In a previous post, I alluded to the idea that connectivity of streets is the one infrastructure improvement that would help cyclists most. When there are many different routes that can be taken through the city, it's much easier find a way to stay out of high traffic areas. Folks in residential districts are understandably wary of allowing cars to shortcut past their houses, but there are ways to keep out car traffic while allowing pedestrians and cyclists through.
Here's a little suggestion that I think would help my neighborhood of Fifeville.
Suppose a cyclist wanted to traverse through my neighborhood between the two points A and B (Ridge St. and JPA). Right now the only possible way to do this is by cutting down to Cherry Ave. and following it to Shamrock. But Cherry, with its sharp curves, narrow lanes, and heavy traffic, is simply inhospitable to bicycles. So there really is no feasible way to make this trip.
The city could widen the entire stretch of Cherry and put in bike lanes, but there would seem to be an easier and far less costly way to forge a route through Fifeville.
What if exclusive bike and walking paths were placed on the spots indicated by dark blue (between Grove St. and Grove St. extended and between Grove St. extended and Thomas Cr.)? With just this small tweak a perfectly fine bike route emerges that allows cyclists to avoid Cherry entirely. Why not put this in?
Friday, August 22
A Fifeville Bike Route?
topic:
Charlottesville,
Transportation System
Posted by Daniel Nairn at 2:23 PM
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2 comments:
Yes, that is the next step to provide cyclists and other pedestrians a safer way to travel. I spent a year in Fort Collins, they had bike lanes on every street, but more importantly they had bike and pedestrian only trials that could take you across town without coming in contact with motor vehicles. It is definitely a difficult job to retro fit these into an established city, but there should be some areas where these can fit the current layout in Cville.
Thank you!
I think that's a fantastic concept, but it's hard to imagine that there is enough space for such a thing unless you blocked off Dice/Nalle/Grove entirely. Especially on the east end of Dice where I live, on which there is very little possibilities for widening the street, and even turning it into a one-way would not help you out. However, if you blocked off this route, still allowing for cross-over traffic on the perpendicular streets, you'd have a little alterna-downtown mall that would be super hip!
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