Painting the Streets
Decatur Metro | June 25, 2009
AJC Photo
Roswell has begun painting “bike boxes” at city intersections, after their director of transportation saw them on a visit to Portland, Oregon.
What is a “bike box”? From the AJC…
Bike boxes are designated spots where cyclists can wait at the front of the line for traffic lights, making them more visible to motorists. The Roswell bike box has a narrow green lane that leads cyclists up to the box and guides them in making a left turn onto Riverside Road.
Is this something Decatur could do? As the AJC noted, “bike boxes and sharrows don’t cost much, just a few cans of paint, so more are coming.”
Latest from Decaturish
In the same vein, I ran across this:
http://www.lightlanebike.com/index.html
yesterday. Anything we can do to improve the safety and reduce the stress of intown biking is worth a look. Check out the demo for the LightLane. It’s pretty cool.
Too bad they aren’t in production.
I’ve always felt that my bike needed laser beams.
I can’t think of an intersection in Decatur where the box would be a drastic improvement for cyclists. Maybe Ponce and Commerce, or McDonough and College? I don’t normally feel threatened when turning at intersections though.
In my view the best thing that Decatur could do for cyclists is adjust the traffic light sensors to detect when bicycles are waiting at a red light. I know this is possible because Seattle (where I previously lived) did it. Heck, there are some lights in Decatur, like at Ponce at Sycamore, where even my car will not trip the sensor. A faster light cycle at Sycamore to cross Commerce, a popular bike route, would be great too. Decatur could make these changes even more cheaply.
Another thing Decatur could do for cyclists would be to remove the highly dangerous traffic calming devices from Ponce. Here the street is narrow enough to begin with, and you’ve made it even more narrow with bulb outs and islands. Often as a cyclist I must choose between riding close to the parked cars and risk a negligent parker open his door into me, or riding out further and risk that an impatient driver behind me try to squeeze around me on the left.
I appreciate thinking of how to make Decatur better for cyclists. But I think Roswell is different with it’s wide, five-lane roads. There the boxes and bike lanes are easier to install and make a bigger difference.
Keep in mind that Decatur traffic signals are maintained by DeKalb County, and my opinion of them is below the water line, so I doubt if they would ever be able to get that adjustment done.
Len
I echo your sentiments on this topic esp re the Ponce “throttles”. Decatur’s deliberate use of bicyclists as living speed bumps came as a shock to me when they were first installed. Now I feel like I am leading the anger parade when I ride through town.
Bike boxes may help drivers remember to leave room on the right when stopping at intersections. But where is there enough room?
Very interesting. It sure makes the bike lane visible!
Anything our City government can do to encourage alternative means of transporation would be appreciated. And this one does not require a city expenditure! According to an article I found from the link, even painting a bike lane is nearly $60,000 a Km. There are so many great ideas being implemented here in the US and around the world.
We should paint bike boxes throughout Decatur. If it saves one life it’s worth it. We need to do everything we can to keep the streets safe for bikers…
I am all for these bike boxes, and anyone who’s an avid bike rider or observes groups of bike riders in this city can tell you that busy streets turning onto College Ave., and College Ave itself are prime places for bike boxes, especially Sams Crossing (is that inside Decatur?). I don’t know if they’re feasible given state road/county road rules, but they would sure be a great safety benefit along the east-west bike corridors that College Ave and Howard Ave are–most serious cyclists do not use the bike path, and there are lots of them, often traveling in groups.
I’m not sure what a serious cyclist is but I use the bike path every day commuting from Decatur to GSU. At least I did for three years until I graduated a few weeks ago. But If you mean that the bike path is more dangerous than the road then I might agree that’s true at the railroad crossing and the gas station. Especially at the gas station.
I’m rarely on College so I don’t know if bike boxes would help there. But it seems that they would not be useful unless there is both enough room on the right hand side for a bike lane (so that you can lawfully get to the front of traffic) and the danger of getting hit by people making right hand turns.
Would like them if they are used properly. Seems about half of the bikers around here think the traffic laws do not apply to them. They want rights of the road but only when it benefits them. Many DO NOT stop at stop signs or traffic lights. Love it when I see responsible riders complying and riding safely.
Amen, Rebecca.
If I remember correctly a grad student worked with the city a few years ago and came up with recommendations to make Decatur more bike friendly. I never did hear much about what her recommendations were and if the city acted on any. It is my understanding that Trinity Pl and Church would be getting dedicated bike lanes over the next 2-3 years. Maybe someone can refresh my memory on what’s actually going to happen.
I remember that too as well as some meetings on the subject. Maybe it was backburnered due to the economic nosedive.
Unfortunately, “Bike Friendly” requires a heck of a lot more than painting some stripes and boxes on existing asphalt. Reconfiguring the streetscape (yet again) to better serve peds and cyclists is a daunting design challenge especially when you start out with confined setbacks.
“Bike lanes” are of dubious benefit and likely hazard creator when you actually use them. As a longtime cycle commuter, I’d be very happy with efforts on better designed/built roads, enforcement and training for ALL road users. But that’s a state issue.
Decatur’s use of pavers to delineate crosswalks al la Amsterdam is a very smart start. I’d like to see a lot more of that. They could also add bike facility requirements for local permits etc. Then I wouldn’t have to chain my rig to the street furniture.
The city has done a few things to make Decatur more bike friendly. There is now a bike parking ordinance in place that specifies the location and style of rack – the recently renovated Glenlake pool is a good example. There are a number of racks out front by the main entrance. The City Commission approved the Community Transportation Plan about a year ago and it contains recommendations that Church Street and perhaps Commerce Dr. be narrowed and bike lanes added. The temporary lane narrowing and parking on Church by the park was done to help with parking during the park’s closing for renovation and also as a trial run for the Church St. proposal. There are a lot more bike & ped recommendations in the plan as well. Folks ought to take a look at it – the plan is posted on the City website.
Decatur has a Transportation Enhancements (TE) grant to do a road diet on W. Ponce from the Fernbank bridge entrance to the post office. W. Ponce will go from 4 lanes to 3 and bike lanes and on street parking will be added. The bike lanes will turn down Trinity and stop at City Hall. It has taken forever to get GDOT to approve the plans, but it appears that we have finally gotten the go-ahead.
Roswell is definitely doing some bike friendly things. I know their Transportation Director Steve Acenbrak very well and he is committed to these kinds of efforts. Their Mayor Jere Wood is also active in cycling issues. Decatur recently applied to the League of American Bicyclists for a Bicycle Friendly Community designation and we received an Honorable Mention. Roswell got a Bronze a few years ago and is going for a Silver.
However, Roswell has a much bigger budget than Decatur and their own transportation department so they are able to jump on things that we can’t. But we’re working on it.
I agree with Len, as a regular biker through Decatur my biggest frustration are the lights that are not set off by a bicycle. Many cities are using motion sensor detection traffic lights with much sucess. Maybe the City could experiment with one of these.
I roll my wheels carefully over the cuts where the sensor coils were inserted. I haven’t had problems tripping any lights within Decatur this way. Now when they resurface the stopping area like they did at Sycamore and Ponce, all bets are off.
How can we ensure the the sensor wire is marked for cyclists after recoating?
Commissioner Boykin, Thanks for the update on Decatur’s bike plans.
I must say that the narrowing (temp parking) on Church near the pool has calmed the traffic down considerably. I walked the kids along there last weekend to the pool with no concerns. I’m glad this is being considered as a test run for a permanent narrowing. Any chance Scott Blvd may be in line for some calming?
I have a philisophical conflict with bike lanes. Demarking a special lane does remind drivers that bicyclists are expected and considered road users. They can generate a feeling of security to encourage inexperienced cyclists. They can narrow the percieved lane width and slow speeds down.
However, they also foster dangerous assumptions about where a cyclist “belongs” on the street. My experience with the Edgewood lanes is that they create dangerous right-hook situations at intersections that would not exist if the cyclist took the lane at those points. The Edgewood lanes also run right through the “door zone” of on street parking which is lethal. I have yet to see an American implementation of a bike lane that is safer than riding the street without one. I look forward to Decatur’s efforts at being successful in this regard.
Calming Scott Blvd? I look forward to that. It probably will be difficult to do since it is a state highway. Until we get a change in state government leadership, and new leaders actually interested in urban problems.
I find the potential clash between peds and cyclists on street layout interesting.
99% of the time, their common enemy, the car, unites these two factions tightly. But when it comes to blub-outs and narrowing streets, apparently cyclists view pedestrians as the issue. That seems somewhat counter-productive in the larger fight against reigning in the car (which both factions benefit from).
There’s an interesting clash that exists in the biking community and, for the most part, every cyclist aligns with one side or the other.
The first wants increased lane space or separated biking lanes to accommodate cyclists, even though wider lanes and greater perceived “wiggle room” result in increased speeds and reduced caution among drivers.
The other wants more humane streets, more compact and engineered for lower vehicle speed, even though this requires cars and cyclists to share a more confined area. The reasoning being that, all things considered, it’s better to be out there with cars driving a little slower and more cautiously, even if it requires more mutual sharing.
Both sides have their pluses and minuses. The problem in Decatur, and many other places, is streets engineered for higher speeds but no accommodation for cyclists. Then, no one wins but cars.
This dichotomy of views was demonstrated to me last night in a dinner conversation. My friend from Roswell was telling me of his experience with the pleasant bike paths and nature trails available in the area and asked about the Path system in the Decatur/ Stone Mountain area. I mentioned the efforts to make Decatur “bike friendly” and this confused him a little. “Isn’t there already a bike path going through Decatur?” He asked. I said bike friendly infrastructure has extremely little to do with a linear park system. Bike parks are very nice for recreation but don’t really go anywhere practical in an efficient manner (nor should they).
He understood that I’ve cycle commuted about 90 miles a week in and around Atlanta for several years. However, the practical details of using a bicycle for anything but recreation never occurred to him. I suspect the majority of Americans think of “bike friendly works” as expensive linear parks for a small segment of users. We should be careful that communications on this topic keep the two concepts separated.
Some comments. The issues with pedestrians and cyclists arise because of street design – they’re configured primarily for moving vehicles. Things work okay for pedestrians when there are sidewalks along the roadway, but life gets difficlut for cyclists because almost all roads in this state fail to make allowances for bicycles. Nationally, folks are working on a Complete Streets policy where the roadway is designed for all users and various travel modes are intregrated from the start of the design. Retrofitting room for cyclists and/or adding sidewalks is a major expense in almost all cases. And when that happens, conflicts arise between the needs of cyclists and pedestrians.
Mayor Floyd and I are strong proponents for Complete Streets. In fact, he recently went to DC as part of a panel to brief Congressional staff in support of the policy. Decatur has a supporting section in its Community Transportation Plan too. I’m on the Transportation Policy Committee for the GA. Municipal Association and we just passed (& GMA accepted) a Complete Streets policy at the state conference in Savannah last week.
As for the road sensors at traffic lights. Unfortunalely, Decatur does not maintain traffic signals in the City, DeKalb County does – and all issues must be addressed by them – signal timing, crosswalk buttons, roadway sensors, etc. The City has pointed out to them the need to calibrate (and maintain) sensors so they notice cyclists, but we are in the early stages of this process. DeKalb is supposed to do a major overhaul of traffic signals in the county (countdown timers, enhanced crosswalk buttons, better sensors, etc.) but funding is extremely tight and Decatur is a complex system and a lot of our equipment is out of date (thus costly to replace) – so I’m not sure when the changes will finally start.
As for bike lanes, shared lanes, etc. I ride most anywhere (including Clairemont) – places my wife and daughter would never feel comfortable cycling. That’s the point – to have an effective network that accomodates users of all skill levels, you need a variety of options. If you want beginners, casual cyclists, communters, kids riding to school, etc., you have to provide some travel options where they can use routes that feel comfortable, safe, and accommodating to them. So you need a mixture to make the system work.
Fred: So the traffic lights are the responsibility of the county government, and the Scott Blvd nightmare is an issue only state government can address. What we really need is great elected officials like you and Mayor Floyd to be elected to county and state political offices!
Almost hit 2 bikers this morning who were not obeying road rules. I was stopped at a stop sign w/ my blinker on to turn. As I began my turn, they ignored the stop sign as they were coming from the other way, and went right thru it w/o stopping and almost plowed right into my car. When I honked at them, their faces were amazed as if they didn’t do anything wrong. Bikers, if you want respect on the road and to be treated as a viable vehicle sharing the road w/ cars then you MUST obey the same rules of the road a car does!
Almost was hit by a cager in a ford F350 yesterday that was not obeying the road rules. I was pedaling uphill on Coventry when the cager on a cell phone ignored the stop sign and almost plowed into my body. When I yelled “whoa” at him he honked angrily and gave me the finger and looked amazed as if he didn’t do anything wrong. Cagers, if you want respect on the road and to be treated as a viable vehicle sharing the road w/ bikes then you MUST obey the same rules of the road a bike does!
Yes, it goes both ways for sure. Many cars drive haphazardly. Touche
Most folks who ride bikes also drive cars and most everyone walks sometimes. I have observed stop sign behavior for rollthroughs and honestly, very few cars ever stop at stop signs either. I suspect these drivers are the same people running stop signs when they’re on bikes and thus more visible/unusual to observers.
We’re all just folks just trying to move around and go about our business. We have laws and police to enforce them. I suggest complaints about stop sign runners should go to them. I can’t think anyone (whether they’re riding or driving at that moment) could complain about a fair enforcement of the law.
This new WHO report might be of interest to all commenting here:
“Pedestrians, cyclists among main road traffic crash victims
Half of 1.27 million people who die in road traffic crashes every year are pedestrians, motorcyclists and cyclists, finds new WHO study.”
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2009/road_safety_report_20090615/en/index.html
Cagers– 1
Cyclists– 0