FABB Blog

 

Cyclists attend Burke/Shiplett meeting - Update

Several cyclists attended the meeting last night on proposed bike lanes on Burke Road and Shiplett Boulevard. Supervisor Herrity and Planning Commission Chairman Murphy were also there.

On both roads, lanes would be narrowed to allow striping of bike lanes for long sections of the roadway. Such treatment is known as a "lane diet." Where not enough room is available for bike lanes, shared lane markings, "sharrows," would be used.

One person expressed a concern about cost and it was pointed out that since both roads will be repaved, changing the striping pattern to include bike lanes has a minimal impact, if any, on the cost of the project.

There is a lot of pent up demand for better bicycle and pedestrian facilities in the area. Several people noted that without sidewalks, people are often seen walking on Burke Road. Burke Village Center is located nearby. Others talked about the need for trail maintenance, especially snow clearing on popular trails.

In the image on the right, the red section of Burke Road will be striped with bike lanes.  The other sections will likely have sharrows. A few people were concerned that the sharrows would encourage inexperienced cyclists to ride on a dangerous road. Others wanted the sharrows to warn motorists to expect cyclists and help prevent motorist harassment of cyclists.

The red section of Shiplett will be striped with bike lanes. The blue, green, and yellow sections will have a climbing lane in one direction and various options for wide shared lanes with sharrows in the other direction. There is not enough room for standard bike lanes on both sides.

The presentation will be posted on the county bike pages in the near future.

Update: Cyclists are encouraged contact Supervisor Herrity and/or Adam Lind to show your support for these projects.

Labels: burke road, chairman peter murphy, lane diet, shiplett blvd, supervisor herrity

posted by Bruce Wright at 9:50 AM permalink