Network of bike lanes included in capital improvement package greenlighted by council Tuesday
By Damian Mann for Ashland.news
Protected bike lanes on key Ashland streets will be safer, encourage more people to embrace pedal power and lead to less carbon emissions, cycling enthusiasts told the City Council Tuesday night.
“The more people you get riding bikes, the more people you get off the road,” said Lisa Brill, president of the Siskiyou Velo Club.
Around 40 cyclists gathered in the Ashland Plaza Tuesday evening in the Ashland Climate Collaborative’s “Ride for Safe Streets and The Climate” event and pedaled their way to the council chambers to underscore the need for protected bike lanes.
On a 5-1 vote, with Councilor Gina DuQuenne casting the “no” vote, the council approved a capital improvement plan for a number of projects, one of which includes the creation of protected bike lanes that would be constructed during repaving projects on Oak Street, Hersey Street, North Mountain Avenue, Siskiyou Boulevard and Ashland Street.
Protected bike lanes provide a physical barrier between the cyclist and adjacent cars.
The city identified other streets that also could be candidates for protected lanes in the future, including Crowson Road, Tolman Creek Road, Walker Street, Wightman Street, Lithia Way and Main Street. Portions of some of these streets are owned by Jackson County or the Oregon Department of Transportation.
A number of streets currently don’t have adequate width to provide a protected lane under conventional vehicle lane standards. Lithia Way and North Main through the downtown have too many vehicles to safely create a shared-lane treatment, according to the city.
Bicycle boulevards are also in the works, though the city would need additional grants to see them completed.
The two potential bicycle boulevards include B Street, from Oak to North Mountain, and Eighth Street, from A Street to East Main Street
More long term, the city is looking at a vast network of bike lanes on many major streets. The plans also include creation of lanes that would provide safer access to local schools.
Brill said safer routes for bikes will translate into less bike versus vehicle collisions.
“I hope this happens in Ashland and I hope this happens up and down the Rogue Valley,” she said.
The creation of the lanes would offer cyclists more separation from vehicles and also could be accomplished during the course of city repaving projects. Ashland Street is already teed up for a protected bike lane lane as part of an upcoming paving project.
To properly maintain narrow bike lanes, the city is looking at the purchase of a small street sweeper that would fit into a narrow protected bike lane to remove hazardous debris that could cause an accident.
Ashland resident Gary Shaff, also with the Ashland Climate Collaborative, told the council that it needs to take a leadership role in pushing through the network of protected bike lanes that he estimates could cut annual carbon emissions from transportation in the city by one-third.
“We all acknowledge the Earth is in a bad place,” he said. “What can Ashland do in response to this crisis we face?”
He said protected bike lanes have been on the city’s wish list for a while but haven’t been realized despite the city’s concerns about carbon emissions.
“Good plans don’t translate into good outcomes without the leadership of the City Council,” Shaff said.
The city of Talent is the closest city with a protected bike lane, he said.
After the meeting, Shaff said he was heartened by the city’s resolve to install protected bike lanes on key streets.
“I’m pretty confident the city will build those protected bike lanes on these streets in the Capital Improvement Plan,” he said.
He said protected bike lanes, once they provide a sufficient network to get around the city, would increase the number of cyclists on the streets. A protected bike lane generally involves a concrete separation from cars as well as other signage and reflective devices.
Scott Fleury, Ashland public works director, said he’s confident the protected bike lanes will be installed as the city takes on repaving projects on certain streets.
He said the city will attempt to put in physical barriers where possible, with some kind of reflective devices to alert motorists.
Driveway access points, which are numerous along Ashland Street, would prevent installation of a continuous physical barrier, he said.
Bicycle boulevards such as B or A streets would have reduced speed limits and other traffic calming measures, Fleury said.
The details of how the streets would provide protective barriers or calming measures are still being worked out, he said.
Reach freelance writer Damian Mann at [email protected].
