Trails / Bicycle Infrastructure

[WAJAS]

The city made a nice animation for the Downtown Connector Trail.

[Jernigan]

6 hours ago, WAJAS98 said:

The city made a nice animation for the Downtown Connector Trail.

Curious how that last nub will work out.   

[dcluley98]

Why? It's probably just a 6-foot multi-use on the north side of Anderson under the 408 connecting directly to the bike lane on Rosalind.  Basically, they are using the ROW in between Rosalind and the 408. They are going to have to weave around some pillars, but not a big deal there for space for a trail.  Great use for space on that side of the 408 to help connect the network.  Also, let's get some grass/greenery down there instead of concrete!

Edited September 25, 2018 by dcluley98

[Jernigan]

Would you ride across the 408 onramp?

[WAJAS]

41 minutes ago, Jernigan said:

Curious how that last nub will work out.   

 

33 minutes ago, dcluley98 said:

Why? It's probably just a 6-foot multi-use on the north side of Anderson under the 408 connecting directly to the bike lane on Rosalind.  Basically, they are using the ROW in between Rosalind and the 408. They are going to have to weave around some pillars, but not a big deal there for space for a trail.  Great use for space on that side of the 408 to help connect the network.  Also, let's get some grass/greenery down there instead of concrete!

6ft =/ a multiuse anything

[dcluley98]

34 minutes ago, Jernigan said:

Would you ride across the 408 onramp?

Yes. I do so all the time. 

Mostly Crystal Lake ramps, but sometimes Mills. Also, the ones around Lucerne. 

Also, I agree Wajas, that the 6 ft is a bit narrow, usually they are 8ft or wider.  The 6 feet in the tightest areas would not pose that great of a problem, IMO, however, as long as the majority is wide-enough for 2-way traffic. What I meant was there is enough space along that corridor to be much wider than a regular "sidewalk" and use it for a real trail. 

Honestly, the worst intersection around there is the 408 interchange on the east side of lake Underhill with Conway/Lake Underhill. I cross that quite often. There are little triangle islands in the middle of the ramped intersection. It Sucks. You just have to cross to the island and wait for the light though. East of there along Lake Underhill road is the worst though, and I have to ride on sidewalk there. It would be nice to have a real bike lane along Lake Underhill Road between Conway and Semoran, for sure. 

Edited September 25, 2018 by dcluley98

[Jernigan]

Crossing at Crystal Lake is at a controlled signal.   I can’t picture the ramp on Summerlin.

in any case, I wonder why they went with Anderson instead of South.  

[dcluley98]

I meant Mills, not Summerlin. Mills is the other one with the underpass similar to Crystal Lake. Crystal Lake has two controlled lights with dedicated crosswalk for trail underneath. I would expect it to be similar under the 408. 

The worst part of that route along Anderson, IMO would be the Bumby offramp from Eastbound 408. It's hard to tell from the limited detail in the video, but just looking at the animation, it looks like it would run south of Anderson between Mills and Lake Underhill trail to try to avoid the ramps, and then west of Mills, switch to the North side of Anderson. 

As for Anderson vs. South. I don't know really, but neither is easy to make work. The north side of South St. seems like it would be much easier to make it work for crossings, etc. until you get to downtown. Don't know why they chose Anderson instead. 

[dcluley98]

Also, for anybody interested, here is one of my "go-to" loops for lazy fun that takes you through some green spaces. https://www.strava.com/activities/1291753843

A couple of things:
Don't ride a bike down the Dickinson Azalea Park Trail. This is a walking trail. I walked my bike there. On a regular ride, I would just go down Fern Creek to the T at  Central, but sometimes, it is nice to just get off of the bike and walk through the park. Crazy how Hurricane Irma changed it.  It is worth the walk to do it one time just to see Ye Olde Washington Street bridge. 

From there, it's merging parks and traffic. A couple of shortcuts in there through areas I have explored that others may not have known about. 

Usually, I just go straight up Fern Creek by Kaley ES, not over toward Boone HS. I think I was just checking out other options to try to connect to that other park west of Boone on that particular ride. Sometimes , I go up Mills from Greenwood Wetlands into Lawsona/Thornton Park area instead of Lucerne, and head back in along Livingston.  Livingston is a great E/W route in and out of downtown that connects to others such as Fern Creek and the Crystal Lake/Maguire/CadyWay corridor. 

Fun little ride. Slow as hell though. I really like the  Lake Lancaster/Briercliff area. A lot of lights and traffic on this route to deal with in between the fun, though. 

Edited September 25, 2018 by dcluley98

[codypet]

15 hours ago, WAJAS98 said:

The city made a nice animation for the Downtown Connector Trail.

I talked to my buddy who's doing the work on this and is a poster here.  He mentioned having to lose the right turn lanes off of Anderson to get this to work.  I had casually mentioned that to some people in the neighborhood and you would have thought they were proposing to kill the first born of everyone in the neighborhood.

[AmIReal]

1 hour ago, codypet said:

He mentioned having to lose the right turn lanes off of Anderson to get this to work.  I had casually mentioned that to some people in the neighborhood and you would have thought they were proposing to kill the first born of everyone in the neighborhood.

I don't think it will be a problem. Drivers will just use the bike lanes as turn lanes... 

[codypet]

5 minutes ago, AmIReal said:

I don't think it will be a problem. Drivers will just use the bike lanes as turn lanes... 

IIRC that's technically legal when making a right.

http://flbikelaw.org/2009/08/138/

[AmIReal]

2 hours ago, codypet said:

IIRC that's technically legal when making a right.

So I'm not supposed to use it as a passing lane? Who knew.

Yes, I was aware you could use it, but when the bike lane was created at Rosalind and Robinson, my buddy got a ticket for using the lane to turn right- and, yes, the lane was clear. He pulled into the lane to turn right on red and had to wait for traffic to clear. 

[Jernigan]

So to confirm the “trail” will be along the south side of Anderson?  Not hugging the expressway?

[codypet]

19 hours ago, Jernigan said:

So to confirm the “trail” will be along the south side of Anderson?  Not hugging the expressway?

Most of the way.  IIRC there is a portion of it hugging the expressway.

[Jernigan]

I hate to be negative but man...for a progressive city that talks the talk on cycling, we have this strange way of building infrastructure.   This path would be like the one on Bumby.   Dangerously putting cyclists in a space where they feel comfortable zipping along at bike speed surprising every car that pulls out of a side street along the way.   

Your safer riding in the road in these cases unless you commit to yielding at every conflict point.    And I’m not a ‘take the lane’ guy myself.

[codypet]

20 hours ago, AmIReal said:

So I'm not supposed to use it as a passing lane? Who knew.

Yes, I was aware you could use it, but when the bike lane was created at Rosalind and Robinson, my buddy got a ticket for using the lane to turn right- and, yes, the lane was clear. He pulled into the lane to turn right on red and had to wait for traffic to clear. 

He should have fought that.   I bike a lot and I still get in the lane to turn right when I'm driving on Livingston approaching Bumby.

16 minutes ago, Jernigan said:

I hate to be negative but man...for a progressive city that talks the talk on cycling, we have this strange way of building infrastructure.   This path would be like the one on Bumby.   Dangerously putting cyclists in a space where they feel comfortable zipping along at bike speed surprising every car that pulls out of a side street along the way.   

Your safer riding in the road in these cases unless you commit to yielding at every conflict point.    And I’m not a ‘take the lane’ guy myself.

I don't disagree. And when you talk to the people in the public meetings complaining, you'll hear them all say "just build a bike path away so I can be on my phone while I'm driving and not have to worry about a guy on a bike" <-- I'm probably paraphrasing.

[Jernigan]

While public works isn’t in the business of marketing, there’s a way to plan projects to increase the marketability and public support of them.   For instance,  put some 2way protected bike lanes in on Rosalind - there would be minimum resistance and you’ll immediately have cyclists using them.   Heck cyclists already use the green paint and that offers no additional protection so imagine how many will flock there.

Those cyclists are your justification for the next project.  And then the next.

Otherwise you end up with Curry Ford and pitchforks and neighbors who aren’t wrong when they say “no one will use that”

[spenser1058]

Sanford breaks ground on final extension of popular RiverWalk trail — a 'great asset for the city'
http://bit.ly/2z7H21U

From the Sentinel

[dcluley98]

Couple of updates on the Coast-to-Coast Connector. 

Portion of the Good Neighbor Trail in Brooksville to Croom has been completed: http://www.ci.brooksville.fl.us/dmdocuments/GoodNeighborTrail-Brochure-FINALpg1.pdf

The "Starkey Gap" is being completed: https://www.tbo.com/news/pasco/a-gap-no-longer-work-begins-to-link-disconnected-bike-trails-20181107/

Slowly but surely we are making progress to completion. Volusia just upgraded on their side. . . now we need the local Orange County segments to follow the lead of the other areas and get our sections funded and complete! 

[Jernigan]

Lime Bikes have begun placing green bicycles downtown.   

[spenser1058]

22 minutes ago, Jernigan said:

Lime Bikes have begun placing green bicycles downtown.   

All these citrusy Lymmos and bike shares but yet there's not a grove left hardly anyplace in the county.

[Jernigan]

[AndyPok1]

Ugh.  So close, yet so far, to scoots!

[codypet]

At the UCF tailgate those bikes were thrown everywhere.  Where I parked in the garage some of them were on the 2nd and 3rd floors leaning over the walls.  I hope this doesn't end up being a big mess a la Southpark and the scooters.