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bike infrastructure at new developments

http://www.austin360.com/recreation/con … tcity.html

Cycling advocates press developers for more bike infrastructure
Sharrows help bikes, motorists to co-exist

By Pamela LeBLanc
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Friday, April 17, 2009

Riding a bicycle saves gas money, keeps you fit and takes cars off the streets. Yet bicycles are still mostly an afterthought when new developments go in.

That's why Austin cyclists are cheering the coming of the city's first shared lane markings, or "sharrows" — icons painted on the street to indicate that bikes and motorists should share the lane. Sharrows are going in at the Domain II, the second phase of the upscale mixed-use development in North Austin, and at a test site on a yet-to-be-determined roadway downtown.

It's a sign, cyclists hope, that planners are starting to seriously consider the needs of cyclists.

"Local development projects have traditionally been plagued with utter disregard for cycling issues," says Lane Wimberley , 44, a computer programmer, bike commuter and member of the League of Bicycling Voters , a nonprofit cycling advocacy group.

Cyclists say better biking infrastructure is necessary to ease tensions between motorists and bikers as the city grows. If cyclists can safely ride in a bike lane, for example, they're less likely to annoy motorists who don't want to get stuck behind a slow-moving bike.

"Ninety-nine percent of the people I encounter on the road are very nice. But there are a lot of people who don't want me in their way. They think they own the road and cyclists don't need to be on it. What we can do is try to ensure we don't create situations that exacerbate that problem," Wimberley says.

That's always been a struggle. "I think the elected leadership in Austin needs to make bicycling a much higher priority, and they need to have the political will to encourage cycling and make it safer," says Rob D'Amico , president of the League.

They point to places such as the Triangle development on Guadalupe Street, which Wimberley says is "a wonderful little island, but the only way to get in it is in a car." The Mueller development isn't much better. Despite crushed gravel paths that weave through the neighborhood, it's tricky to get in and out of the area on a bike. The paths serve recreational cyclists, but not those who use bikes for transportation, they say.

"The big problem is that bicycles and pedestrians are always lowest priority," D'Amico says.

The first phase of the Domain shopping center, which opened in March 2007, was a disappointment to some cyclists, too. Roads accessing the development are intimidating to all but the most experienced cyclists. Bike parking is hard to find and there's no easy east-west route through the complex.

When planning for the Domain's second phase got under way, though, the cyclists got involved. They asked for a two-week delay from the city's planning commission when developers asked for a variance. The reason? Cycling safety.

"I think the reaction of the developers was 'Whoa, where did that come from?' " Wimberley says.

The cyclists pointed out that bike parking was inadequate. The developers added more racks. It was too late in the design process to put in bike lanes, but the developers compromised with sharrows.

"(Sharrows) are an indicator to cyclists that they belong, and indicator to motorists that cyclists will be there and you can just relax," Wimberley says. "At 15 mph, everyone can live peacefully. A lot of it is getting people accustomed to the notion they share the road with bikes."

The results aren't perfect in the cyclists' eyes, but they did represent a small victory. "It's not that (the developers) hate cyclists, it's that they didn't think to consult," Wimberley says.

Sharrows, unlike bike lanes, are relatively inexpensive — mainly the cost of paint and signs. Still, designing a project to accommodate cyclists comes with costs. Bike lanes take land. They add pavement to a development, and the city limits how much impervious cover (areas such as roadways "where infiltration of water into the underlying soil is prevented," according to the EPA).

"Knowing (bike infrastructure) is a priority at the beginning makes it doable," says Steve Drenner, an attorney representing Simon Properties and Endeavor Real Estate Group, which are developing Domain II. The center is due to open before Christmas. "Places where we've gotten input at early stages, I think (bike infrastructure) is a plus, particularly in projects that are mixed use. It's easy to see the benefit that having good bike connectivity can have."

Drenner represents developers of other projects that are incorporating bike-friendly infrastructure. A two-way paved bike path will connect the Pfluger Pedestrian Bridge to Museum Park Plaza and Gables Park Plaza at Lamar Boulevard and Cesar Chavez Street. A mixed-use project by Grayco on East Riverside Drive will include bike lanes and paths, too.

"For most of the projects I've seen, (bike infrastructure) makes the project more sustainable and creates activity," Drenner says. "It should be something that gets a little easier to accommodate as we all begin to understand how bikes live comfortably with cars."

The city of Austin is getting involved, too. It's working with the Center for Transportation Research at the University of Texas to test sharrows and other markings not yet formally accepted in engineering guidelines. They include designated "boxes" at the front of intersections for cyclists, painted lanes to alert motorists that cyclists might be present in high-conflict areas, and signs reminding motorists of cyclists' lawful right to take the center of a lane.

The markings should be installed sometime this summer or early fall in the city's urban core, says Annick Beaudet , the city of Austin's Bicycle & Pedestrian Program coordinator. The goal is to find out if cars or cyclists move to a safer position on the road when the markings are present.

"It's a huge, positive step. It helps with the culture shift, which is what we need to have bicycling considered a more mainstream mode of transportation," Beaudet says.

Beaudet is also spearheading an effort to update the city's bike plan, last updated in 1998. The plan, which outlines where bike lanes, trails and road markings are recommended, and includes enforcement, safety and bicycle education information, is scheduled to go before the city council in late May or early June.

"If we're able to implement all the action items by 2030, we should be a world-class bicycle city," Beaudet says.

For the moment, Austin is a long way from that — although a few improvements have been made recently. Among them? A climbing lane for bikes on South Lamar Boulevard and bike lanes along Exposition Boulevard.

The sharrows, though, will be the biggest step yet.

"It puts us among cities in the United States that are forward thinking in finding solutions for bike facilities," D'Amico says.

Photo captions (some redundant text):

Bike parking at the first Domain phase is at a premium for cyclists such as Marcus Sanford, left , and Lane Wimberley. Developers are adding more racks for the next phases of the development.

Lane Wimberley, right, here at the Domain with Marcus Sanford, is a member of the League of Bicycling Voters, a nonprofit cycling advocacy group that worked with developers of the Domain II to make the mixed-use project more accessible for cyclists.

One of the concerns cyclists had with the first phase of the Domain was that there's no easy east-west route through the complex. 'It's not that (the developers) hate cyclists, it's that they didn't think to consult,' says Wimberley, left.