the middle lane all the way to Hague. Whatever the outcome, bike lane or no bike lane, just pave the road, I am going to continue to ride anyway!
Why in the world do you ride on the left side of the bike lane? I see this all the time and it drives me nuts. It’s totally illogical. You don’t want cars to hit you right? Then why?
If everytime I were on a two-lane road in a car, I rode with my left wheel tires on the middle line… 1. I would piss everyone off and 2. I would have a much higher chance of getting hit.
So I really want to know… I’ve stopped my car and yelled at cyclists to ride in the middle of their lane before. If there is a very compelling reason to ride on the edge of the bike lane next to the vehicle lane, please tell me now so I can save the hassle. It just seems like the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard of, and yet EVERYONE does it. At least in Colorado.
Cyclists ride on the left edge of a bike lane because bike lanes are 5′ wide and doors from parallel-parked vehicles to the right of the bike lane can open 3-4′ into the bike lane. In summary, the left edge of the bike lane is the safest place to be if there’s parallel parking on the right.
I noticed the signs the other day beside my house and I like the idea of a bike route past my house, it makes me want to take even better care of our yard since it will be very visible.
Looks like the bike lanes are in. Photos and discussion here:
http://www.considerbiking.org/bike-lanes-arrive-on-hilltop/