Opportunity Knocks

To stripe or not to stripe. That is the question. Should Irvine Ave. from Third Street to 23rd Street have painted bike lanes on each side? The street is being reconstructed and the question about how to stripe the traffic lanes after it is paved has been raised.

Last year, Irvine was restriped with three lanes: a center turn lane and two driving lanes, one in each direction. Parking was also removed as part of the detour that was created for the Bemidji Ave. reconstruction. When the detour ended, the City chose to put the striping back the way it is today: two driving lanes and calendar parking on either side.

With the reconstruction project, the community has a chance to make the key route more user friendly for bicyclists and pedestrians. Should we
A.) Ban parking on Irvine and paint (5-6' wide) bike lanes on each side? or
B.) Ban parking on Irvine and paint a center turn lane and two driving lanes, one in each direction?

Some pros and cons that I thought of:
A.) Option A is the bike friendly option. Painting bike lanes has the subconscious effect of narrowing the road, which slows traffic. It also alerts drivers to the presence of bicyclists. This option works well for more confident bike riders, but not necessarily for families with children.
B.)Option B is the vehicle friendly option. Widening the road tends to speed up traffic. With a continuous turn lane, drivers don't have to slow down for cars turning left and naturally speed up. Bicyclists can ride with the traffic, but this only works for highly confident riders.

The picture at right shows a blue painted bike lane in Europe.

How we paint the road depends on our goal: slow traffic and improve bike safety with marked routes or move traffic unimpeded from 23rd Street to 3rd Street and let bicyclists ride with the traffic flow. If you care about this issue, I hope you will share your opinion about this issue, either here or by calling city hall.