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Charlotte Bike Lanes


Bikeguy

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Did anyone attend last month's Bicycle Plan workshop? How did it go? I emailed Ken Tippette but never got a response.

I'd like to see Charlotte tryout the sharrow concept that's being tested in other cities. Basically, it's a bicycle symbol with two chevrons that indicate the proper bike positioning in a traffic lane.

cardoor_sharrow.jpg

The best thing about sharrows is that they legitimize bicycles as a part of traffic. Road cyclists hate seeing bikes on the sidewalks because it conditions motorists to view bicycles as separate from traffic. And hopefully official markings indicating bike placement would, over time, help disarm a lot of the "get off my road" attitudes cyclists have to deal with.

I don't want bike lanes completely eliminated, but certainly for streets within the 277 loop. The bike lane down Fourth Street is constantly blocked by parked police cars <_< . Since cyclists have to move into the lane to pass them, the bike lane is more of an obstacle than a convenience.

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As much as they compare the light rail development to what Denver, CO has done, I wish they would look at Denver's bike trail system and do something similar here in Charlotte...no reason they shouldn't be putting in a bike path alongside 485 similar to what denver has on their loop (470?).

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The Bicycle Plan is adopting Bike Lanes as the preferred method of reserving room for cyclists. This would be in place of wide outside lanes with no markings. The stacked chevrons noted below are one very visible way of denoting that cyclists could be present in an area. This would be a logical method of alerting motorists on the Booty Loop. The section of Selwyn that fronts Queens University does have room for bike lanes but the ever present possibility of a opened car door would make the chevron a more workable solution.

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....( )/ ( )...

Did anyone attend last month's Bicycle Plan workshop? How did it go? I emailed Ken Tippette but never got a response.

I'd like to see Charlotte tryout the sharrow concept that's being tested in other cities. Basically, it's a bicycle symbol with two chevrons that indicate the proper bike positioning in a traffic lane.

cardoor_sharrow.jpg

The best thing about sharrows is that they legitimize bicycles as a part of traffic. Road cyclists hate seeing bikes on the sidewalks because it conditions motorists to view bicycles as separate from traffic. And hopefully official markings indicating bike placement would, over time, help disarm a lot of the "get off my road" attitudes cyclists have to deal with.

I don't want bike lanes completely eliminated, but certainly for streets within the 277 loop. The bike lane down Fourth Street is constantly blocked by parked police cars <_< . Since cyclists have to move into the lane to pass them, the bike lane is more of an obstacle than a convenience.

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Cities nationwide are catching on to the fact that healthy prosperous urban areas take cycling seriously. I also agree that Charlotte could learn much from Denver's great trail program. I am encouraged by our city's overwhelming support for Light Rail. This sentiment should also support increasing safe cycling options citywide. Heck just start small. I have long thought that the city should erect signs promoting slower driving and respect for cyclists similar to the signs posted at Davidson's town limits that proudly announce that town's committment to alternative forms of transportation.

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Did anyone attend last month's Bicycle Plan workshop? How did it go? I emailed Ken Tippette but never got a response.

I'd like to see Charlotte tryout the sharrow concept that's being tested in other cities. Basically, it's a bicycle symbol with two chevrons that indicate the proper bike positioning in a traffic lane.

cardoor_sharrow.jpg

The best thing about sharrows is that they legitimize bicycles as a part of traffic. Road cyclists hate seeing bikes on the sidewalks because it conditions motorists to view bicycles as separate from traffic. And hopefully official markings indicating bike placement would, over time, help disarm a lot of the "get off my road" attitudes cyclists have to deal with.

I don't want bike lanes completely eliminated, but certainly for streets within the 277 loop. The bike lane down Fourth Street is constantly blocked by parked police cars <_< . Since cyclists have to move into the lane to pass them, the bike lane is more of an obstacle than a convenience.

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You have just stated the #1 reason why most bikers do not like bike lanes. People think that this is the only way to accommodate bikers. In reality many roads are too narrow for bike-lanes and have too much traffic going too fast for bikers to want to ride on them- Park Road being a prime example. You have to create alternate paths, better signage, share-the-road markers, bike boulevards, and things like that. Retrofitting thoroughfares is not the best way to attack the problem. The other major concern is the lack of bike facilities- namely bike racks- at stores across the city. Its getting better, but most places don't have them (yet).

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I don't think you should be expecting bike lanes on those thoroughfares. The safer thing is for the city to create parallel corridor that serves bicycle connectivity, but not necessarily encouraging bicycles to mix with the higher speed traffic. Park Road has Little Sugar Creek greenway parallel to it, South has the path next to the light rail and Old Pineville Road explicitly enhanced for bicycles, and Tyvola has Seneca. That is the strategy the city is taking. There may be some gaps, as well as a need to be on those roads if your destination is actually there, but I think I agree with the city's strategy on that.

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Selwyn is a reasonable alternative too. You can hook into Myers Park, which has connectivity, and the booty loop where cars just expect bikers at all times. People just have to be made aware of what the alternative routes are.

In many cases the roads just aren't wide enough to accommodate bike lanes, which is ironic because narrower roads provide a calming effect for traffic and thus make it more comfortable for bikers.

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I don't think you should be expecting bike lanes on those thoroughfares. The safer thing is for the city to create parallel corridor that serves bicycle connectivity, but not necessarily encouraging bicycles to mix with the higher speed traffic. Park Road has Little Sugar Creek greenway parallel to it, South has the path next to the light rail and Old Pineville Road explicitly enhanced for bicycles, and Tyvola has Seneca. That is the strategy the city is taking. There may be some gaps, as well as a need to be on those roads if your destination is actually there, but I think I agree with the city's strategy on that.
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Yes, Charlotte really needs dedicated transit corridors for bicycle commuters. Again look at the bike system in cities like Denver or Colorado Springs for great examples. Would need to take advantage of existing right of ways for creeks and major power lines.

Google map of Denver trail system

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?f=s&ie=...p;z=10&om=1

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Yes, Charlotte really needs dedicated transit corridors for bicycle commuters. Again look at the bike system in cities like Denver or Colorado Springs for great examples. Would need to take advantage of existing right of ways for creeks and major power lines.

Google map of Denver trail system

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?f=s&ie=...p;z=10&om=1

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As always, the most effective way to change transit behavior is to provide a better alternative to the status quo, not just an equal one. If a bike lane doesn't shave a significant amount of time off a normal rider's commute, it won't be heavily used. So it's really pointless, IMO, to even bother with bike lanes parallelling roads except in high-interest areas like a park or community center. Instead of lanes we ought to be focused on trails that cut across the city, allowing for quicker commutes than those possible by car... this would be especially helpful in the southern part of the city, where drivers often lack the option to make a beeline for their destination.

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The county is doing just that, with creating a greenway system along the creeks, which provide trails for bicycles and pedestrians without much interaction with car filled roads.

http://www.charmeck.org/Departments/Park+a...enways/Home.htm

http://www.charmeck.org/NR/rdonlyres/e7bbs...reenwayMap2.pdf

The problem is that there is no way that things like that can cover every possible destination in the county. But it is a good resource for longer distance travel within the county to reduce the percentage of time mixing in with cars.

There seems to be a number of plans to then extend those to the whole region. The O did an article on the Carolina Thread Trail this weekend:

http://www.charlotte.com/171/story/357796.html

http://www.carolinathreadtrail.org/

While I still think that the city is doing the right thing by putting dedicated bike lanes on back roads parallel to heavy corridors, there are still improvements that need to be made to allow for longer distance travel within those back roads. While it is not nearly enough, here are some connections that are being planned purely to add bike and pedestrian support:

http://www.charmeck.org/Departments/Transp...ty+Projects.htm

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  • 2 weeks later...

Not True. CDOT will be striping bike lanes on the newly reconfigured Brevard. Bike lanes will also be stripped between Midtown Mall ( Metropolitan ) and McDowell.

The best new spot to bike, walk, and rollerblade ( if that's your choice) is along the LYNX line between Tremont and New Bern. It is a wide, paved pathway with NO cars. Very urban and very neat!

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There was standing room only at that meeting. It went extraordinarily well, IMO. I think the next meeting will be more telling of what came of the first one. FYI: There are not going to be any additional bike lanes added within center city because they are all supposed to be urban streets the support mixed traffic.

Kenilworth/Scott is unfortunately a horrible corridor for bikers. You're better off going through other parts of Dilworth.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I quite like Charlotte being called a "progressive locality". Perhaps if I use this term traveling about it will catch on..... I am a runner and dedicated walker for a variety of errands in Dilworth. Even though I am not a cyclist we all benefit from the slowing of traffic and positive connectivity that results from bike lanes.

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Nice catch Monsoon... Next up for cyclists is the updated Comprehensive Bike Plan that CDOT is putting together. This will place our fair city in another strata in regards to accommodating cyclists.

It will include "Road Diets", separated bike pathways ( along busy roadways such as Providence Rd.), and linkage to the Greenways Masterplan; all of which will contribute to a much safer and well connected community for cycling.

.......__o

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....( )/ ( )...

(apologies to PL )

Charlotte gets a nod in this treehugger article for it's progressive use of bike lanes. As a bonus, they didn't even add NC to the city when they mentioned it.
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  • 2 months later...

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