Yep! Will fill you in more, but we’re working closely with GoRaleigh staff to ensure there is room for all modes.
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I prefer protected 1 way cycle tracks over two-way, in the context of Raleigh’s narrow downtown streets, but would rather them both go on the same street.
It seems the current project has the requirement of no curb reconstruction, since that is more expensive than paint, but if that were on the table, it should be possible to have it all:
- Wider, less obstructed sidewalks
- Curb-protected, one way cycle tracks on both sides
- Two way car traffic
- Parking on both sides of the street (though somewhat less of it)
- Healthier street trees with more balanced canopies, more access to air, water, and light
This would involve:
- Move the existing curbs inward 2 feet, making a 36’ roadway (10’ travel lane and 8’ parking on each side). This configuration is very common. Maybe the speed limit drops to 20 or even 15, but… is that a bad thing?
- Move the street trees out of the sidewalk space into the parking zone. Putting a tree between every 2nd space would replicate the current 40 ft spacing; every 3rd space (60ft) could work too, because moving the trees away from the edge of the right-of-way allows them to grow larger.
With the street trees moved out of the way, and the two-foot reduction of roadway width, the current sidewalk zone becomes wide enough to accommodate both a cycle track and a sidewalk.
Sidewalk cafes would either not work on such a street, or (better yet) get moved into the parking zone. Them’s the breaks.
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In this post from April, I gave an example of a street in Utrecht, NL that is 20m wide (65’7"; the Christmas plan streets in Raleigh are 66’) and has essentially this configuration. (Click through to see the street view.)
Not great for high speed riding - if you want to do that, just mix with the cars and take the lane! But perfect for casual, utilitarian, urban cycling.
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What are the flaws you see with one way cycletracks on parallel streets? (Vs on the same street)
You always have a super well thought out opinion on things so curious what your thought process is for this haha
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I think that, as a long term goal, we should work to have two way protected bike traffic on every street. Our downtown grid is fairly broad, something like 480ft block length most places. Let’s say a cyclist is headed southbound on West Street but wants to get to a destination on Harrington. They would (worst case) have to ride an extra quarter mile, and traverse two extra intersections, or else ride in traffic, or on the sidewalk, to get where they are going. If we want cycling to be a real option for everyone, cyclists need fine grained, protected access to everywhere pedestrians and cars can go… without having to go 'round the block. What a game changer that would be!
I prefer one way to two way on narrow streets like this because IMO it provides the best balance between speed and access, with a cycle facility on each side of every street.
In this case I am kind of fine with whatever, understanding that there is currently little to no budget for moving curbs, and that all the options are steps in the right direction. But eventually, all streets do need edge-to-edge reconstructions, and whenever and wherever that opportunity arises, we should not hesitate to go for the moon.
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…FWIW if our streets were 100’ wide instead of 66, I would support two way, above-the-curb cycle tracks on both sides of every street.
CompleteStreet in Oakland
sees 100% increase in walking, 78% in cycling, & 9% in retail sales. Crashes down 40%:
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^^ that street (Telegraph Ave) is 100 feet wide for the section where they have the bike lane behind the parked cars.
We have very few places downtown with streets that wide.
- Hillsborough from the RR tracks to the Capitol
- All of Fayetteville
- New Bern from the capitol to East Street (but part of it is the disconnected New Bern Place cul de sac).
The rest of the Christmas Plan streets are just 66’ wide.
With space limited like this, but the grid being relatively sparse (Telegraph Avenue appears to have blocks about 250’ long, barely more than half the 480’ found in Raleigh), we have to be very careful to use every inch of our rights-of-way wisely.
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Yeah I wasn’t really suggesting that this exact set up would be implemented in Raleigh. Thought it would just be interesting to see a fully built out complete street
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My God, it’s so…organized
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Does a street need to do everything though? We have “narrow” streets but perhaps one street is prioritized for transit and not bikes and cars. Another street is prioritized for bikes and not transit or cars. Etc. I felt like that’s what would work for DTR.
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It looks nice and crisp, but it’s very inconsistent. At the bottom, the bikes are between parked cars and moving traffic. In the middle the cycle tracks are next to the curb, protected by a striped buffer and parked cars. Somewhere near the top, the bike lanes start to zigzag back and forth across right-turn-only lanes for cars. I mean, seriously, were those right turn lanes really needed?! Perfect way to injure or kill cyclist (or just make them feel uncomfortable and thus stay off the road.) You can’t really call it a protected cycle track if you have to weave with cars like that. At best, it is a “partially protected” cycle track.
It’s also all paint which is acceptable as an interim measure but is woefully inadequate long term.
The bike lanes should be as straight, consistent, and contiguous as the bloody car lanes. Is that so hard for people to grasp?! To make a street actually comfortable to cycle on, you have to deprioritize cars to the point that (1) no turn on red at all intersections is basically a given, (2) LOS-driven things like right turn lanes are completely off the table before the design process even begins, (3) arguments against loss of parking spaces are summarily ignored.
If that street in Oakland is the best that the USA has to offer, we still have a long, long way to go.
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I have less strong opinions about dilemmas like above-the-curb cycle tracks (which puts the cycle track at the level of the sidewalk or at a level between that of the roadway and sidewalk) vs curb separated cycle tracks (which makes it part of the roadway but separated from cars by a solid concrete curb), or things like two-way, one sided vs one-way, two sided. But I have very strong opinions about things that put cyclists at risk of getting hit by cars.
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Yes, take space from cars and give to bike/ped/transit on retail heavy streets
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City Transportation Staff to Hold Open House on New Downtown Bicycle Facility
Join us on January 6 to provide feedback on proposed changes
Attendees will get an opportunity to learn more about proposed options for pedestrian improvements and a dedicated bicycle facility, see the preliminary design and provide their feedback on the concepts for West Street and Harrington Street that will connect two planned greenway paths.
“The public meeting will present a number of different ways to achieve a fully separated bike route that include routes from Raleigh Union Station to Peace Street - some of which the public has not seen before,” said Paul Black, Bicycle & Pedestrian Manager. “The City wants your help choosing the right one.”
When: Monday, January 6
Where: The Dillon, 223 S. West Street - 9th floor lobby, Raleigh, NC
Time: 4pm - 6pm
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I see this is posted above, but wanted to share an encourage folks to attend / bring a friend. 
Would love to see strong support for our 1st protected bike facility in Downtown Raleigh. Really exciting stuff, y’all 
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oaks and spokes. pretty dope!
If you weren’t able to make yesterday’s open house at the Dillon you can provide feedback on the protected bike lane design alternatives at this link: https://publicinput.com/a234
Survey is open through 2/3/2020
Sorry, view from the survey is nowhere near as cool as the view from the Dillon’s 9th floor terrace:
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What was the general consensus at the meeting? …or was there one?
Any reason why a cycle track on either side of West wasn’t presented as an option?
My gut tells me to vote for the west side Cycle track on Harrington because it has less conflict with the square loop exit from Capital to Peace, and it puts cyclists right next to Publix at its Peace St. terminus, and immediately adjacent to Dillon at its Martin St. terminus.
That said, I would like to see a West St. cycle track option since it would be more central to both Glenwood South, and the heart of the Warehouse District.
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