True or false: Ann Arbor is among the most bike-friendly cities in the U.S.?
According to numerous sources, from
Bicycling Magazine to the
city itself, our 71 miles of bike lanes nudge that statement toward "true." But according to Boulder, CO-based advocacy group
People for Bikes's Vice President of Local Innovation Martha Roskowski, that might not be a measure worthy of much applause.
"There are communities like Ann Arbor and Boulder that have a pretty good network in place already," Roskowski says. "But there is not a city in the U.S. that is better than pretty good for biking. It's places like Ann Arbor that can take the next step and say, 'We want to be good. We want to make biking accessible for broad swath of the population."
What does that mean? It would mean cyclists from elementary school age to senior citizens feeling safe riding from Miller to Arborland along Maple/Stadium/Washtenaw without resorting to sidewalks, or taking Packard to Main St. without having to share a lane with traffic.
It means protected bike lanes.
Protected bike lanes are any cycling track separated from vehicle traffic by a physical barrier, which can take the form of lightweight plastic bollards, cement planters, heavy duty highway barriers or even parked cars. While routes through quiet streets and trails are certainly part of a healthy biking network in a community, Roskowski says for busy streets, there's no better alternative to protected bike lanes.
"For the last 50 years, our one size fits all tool for busy streets has been a bike lane - put down a bike stencil and a painted line and call it good," she says. "Then we sit back and say, it looks like nobody wants to ride bikes because nobody is using those."
Roskowski deems that experiment over. She and People for Bikes have been working with communities to get protected bike lanes installed locally through the
Green Lanes Project. Today, these lanes can be found on Linden Ave. in Seattle, Dearborn St. in Chicago, Guadalupe St. in Austin, among other cities. And according to a recent Portland University study, this experiment is going much better than the last: Ridership increased by bike traffic by an average of 72% among women in the first six cities to participate in the
Green Lanes Project.
"Every single community needs protected bike lanes if they're serious about creating a bike network where people form eight years old to 80 years old can ride confidently," says Roskowski.
How they can work here
While protected bike lanes have been common in Europe for decades, the concept is still unfamiliar in most American cities. What will it take to make them more commonplace, or even a reality here in Ann Arbor? First, it's worth acknowledging that implementing any new transportation infrastructure can be a political and logistical quagmire, not to mention a sloth-like process. Ann Arbor Transportation Program Manager Eli Cooper says that changes to bike lanes are coordinated with the resurfacing of roads, which typically happens even 10 to 15 years for each street. Other considerations include determining how to accommodate the extra space required for the lanes - every foot of roadway is prime real estate, after all — and how parking and traffic will be impacted.
It's also worth pointing out, however, that if Europe, with notoriously narrow streets and centuries-old infrastructure can make it work, our more modern city, with its wide roads, grass strips and wide sidewalks, is certainly up to the challenge. Also on the side of feasibility is the wide variety of ways protected bike lanes can be developed, allowing each community and street to find the best fit.
People for Bikes has assembled an infographic of
14 ways to implement protected bike lanes which range in scope from $10,000 to $8,000,000 per mile. While many cities begin with the lower cost options, says Roskowski, as they experience the success of the lanes - and the maintenance required for easy-to-destroy plastic bollards, for example - they're moving toward more permanent solutions such as concrete curbs, planters or rigid bollards.
"Our advice is for cities to find that sweet spot for a solution that is really going to make a difference, but won't be political suicide," she says. "But if a project is important enough, there is going to be pushback."
That's where leadership becomes among the most important facets of making protected bike lanes possible. Vocal support from both elected officials and community leaders have been key assets in the Green Lane Project cities.
"The difference between community who moves on it and those who don't is leadership," Roskowski says. "It takes someone on high having the courage to say, 'Yes, we need this for our community."
The Ann Arbor Plan
Local bike advocates may be aware that cycle tracks were included in last year's update of
Ann Arbor's Non-Motorized Transportation Plan. And Cooper says these buffered bike lanes are a real possibility for areas of town like Washtenaw Ave., Seventh St. and Ashley St.
"We have been recognized, and are proud of the fact that we are leader within Michigan," says Cooper. "And I think we're going to see [buffered bike lanes] sooner rather than later, but it may not be as prevalent and it may not be as significant as it is in other communities where they have the luxury of having space that's underutilized. The harsh reality is the physical limitations are real."
Though it's hard to imagine that cities like Chicago, Austin, Seattle and New York City have street space to burn, Cooper's comments highlight the difference between protected bike lanes and the buffered bike lanes under discussion for these locations in Ann Arbor. Buffered lanes create a wider stripe, sometimes even two stripes with hashmarks between them, widening the space between cyclists and drivers, but not separating them by a physical barrier. Cooper says that a primary reason for this is the difficulty plowing around a physical barrier like bollards or barrier curbs.
That, says Roskowski, is something other snowy cites, such as Chicago, Minneapolis, Boston and Denver have successfully navigated, revamping their maintenance plans and fleets accordingly.
And, of course, many bike-friendly European cities also contend with snow and have found solutions that accommodate protected lanes. Roskowski sees it as a matter of will rather than ability.
"While buffered bike lanes are certainly easier to plow and they do provide more space between bikes and cars, the painted treatment doesn't provide the level of comfort that is needed to get more people riding," she says. "Once a city decides that these lanes are important, then the maintenance conversation switches from, 'We can't build these because our equipment doesn't fit,' to focusing on how to get the job done."
The benefits of barriers
The numbers argue for getting it done. Not only did the Portland University study find that protected bike lanes increased ridership, it also found that 96% of bikers felt safer on the lanes - and they were. In 168 hours of video containing more than 16,000 bikers and nearly 20,000 turning and merging vehicles, no collisions or near collisions were observed.
And it's not just the bikers who benefitted. Seventy-six percent of those living near protected bike lanes supported them, whether they used them or not, and with decreased riding on sidewalks, pedestrians are happier. Motorists said they made traffic more predictable.
"Most of what motorists don't like about bikers is based on fear," Roskowski says. "They don't know where they're going, they don't know if they're going to stop or not, and they're afraid they're going to hit them."
Will these positive statistics be borne out in Ann Arbor any time soon? Though Cooper warns that their implantation would certainly come with challenges, and certainly lots of planning, the best thing for bike advocates and others to do is to get involved.
"We've made dramatic changes in adding a bicycle lane system into the city and we're going to continue to add on that," he says. "I would ask that the citizens continue to encourage the city to deploy these techniques, to let council know of their interests, and to have patience."
If you're interested in what local bicycle organizations are doing to encourage the implementation of protected bike lanes here are a few you can contact:
Ann Arbor Bicycle Touring Society
Washtenaw Bicycling and Walking Coalition
Focus on Women Bicycle Ride
League of Michigan Bicyclists
Bike Ypsi
And here's a list of the top ten U.S. cities for protected bike lanes.
Natalie Burg is a freelance writer, development news editor for Concentrate and IMG project editor.
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All photos by Doug Coombe except where indicated