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| How Speck wanted us to do it (we won’t be). |
This excerpt from Merchant Meeting notes:
Beginning on May 1st the two way street project will begin, no street shut downs, lane changes, and Pavers are out, decorative cross walks are planned, ADA ramps. Dedicated bike lanes on Market and Elm, Market St some shrubs coming out and trees being planted.
Although unmentioned, we’ll assume the Spring Street bike lanes remain on the plan (prospective Spring Street homeowner Duggins wouldn’t stand for it otherwise), and observe that the as-yet-undisclosed design of these lanes will play a large role in what comes next.
Guess what? Actual research supports this observation. Will Team Gahan get this right in the “grid monetization modernization” build-out?
Study: The Quality of Bike Infrastructure Matters, by James Brasuell (Planetizen)
Another study shows what should be obvious by now: the higher quality the bike infrastructure, the better the results in terms of safety and mode choice.
“A new study [pdf] published in the American Journal of Public Health has concluded that physical separation from motor traffic is “crucial” to reducing the higher than average cyclist injury rates seen across the U.S.,” reports Mark Sutton.
SNIP
It is crucial to provide physical separation from fast-moving, high-volume motor vehicle traffic and better intersection design to avoid conflicts between cyclists and motor vehicles. More and better bicycle infrastructure and safer cycling would encourage Americans to make more of their daily trips by bicycle and, thus, help raise the currently low physical activity levels of the US population.
The study’s exhibit A is provided by Minneapolis, where the city “grew its cycle network by 113% between 2000 and 2015, delivering a 79% reduction in severe injuries per 100,000 cycle journeys,” explains Sutton. “This also tallied with a 203% growth in cycling in the areas where safe infrastructure was present.”
