In the morning, heading west on Brookland Park Blvd. at the intersection with Brook, when the light is red, some drivers are sitting in the right-turn-only lane, and instead of turning right, when the light turns green, they race across Brook Rd. and drive down the bike lane on Brookland Park Blvd., eventually cutting back into the car lane. They are doing this to avoid getting caught in the long line of traffic backed up in the center lane at the light.
There are also regularly cars driving in the bike lane heading east on Brookland Parkway.
The best solution would probably be to get rid of the new bike lanes and revert back to two car lanes in each direction. The existing shoulder could potentially be turned into a bike lane if needed, although it's not clear how useful a dedicated bike lane will be, as I have yet to see a single bike riding in the new bike lanes.
As an alternative, maybe remove a block of the new bike lane heading east on Brookland Parkway from Brook Rd. That would allow two lanes of traffic to cross over Brook Rd., which would alleviate the traffic backup at the Brook Rd. traffic light in the morning. After crossing over Brook Rd., the two lanes could merge into one further down the block.
I don't think that the bike lanes have been given a fair chance. The few cyclists I've seen have been way over on the shoulder to the right of the bike lane, but I don't blame them, given how new this setup is, plus the fact that cars are still frequently using those lanes. I think that changing the timing of the lights could be helpful, and warnings could be issued to people who are driving their cars in the bike lanes.
The problem with increasing the green light time heading west across Brook Rd. is that makes things worse for traffic going north/south on Brook Rd., as the red lights in those directions (which are already fairly long) will be even longer.
Your concern has been received and forwarded to the Department of Public Works so that proper inspection and handling can take place accordingly. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us at 804-646-7000. We appreciate your communication that helps us in “Building The Best Richmond” together.
There is an MPACT community meeting scheduled for Thursday, February 19th, at 6 p.m. in the library of Linwood Holton Elementary School (1600 W Laburnam Ave) at which the City's Bicycle and Trails Coordinator and an Ops Manager from Public WOrks will be available to address bike lane related concerns. Thank you- Matt Toner, MPACT Coordinator, matthew.toner@richmondgov.com
7 Commentos
Anonymous (Ospite)
In the morning, heading west on Brookland Park Blvd. at the intersection with Brook, when the light is red, some drivers are sitting in the right-turn-only lane, and instead of turning right, when the light turns green, they race across Brook Rd. and drive down the bike lane on Brookland Park Blvd., eventually cutting back into the car lane. They are doing this to avoid getting caught in the long line of traffic backed up in the center lane at the light.
There are also regularly cars driving in the bike lane heading east on Brookland Parkway.
The best solution would probably be to get rid of the new bike lanes and revert back to two car lanes in each direction. The existing shoulder could potentially be turned into a bike lane if needed, although it's not clear how useful a dedicated bike lane will be, as I have yet to see a single bike riding in the new bike lanes.
As an alternative, maybe remove a block of the new bike lane heading east on Brookland Parkway from Brook Rd. That would allow two lanes of traffic to cross over Brook Rd., which would alleviate the traffic backup at the Brook Rd. traffic light in the morning. After crossing over Brook Rd., the two lanes could merge into one further down the block.
Anonymous (Ospite)
Un utente anonimo SeeClickFix (Utente registrato)
Anonymous (Ospite)
Edgy (Utente registrato)
Riconosciuto City of Richmond (Utente registrato)
Chiusa Matthew Toner (Utente registrato)