86 replies to this topic

[mimesis]

As the weather warms up, I see more and more people getting their bikes out of garages and sheds and hitting the pavement.  I know there was talk some time ago installing bike lanes on Broadway, but it looks like things have stalled.  I was thinking of starting an online petition to get the proverbial ball rolling again.  I'd be really grateful for any suggestions.  Here's  a preliminary draft:

Bike Lanes on Broadway

We, the undersigned, proud citizens of Providence, Rhode Island, wish to express our support for designated bicycle lanes on Providence roadways.  Bicycle lanes encourage carbon-neutral transportation, contribute to vibrant streetscapes, and help promote an orderly flow of traffic increasing the predictability and safety of both motorists and bicyclists.

We think that Broadway is an excellent candidate for designated bicycle lanes because:

1. There is a large number of bicycle commuters who use this roadway;
2. The exceptional width of the street can accommodate both on-street parking and bicycle lanes, and;
3. Broadway serves as a vital artery between the West End to Downcity.

We urge RIDOT and the City of Providence to implement bicycle lanes on Broadway by the summer of 2007.  We believe that this is an important element in the continuing Providence Renaissance.

[Recchia]

This was proposed in the Bike Providence plan done by VHB done a while back.  It's one of the only streets wide enough in the city to accommodate bike lanes without reducing on-street parking.

[ruchele]

I think it would be a good idea to talk to Lombardi & Jabour to get their support behind the petition, too.

I have to admit that I am not so optimistic about being able to prevail on RIDOT, considering that their priorities seem to be driven as much or more by federal funding limits than by local demand.  This summer seems like a tall order. But the bike lanes are a worthy cause.  

It's worth a shot!

[Recchia]

The city could always put in an Enhancement Application for the project when RIDOT does another call for enhancement projects.

[citybuilder]

mimesis, on Mar 14 2007, 03:17 PM, said:

As the weather warms up, I see more and more people getting their bikes out of garages and sheds and hitting the pavement.  I know there was talk some time ago installing bike lanes on Broadway, but it looks like things have stalled.  I was thinking of starting an online petition to get the proverbial ball rolling again.  I'd be really grateful for any suggestions.  Here's  a preliminary draft:

Seems like a good CitizenSpeak campaign?

[Cotuit]

I'm not really in favor of dedicated bike lanes. Bikes have the rights to travel on any street (except for expressways) and are expected to follow all the traffic rules set up for cars. In a city like Providence, with narrow streets and no room for increasing our streets' size, creating a limited number of bike lanes on the few streets where they would fit sets up an expectation among drivers that bikes belong in bike lanes and nowhere else. For Providence, I'd like to see a system like the one that is coming together in Berkeley, CA (and is just getting under way in NYC) of Bicycle Boulevards. These streets are designed to calm traffic and allow bikes and cars to share the road. We have too many important corridors where bike lanes will not fit, modifying these roads so that bikes can share the space is the answer for Providence.

This is what one of the shared bike routes looks like in Berkeley:


This is an example from New York:


For Broadway in particular, I'd prefer to see something like what Paris is doing with it's Mobilien project. They've created reserved lanes for buses, taxis, and bikes separate from regular traffic.

I could see a system like this on Broadway:


There's not room for sidewalk | parking | bike lane | traffic lane | transit lane | transit lane | traffic lane | bike lane | parking | sidewalk on Broadway or any other street in Providence for that matter, so we need to put two or more modes in some of those lanes in some areas to get and keep everyone moving.

More Paris:

[mimesis]

Recchia, on Mar 14 2007, 02:42 PM, said:

This was proposed in the Bike Providence plan done by VHB done a while back.  It's one of the only streets wide enough in the city to accommodate bike lanes without reducing on-street parking.

Yeah, that's one of the reasons I chose to focus the petition on Broadway.  I figured there'd be less opposition.  Ultimately, I think that it is sometimes necessary to sacrifice some on-street parking for some bike lanes (like they've done in Austin), but baby steps, baby steps...

ruchele, on Mar 14 2007, 03:10 PM, said:

I think it would be a good idea to talk to Lombardi & Jabour to get their support behind the petition, too.

I have to admit that I am not so optimistic about being able to prevail on RIDOT, considering that their priorities seem to be driven as much or more by federal funding limits than by local demand.  This summer seems like a tall order. But the bike lanes are a worthy cause.  

It's worth a shot!

I guess that aiming for this summer might be a bit ambitious, although – what they heck - it's not a hugely costly proposal.  I might change the wording from "this summer" to "as soon as possible".  Sometimes I dream about machines that you can hook up to your bicycle that will paint that line, under the cover of night...  

I haven't had much luck letter-writing to Lombardi.  Perhaps some more in-your-face tactics are in order.  I agree that it would be great to get Jabour's and Lombardi's names on the petition.  

I think we could get a lot of signatures if we went to the WBNA people, the Urban Greens people, the UP people, and the various bike clubs in RI.

Recchia, on Mar 15 2007, 05:39 AM, said:

The city could always put in an Enhancement Application for the project when RIDOT does another call for enhancement projects.

That sounds like a good idea.  Do these calls for enhancement projects occur at regular intervals?

[citybuilder]

Cotuit, on Mar 15 2007, 10:01 AM, said:

For Broadway in particular, I'd prefer to see something like what Paris is doing with it's Mobilien project. They've created reserved lanes for buses, taxis, and bikes separate from regular traffic.

I like this idea. Belgium has something similar in Antwerp and Brussels, and it seemed to work well and make sense there.

To implement a separate multiuse lane on Broadway would require a bunch of changes in traffic planning, RIPTA, and traffic ordinances that are probably best addressed in the Transit plan. Seems like your shared use Bicycle Boulevard idea - would be more implementable in the short term.

[Recchia]

mimesis, on Mar 15 2007, 10:08 AM, said:

That sounds like a good idea.  Do these calls for enhancement projects occur at regular intervals?

Usually every two years.  I think there may be one this summer.  The city or a non-profit with city approval can apply.  I'd contact RIDOT first to see the status of this though, as it could already be a project in the works in the bike program (you never know).  Check out the BikeRI section of dot.ri.gov for contact.

[Cotuit]

citybuilder, on Mar 15 2007, 10:19 AM, said:

To implement a separate multiuse lane on Broadway would require a bunch of changes in traffic planning, RIPTA, and traffic ordinances that are probably best addressed in the Transit plan.

Yes, ideally the shared transit lanes on Broadway would feature streetcars as well as buses, bikes, and perhaps taxis (though our taxi demand in Providence is considerably lower than a city like Paris). Of course streetcars are some years away. I'd be happy to see bike lanes on Broadway in the interim with a plan to convert them to a shared transit lane in the future.

Quote

Seems like your shared use Bicycle Boulevard idea - would be more implementable in the short term.

I think New York turned around the Bike Boulevard concept in about 12 months from proposal to paint on the streets. The first step would be identifying the priority corridors. Seems the logical first step in identifying corridors is to look at where the Cranston, Blackstone, East Bay and other bike paths currently terminate at the edge of the city. I think a lot of these routes have already been identified in previous studies (I seem to remember seeing a map on a RIDoT page). Broadway of course is a good corridor for collecting bikes from the Cranston bike path, and I think there is a proposed or under construction bike path along the Woonasquatucket leading into Olneyville.

In addition to the Bike Boulevard concept, Providence and Rhode Island as a whole needs an entire "Share the Road" marketing/education campaign. Not just sharing the road with bikes, but also the fact that pedestrians are indeed allowed to cross the street and no, they are not in your way when they are crossing with their light. People seem not to be able to grasp the concept that pedestrians actually need to cross the street to sometimes to get from point A to point B.

[basachs]

Cotuit, on Mar 15 2007, 10:38 AM, said:

In addition to the Bike Boulevard concept, Providence and Rhode Island as a whole needs an entire "Share the Road" marketing/education campaign. Not just sharing the road with bikes, but also the fact that pedestrians are indeed allowed to cross the street and no, they are not in your way when they are crossing with their light. People seem not to be able to grasp the concept that pedestrians actually need to cross the street to sometimes to get from point A to point B.

I have to admit, that thought never really crosses my mind as I gun it through the intersection.  

My wife commutes downtown via bike on Broadway all the time, especially lately with the warm weather and I bike down Boradway as well. Honestly, I have never felt unsafe. Would I like to have a dedicated lane? Maybe. But I would much rather have the education and courtesy on the driver's part.

The "Share the Road" education campaign is definitely needed, especially in regards to understanding how pedestrians fit in. I feel a lot more unsafe crossing an intersection than I do on my bike.

Edited by basachs, 15 March 2007 - 08:47 AM.

[jencoleslaw]

i think that some of the old timers on broadway will not want a bike lane, based on past experiences with change on Broadway.  Folks haven't even been able to get a bike lane on Blackstone BLVD because of the neighbors there and i'm not even sure there's any parking there.  My beef with bike lanes is that they simply become the place where all the crap goes from the road and it never gets cleaned up... The lane on Allens Ave/Narra Blvd has about 15 ft of sand  on it. Making it patently unsafe for bikes.

I agree that a share the road campaign and fines for bicylists, pedestrians and drivers who violate already active laws. I'd love to be able to stop my car and give a ticket to people crossing against the light and not just crossing, but sauntering as    slow     as       possible.   And bikes who run red lights simply because they can should also be ticketed.

[Cotuit]

jencoleslaw, on Mar 15 2007, 11:10 AM, said:

Folks haven't even been able to get a bike lane on Blackstone BLVD because of the neighbors there and i'm not even sure there's any parking there.

There's not even a sidewalk on Blackstone, I learned that when I recently stepped off the bus into some gelatinous muck where the sidewalk should be, I groped around in the dark (Blackstone also lacks proper lighting) looking for a sidewalk but I never found one, so I walked in the road where traffic moves at expressway speeds, because duh, it's an expressway.

[eltron]

basachs, on Mar 15 2007, 09:46 AM, said:

I have to admit, that thought never really crosses my mind as I gun it through the intersection.  

My wife commutes downtown via bike on Broadway all the time, especially lately with the warm weather and I bike down Boradway as well. Honestly, I have never felt unsafe. Would I like to have a dedicated lane? Maybe. But I would much rather have the education and courtesy on the driver's part.

The "Share the Road" education campaign is definitely needed, especially in regards to understanding how pedestrians fit in. I feel a lot more unsafe crossing an intersection than I do on my bike.

I've known 3 people get hit by cars and get pretty seriously injured on Broadway in the last year - all avid and skilled bikers hit by cars doing something illegal.  

First step - put ANY street markings/lines on the street. Not rocket science, but in this town...

[ruchele]

basachs, on Mar 15 2007, 09:46 AM, said:

My wife commutes downtown via bike on Broadway all the time, especially lately with the warm weather and I bike down Boradway as well. Honestly, I have never felt unsafe. Would I like to have a dedicated lane? Maybe. But I would much rather have the education and courtesy on the driver's part.

The "Share the Road" education campaign is definitely needed, especially in regards to understanding how pedestrians fit in. I feel a lot more unsafe crossing an intersection than I do on my bike.

I do feel unsafe riding my bike down Broadway, mostly because of the lack of lane markings at all, and because the street is almost wide enough for two lanes, so people are trying to squeeze past eachothers bumpers a lot and just generally driving all over the place.  

I do, on principle, agree with some of the objections to bike lanes versus just integrating bikes into regular traffic.  But I think having well-marked lanes legitimizes bike presence to the average driver.  And of course, we need driver's ed campaigns in Providence for a myriad of reasons.  I don't like the idea of sharing a lane with busses- busses are the scariest things to ride near with tons of blind spots, not to mention the fumes.  

If I could have anything I wanted, I would go for the bike lanes like in Montreal like this:

or this:

[mimesis]

I would be happy with a "Bike Boulevard" but I would prefer a dedicated bike lane (since I think that a road the width of Broadway can easily accommodate it).

But I think it's important not to dilute our voices.  It seems that most people here would much prefer either a Bike Boulevard or a Dedicated Bike Lane to nothing.  But if we don't find a way to effectively pool our voices, we might end up with nothing.

Perhaps the petition could be re-worded so as to be neutral between boulevards or dedicated lanes, so that more people could endorse it.  In the end, it's the City and the City traffic engineers who will decide exactly what form this will take, anyway.

[runawayjim]

my issue with dedicated bike lanes is they become a "second" lane of traffic for cars.  to actually believe people who drive around here would obey the rules is kidding yourself.  in philly where they have dedicated bus and trolley lanes, cars still drive in them, and down there, they actually follow the "don't block the box" rule of not pulling into an intersection when you can't get all the way through.  i do that here and i feel like the guy behind me is gonna ram me until i do it, but i hold my ground.

i would like to see share the road campaigns and bike corridors with markings on the road and some signs that designate certain major roadways as bike corridors.  i just don't have enough faith in RI drivers to trust that they'd actually stay out of the bike lane.  they probably think bikes belong on the sidewalk.  i'd rather see dedicated transit lanes than bike lanes.  far more people walk and use transit than bike.  i think it'd serve a larger group of people and the bikers can have those "bike boulevards" that cotuit suggested.

[Recchia]

Bike lanes properly striped and maintained generally work very well.  The ones on Narragansett Blvd in Cranston never have cars in them.  You have to make them wide enough to be safe for bikers but not too wide that cars feel like they can use them or that the road feels so wide that people want to drive faster.

Edited by Recchia, 16 March 2007 - 05:32 PM.

[runawayjim]

since i can't seem to find any other thread about biking in the city (i thought there used to be one), i'll post this here...

has anyone biked dean st north of atwells (basically from atwells to smith)?  if so, can you give your experience, especially if done during rush hour?  i'll be moving to the hill soon and am trying to figure out a good way to get to work without having to drive.  since there's no buses from the hill to PC, i'd need to take a bus or walk to KP and then up to PC or i'd need to walk dean street.  i was thinking biking might be better... but that road is just plain scary during rush hour (and the hill would probably be easier walking than biking anyways).  anyone have any suggestions on a good bike route?

[Cotuit]

Put your bike on an outbound 26 bus then bike from where that route ends.