I’ve been thinking recently about the possibilities / inspiration for bike / ped bridges around town - in the context of the proposed crossings over the beltline around midtown and / or the hypothesized ‘Artery’ by members of the community here. I came back across this project out in the midwest and we need more of this : simple, elegant, dash of panache with its fractal insprired twist offering light / shadow interplay during the day and illumination by night.
Would be lovely to get some well designed ‘Insta-structure’ like this in town over the next decade or so…
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I have a question for street bikers. Do you guys feel it would be better/safer to have bikes in bike lanes travel towards vehicular traffic instead of along vehicular traffic? I feel like it would be safer to travel toward oncoming traffic, especially on hilly roads. Just a thought.
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Without physical protection it is a hard no from me, but I’d consider it if the bike lane was protected. It’s an interesting question, though, as when I walk through my neighbourhood I often walk against traffic if there is no sidewalk.
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Traveling against traffic makes turns and stuff way more complicated, and I think makes cars less sure what to do around you. Imagine if you are going against traffic and decide to take a left turn? You would have to cross lots of traffic and the lane going the same direction as you would not be looking out for you.
Good idea for walking when there is no sidewalk, but for biking it makes just getting around way more complicated.
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Hopefully they paint these as multi-use lanes since there are no sidewalks but I’m not sure if it really matters. I noticed they did that on the Ratchford Dr recently but they’re protected so walking on that feels a little more appropriate.
Appears a bicyclist was killed on the unprotected bike lane in Blount Street but I didn’t get a closer look.
As always, ‘progress’ is a battle and perspectives vary…
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As with anything, change is constant, and I imagine building a business based on public resources that could (parking on the street) is a risk.
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Listening to planners from around the US, there is definitely a trend where business owners fear the bike lanes before they come, then things end up being fine when they get there.
The stretch of West Street north of Peace is a good example IMO, where a good bike network through there would actually get more people going down a street they never use and probably drive up business.
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Any story on this? I haven’t found anything in the news so I am curious.
I hate to say it, but most of these business owners on West St. are right. This isn’t a very high traffic area so incorporating a shared parking and bike lane would be the ideal fit here.
"In other cities like Chapel Hill, what I’ve seen is a real protected lane that’s not just by pylons. It’s a parking lane, plus bike lanes. That’s a great compromise.”
I honestly don’t understand why we can’t do this:
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That looks great but do we have the space?
I certainly can see a space out front for easy access to a business as being a plus. The takeaway spaces in front of downtown businesses was amazing for takeout during the pandemic. But what are you going to complain about when a new and/or more popular restaurant or business moves next door and everyone is parking in front of your place in order to go to that place?
I remember The Roast Grill was complaining about the bike lanes taking spaces. Let’s say that didn’t happen. What are you going to complain about when everyone parks in the spaces in front of RG but are going to Morgan Street Food Hall instead?
I feel using public roads for parking is perfectly fine when supporting local businesses is a public good. However, there’s not enough public on-street parking to go around anymore. Moving people through is starting to be the new public good.
Ideas to mitigate this?
Sticking with the MSFH and RG example, how do we partner with Citrix to open up their deck to the public? How do you get public spaces available at Raleigh Crossing? 501 Hillsborough, which we’re tracking here, may build a deck with public parking. Capacity is there, it’s just different now. To a certain degree, adapt and it’ll be just fine.
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Not sure but I’m sure it’s recorded somewhere. Maybe police records? There were about 6 police cars on the scene when I walked past.
I have a hard time believing that bike lanes are going to be the ruin of The Cardinal as the article suggests. They have an existing off-street parking lot and are less than a 5-minute walk from the 700 combined apartments between The Line and Peace Raleigh Apts.
Is the Cardinal not drawing customers from the 700 new-ish housing units in their neighborhood? If not, why is that? I know it’s not because people don’t like to have bars in walking distance of where they live.
In a changing world you can’t expect to do the same thing you’ve always done and get the same results.
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Those bike lanes would need to be kept clean and free of debris which would require some effort as a street cleaner couldn’t easily get to them, but I do like those bike lanes. The lanes on Crabtree Blvd between N Raleigh Blvd and Capital are fairly new but dirty (I drive by there, don’t ride bike); I doubt they will ever be cleaned.
In any event, this week I saw a cyclist on Six Forks in the NH area during morning rush hour and today I saw a cyclist on N Raleigh Blvd at about 645 this morning - while it was still dark out. Made me very nervous for both of them with no dedicated bike lane.
So about that, the City recently picked up a specialized street sweeper for this exact thing!
Edit: I should note that I didn’t take this picture; it’s from the tweet in the link above.
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Oh that’s nice. Hopefully they got more than one!
That tweet is the only post I’ve ever seen about it, so I have no idea. Hopefully so!
