Description
The bike lanes on Peace Street and also on Clark Avenue are too narrow. These lanes are as narrow as 38" in some places, which is considered substandard by any bicycle facility guidance. In other places, the lanes are closer to but still less than 48".
AASHTO states that on extremely constrained, low volume roadways with curbs but no gutter, where the preferred bike lane witdthcannot be achived despite narrowing all other travel lanes to their minimum widths, a 4 foot bike lane can be used (AASHTO Guide to Bicycle Facilities, 2011).
More should be done to accommodate bicyclists on Peace and Clark, especially with increased density coming to the area. With the depressions due to the storm drains and motor vehicle volumes, bike lanes of at least 5 ft should be considered on this roadway.
Additionally, there is a poor transition between the bike lanes on Clark Ave and Peace St -- where the bicycle lane hugs the curb but doesn't align with
18 Comments
Lauren Ramsey (Registered User)
I have see/click/fixed this before as well. The narrow/slanted lanes are made especially dangerous by the enormous amount of leaves (which become a slippery death trap anytime it rains) and road debris that fill up the lanes most of the time. I remember last year one of the houses between Johnson St. and St Mary's St had a pile of cut tree branches that overflowed from their curb into the east-bound bike lane for over a month, rendering the lane completely useless, and causing cyclists to bob out into traffic to avoid them.
I always opt to ride in traffic rather than these hazardous wasteful lanes, and unless someone is going to repave them to make them level and wider, I think Peace St should just have sharrows.
Lauren Ramsey (Registered User)
Joe B (Registered User)
Casper (Registered User)
I also opt to take the lane while heading east on Clark and Peace, which is a rather fast moving segment. Narrow lanes and debris buildup often make for very unsafe conditions in the bike lane.
Motorists tend to get aggressive near the Clark/Peace junction, and often pass very close and unsafely in this area. I've been buzzed many times here, most likely due to what I expect is anger that I am in the right of way instead of the hazardous bike lane...very unfortunate.
An anonymous SeeClickFix user (Registered User)
ervington (Registered User)
Acknowledged City of Raleigh 3 (Verified Official)
Evan Kane (Registered User)
An anonymous SeeClickFix user (Registered User)
City of Raleigh 3 (Verified Official)
alliebonk (Guest)
Agree with original poster. This is an awkward stretch for bikers, walkers and drivers alike. Weird intersection, narrow/absent/disjointed sidewalks/bike lanes.
On a related note, I would also like to see the "open" space that is Edna Metz Wells park have some trees removed, particularly around the creek running through.
An anonymous SeeClickFix user (Registered User)
george (Guest)
City of Raleigh 3 (Verified Official)
City of Raleigh 3 (Verified Official)
Closed City of Raleigh 3 (Verified Official)
Debris in the bicycle lane is an issue we are working with our street maintenance division to address. The biggest challenge is the limited budget of the street sweeping program. We will continue to seek additional funding sources to develop a sweeping program specifically for bicycle facilities, separate from the street sweeping program.
We understand that Clark Ave and Peace St provide critical access to NCSU, Cameron Village and Downtown. The City is currently working on a Cameron Village Small Area Plan and we encourage you to get involved in the planning process to discuss how bicycle access and connectivity could be improved. For more information on the plan and to get involved, go to: http://www.raleighnc.gov/business/content/PlanDev/Articles/LongRange/CameronVillagePlan.html
Evan Kane (Registered User)
Thanks for the reply.
I understand about the limited budget for street sweeping. But the debris problem here isn't one that street sweeping is intended to fix. The problems affecting this bike lane could effectively be addressed by more and faster enforcement of existing city rules about placing debris in the street, along with much more public education about debris in the street. Too many residents simply don't know they are not supposed to put garbage/recycling carts, branches, leaves, etc in the street. And when violations are pointed out to the offending resident, the time given to correct them is far too lenient.
As for the width of the lanes, does the city now have a standard for requiring that all future bike lanes be established at 6 feet wide? Or, barring that, a revised standard that measures bike lane width from the inside edge of the gutter?
City of Raleigh 3 (Verified Official)
BPAC has an active item in their bicycle planning committee to review these design standards. Their next meeting is scheduled on July 15 at 6:30pm in room 303 of the Raleigh Municipal Building. The public is encouraged to attend to participate in the review process. More info on BPAC can be found here: http://www.raleighnc.gov/business/content/BoardsCommissions/Articles/BicyclePedestrianAdvisoryCommission.html