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The Transportation and Mass Transit Megathread


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1 hour ago, Dale said:

Why do you say that?  I mean, I read the article... I just don't understand your point.  Why would "they," which I can only assume means everyone in Seattle based on the way you worded it, wish "they" lived in Nashville because some of 'them' in the metro area have long commutes?

Edited by BnaBreaker
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3 hours ago, Dale said:

“Software architect Scott Johanson took on a massive increase in his commute times recently in order to purchase his dream home. He and his wife sold their house in Renton and bought just south of Olympia. His drive to work in Seattle jumped from 9 miles to 76 miles each way.”

Yeah, that’s a personal choice, like choosing to commute to Nashville from Cookeville. It has nothing to do with Seattle’s transportation issues. And the fact that he considered that compromise worth it says a lot about Seattle’s appeal—so not sure I get your point.

Edited by SoundScan
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21 hours ago, Dale said:

I agree with the other posters. These "mega-commuters" are making a choice to go further and further. The urban sprawl creates these commuters. Also, Nashville probably already has these, sad part is all of them are in single-occupant cars.

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Sadly I think our councilman Swope( he of the doubles stacked interstates proposal)  may not be around long.

 

https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2018/05/16/robert-swope-prostitution-solicitation-nashville-metro-council-hamilton-county-tn/614243002/

 

It is from years ago, but this does this seem to be a troubling trend from metro councilmen. We need to vet those in leadership at all levels more.

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Something like that would be amazing to have in Nashville.  It has been huge for Indy.  Unfortunately, the entire project will cost $63 million, so I can already see in my mind the angry facebook comments that would happen if that were to be proposed here.  

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48 minutes ago, smeagolsfree said:

Speaking of the bike lanes. I must say that Indianapolis knows what the are doing . Yes there are a few places that have the cheap plastic bollards, but most are protected by a curb and concrete bollards planted firmly into the ground.

The problem is that those bollards are well within the clear zone, both for vehicles and bikes. They can do a lot of damage, even at low speeds.

Generally speaking, when it comes to pedestrian and especially bicycle infrastructure, many agencies are just throwing treatments at the wall to see what sticks. Look at how many different types there are in Metro alone, and how often the preferred treatment changes between projects. Experimentation is good to a degree, but many of these treatments aren't going through the same rigorous process that leads to the establishment of other roadway features, such as pavement markings or geometric design. The balance is shifting from whether a treatment is of sound engineering and substantially improves safety to just whether it is cheap and looks good. 

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1 hour ago, smeagolsfree said:

Speaking of the bike lanes. I must say that Indianapolis knows what the are doing . Yes there are a few places that have the cheap plastic bollards, but most are protected by a curb and concrete bollards planted firmly into the ground. Now the Greenway system here is great, but where Nashville is lacking is all of the places they have put these plastic POS bollards.  Most of the ones installed on 51st have been run over and look like crap. The Gulch is one of the few places the lanes are up on a curb. Most pedestrians have no clue these are bike lanes. In Indy, there are signs that this area is for bikers, and this area is for pedestrians. I did however see one close call there as a biker was traveling down the path and a car came out of a garage and almost hit him.

 

  • Image result for Indianapolis bike lanes
     
    image.png.6511514b0e91398ea4598ef46b4de60c.png
     
    image.png.1d4e9ff6effe4515710d3f80372ba033.pngHOW DARE THEY TAKE AWAY SPACE FROM CARS!! I'M GONNA GET STATE REPRESENTATIVES FROM NE TN TO MAKE A LAW PROHIBITING BIKES ON ASPHAULT

 

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I really dislike the cheap plastic bollards.    I'm sure the cost of re-striping and planting a gazillion bollards on music row (16th/17th/Magnolia) was not cheap, but the final result looks it.     

The other issue with this type of bike lane (ie, bike lane in the gutter, with bollards separating from traffic lanes) is that there is no way for motorized street sweeper vehicles to periodically clean the bike lanes.    The result is the bike lanes fill with leaves (nice large magnolia leaves up and down music row), trash and debris.     To a biker, this is a worse outcome than riding in the street.      I often think these "solutions" were designed by someone who has never actually ridden a bike through town.      

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7 hours ago, PaulChinetti said:

 

Side note: Google maps and Apple maps both still don’t have  the Division Street bridge(what the hell). Or that Fogg Street is closed at the railroad crossing. 

I just checked out Google Maps and it has the Division Street connector mapped and integrated into directions. Maybe try updating your app? 

 

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15 hours ago, CenterHill said:

I really dislike the cheap plastic bollards.    I'm sure the cost of re-striping and planting a gazillion bollards on music row (16th/17th/Magnolia) was not cheap, but the final result looks it.     

The other issue with this type of bike lane (ie, bike lane in the gutter, with bollards separating from traffic lanes) is that there is no way for motorized street sweeper vehicles to periodically clean the bike lanes.    The result is the bike lanes fill with leaves (nice large magnolia leaves up and down music row), trash and debris.     To a biker, this is a worse outcome than riding in the street.      I often think these "solutions" were designed by someone who has never actually ridden a bike through town.      

I'm totally in favor of allocating the money for real curb-separated bike lanes, but I'd make the case that the plastic bollards are a big enough improvement over painted lanes and/or riding in the street in shared traffic that we should put them up as soon as possible wherever we can claw back the space for them.

There's never going to be more than a small number of people (maybe 1% ?) that are comfortable sharing streets with Nashville drivers. That might increase to 1.5% if you paint a line on the ground and call it a bike lane. Having real separated lanes demarcated with bollards - even flimsy plastic ones - feels completely different for casual users. It meets a minimum comfort level for at least an order of magnitude more people. Because of the protected lane on Davidson St, I feel 100% fine hopping on a bike to get downtown from east nashville without armoring up for battle. I can let my daughter ride along. It just meets the bar for a much more casual type of ride. And if we build out a network of them that actually allows people to get around town on a bike (or e-bike, or scooter) I feel like we'd get a much more significant amount of traffic on them, which would justify the investment needed to make improvements, which would be a great reinforcing cycle.

Edited by AronG
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I agree. The key is connectivity and consistency. I love riding the music row lanes, but they have some crazy engineering at wedgewood that would scare the heck out of novice riders. I don’t think we’ll see a significant uptick until we have connected protected lanes or greenways all over the city with no dangerous gaps.

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OH MY GOSH, we do not have sidewalks in most of the county, we have a huge Metro budget deficit , but yes why not spend money we do not have to build protected bike lanes. 
How many Nashvillians commute to work and back on a bike? How often? How many bike riders are injured each year in Metro? How many of those injuries were the fault of drivers/pedestrians? How many the fault of bikers? How much money is spent (per rider) on bike infrastructure in Nashville?  

My point is how many cars are actually taken off the road in Nashville with bike riders? Is this a cost effective way to relieve traffic? Not in theory (please to not show the inane graphic of  a car takes up this much space, a bus takes up this much space, a bike takes up this much space......) I mean actual numbers.

As a downtown resident who has lived and is continuing to live through the failed bike lanes on the Church Street viaduct for 5-6 years let me say, whatever it was projected to accomplish ...it has failed. These lanes are most used for the sightseeing busses, package delivery services, those moving into and out of the Gossett, and those picking up delivery from Sicilian Pizza. Ans the lanes on the Demonbreun viaduct are used bu the pedal taverns, and tour busses.

Ha, I took this just 5 min ago...

 

 

20180517_125116.jpg

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Sidewalks are another big headache too. If I am trying to get around in some of these neighborhoods, walking is not going to happen. Its cheaper to put bike lanes in than sidewalks and there are so many areas that are urban that have no sidewalks period. Look at the stretch of Woodmont from Harding to Berry Hill. Its a freaking disaster. There is not eve a side walk that connects Belmont University to Lipscomb. Its close on Belmont Blvd but not complete.

Bike lanes only work on the major routes any way. Even then Metro cant do it right. 51st Ave is the bike lane to nowhere. They could not even finish the sidewalk on at least one side of the road on 51st either and try to cross at the intersection of 51st and Centennial. It is still way too car centric and driver will run over pedestrians there too as I have crossed and its just plan dangerous. The leaders in the city are clueless when it comes to bike and pedestrian safety.

I don't think the people in some of these neighborhoods even want sidewalks because they are afraid the wrong type people will be walking in front of their homes.

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