Bike Decatur Looking For Feedback on Suitability Map
Decatur Metro | May 16, 2011
The Be Active Decatur blog just posted this “Decatur Bicycle Suitability Map” developed by the Bike Decatur folks indicating the “suitability” of different roads and intersections for bikes inside the city limits. According to the Be Active blog, this draft will be updated with the location of bike racks and water fountains before its finalized and published.
Take a look and send your suggestions and edits to .
Thanks for helping to get the word out DM. We look forward to having bikers give their input.
I don’t mean to impugn the effort, but I get limited use from the design-for-print incarnations. I would approach a digital offering differently – separating concerns, for example.
Couldn’t help notice that at least two of the “difficult” intersections are ones Dekalb Public Works consistently misadjusts in order to ignore bikes.
Maybe deliberate traps like that could have their own symbol. Like Roscoe P. Coltrane lyin’ in wait with his ticket book ready.
Hills, lines of sight, and, yes, ornery traffic signals were taken into consideration.
A group of us have been working on this draft bicycle suitability map for a number of months and everyone involved is really hoping cyclists will provide their input on what we’ve come up with. Nothing is set in stone – this is a first look at how the Decatur streets “might” be graded for cycling use. There is a more detailed map of the downtown area (& Oakhurst) that shows currely available bike racks, water fountains, etc. but it still needs a bit of work.
Please email Bike Decatur your comments as you cycle Decatur this summer. While the review is in progress, Bike Decatur members will be working with the Active Living folks to design the rest of the map piece.
As for a digital offering, I’m sure it will be available on-line for printing, but I doubt you’ll see a Google type offering. But then again, a lot of cyclists like to carry a map with them, especially if they are exploring new parts of the area.
Please consider all the students who are rolling to school! Especially those who have to roll across the tracks to get to Fifth Avenue, Renfroe, or DHS.
Sure, pile on the concerns… like curb cut counts, shady places to stop, curbside commerce, and problematic puddle spots… to name a few.
Why doesn’t the legend indicate what the red lines mean? I’m assuming those mean “super dangerous” or “don’t even think about biking here”.
For a full version of both draft maps, please visit: https://sites.google.com/site/decaturbikemap/
The red lines indicate roads with a lot of traffic.
Thanks for the comments. They made me catch two typos – there is no red line indicator in the legend – looks like the color got left off. And they are out of sequence. The MARTA station symbol should be one line lower.
sadly I am terrified to bike in Decatur. I live on Church Street and would love to bike to the square. It is better where the parking lanes are but it ts still to scarey. I know this is about this specific map but just wanted to mention the overall scary-ness of biking around here.