Submitted by BmoreCityDOT t3_z8379t in baltimore
A great group of people we are fortunate to have the support of. 🥰
I think I met one of the owners at the MDOT presentation up in Lutherville, he spoke well in favor of rapid transit improvements in the north-south corridor. He was heckled by the geriatrics who are terrified of minorities moving into their neighborhoods, but he spoke well nonetheless. I’m encouraged to see small wins like this as it gives me hope that the big improvements will come - the cancelation of the red line really made me feel cynical about any actual (non-car focused) improvements in the city.
Amsterdam started shifting to a bike and pedestrian centric transit method 30-40 years ago when they were going bankrupt from car centric infrastructure. Automobile centric infrastructure is a MAJOR drain on resources as road user taxes and fees are a drop in the bucket compared to the true cost for road building and maintenance. If the US were just able to print how much ever currency they wanted, we’d be in the same boat as the Netherlands. This doesn’t even take into account the environmental impact cars and heavy trucks have (regardless of propulsion.)
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The green looks horrendous
It's clearly needed. Cars are consistently parked in the bike lanes of the areas that aren't painted (between Fleet and Eastern).
The Roland Ave project could have been, and should have been the standard to follow. It’s idiot proof and doesn’t look like someone puked on the pavement. The sign that says it’s the law to stop for pedestrians the sits in the middle of the road works for me every time on eastern. Painting a cross walk green and stoping the use of that sign is mental.
Also… Rapid transit development? The project took six years!! To paint a fucking bike lane on the road?!?
A standard bike lane next to parked cars that kills bicycle riders and increases crossing distance for pedestrians resulting in them being hit and killed as well is the model that should be followed? Brilliant.
Dropping a yield for peds sign that the city runs out of because they're run over so much is the model? Also brilliant.
We should definitely listen to you and not peer reviewed research on what makes safer streets.
I use Roland Ave all the time and its fine, but its not ideal. If you're doing a design, do it best. The best is a protected bike lane, like Maryland Ave/Cathedral St. The bike lane is on the inside of the street against the curb. Pedestrians use the sidewalk. Cars park in between the bike lane and the flow of traffic. Traffic flows and there is a buffer between cyclists and cars.
Here's a design: https://nacto.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/NACTO-Design-Guide-Burchfield-Chicago.pdf
I drive somedays, but when I can I ride my bike because of the convenience of North South bicycle corridor in Baltimore. The design encouraged my bicycle purchase. I hope it encourages others.
That’s the design I was referring to, protected by the lane of cars. Used to be configured that way, looks like they changed the configuration back to unprotected in 2018
>The Roland Ave project could have been, and should have been the standard to follow.
We do have a standard to follow, Roland Ave is not it. Best practices for this configuration (Bike lane/parking lane/travel lane) puts the parking between the bikes and the cars, then brings the bike lane adjacent to the travel lane prior to any intersection where vehicles could turn toward the cyclists.
>The sign that says it’s the law to stop for pedestrians the sits in the middle of the road works for me every time on eastern.
As someone who walks a bike across Eastern in a crosswalk with one of those signs twice a day, you are a minority. The Boston Street crosswalks with those signs are even less effective than Eastern's.
>Painting a cross walk green and stoping the use of that sign is mental.
Roland Ave also has green paint, it's pretty universal for bike lanes. Until majority of drivers develop some awareness, it helps trigger them to into "that's not normal, maybe I should pay attention".
>Also… Rapid transit development? The project took six years!! To paint a fucking bike lane on the road?!?
The project was a mess to begin with, welcome to the world of design-build. However, it was a full streetscape, along with significant utility work and a stormwater system that carries a full stream.
Damn have you seen all the signs, meters, striping, poles, signals, multiple thousand pound hurtling metal boxes, and more uglier shit on every street in the city?
Or just all the fucking cars everywhere, and all the cement needed to accommodate them. The city is still stuck in the 70s and many of the people that live here are too.
That’s what you’re worried about? The color? It’s eye catching, which is good, because so many motorists are too busy paying attention to other things like their phones or radios.
GreyEcho t1_iyacvwm wrote
Go, Strong Towns Baltimore! Proud to be a co-signer on this.