Home » Accidents » Road Design Accident »

Plans call for bikeways on new roads

Jul 15, 2010 | Marcus Green | The Louisville Courier-Journal

City officials want to pave the way for making Louisville streets safer with a plan called Complete Streets that considers pedestrians and bicyclists as well as vehicles.

When new streets are built, they will have dedicated lanes for bicyclists and sidewalks and curbs accessible to wheelchairs and baby strollers.

When existing roads are repaved, they will include bike paths and sidewalks where possible. 

Cooper Chapel Road in southeastern Jefferson County is an example of a project the city will tackle using elements of "Complete Streets." Plans call for sidewalks and on-road bike lanes to be added from near Preston Highway to Smyrna Parkway.

Precious Johnson, who lives with her husband and two children in the Timberbend subdivision near Cooper Chapel Road, likes the idea of making the road more bicycle-friendly. Lots of children ride bicycles in the neighborhoods there, but Johnson said the narrow road is too dangerous to accommodate cars and bike riders.

"They need to do something, so that would be great if they could extend it and make room for cyclists," she said.

Louisville will be among a growing number of cities adopting Complete Streets. The plan will be introduced to the planning commission today.Charles Cash, director of Louisville Metro Planning & Design, said the city's plan is particularly important for new developments.

"You have to think about that at the time of construction, so that folks who are going to live there or live close by have alternative means of getting where they want to go," Cash said.

The policy would put into practice goals identified in Cornerstone 2020, the city's comprehensive development plan. Complete Streets was drafted by a group representing public transit, people with disabilities and activists for different neighborhoods in Louisville.

The result is a 163-page manual that offers design guidelines for Louisville's roadways, from downtown streets to rural roads, and requires planners to include enough room for on-road bike lanes and paths that cyclists and pedestrians can share.

"For decades, we in Louisville - and cities around the nation - have built roads only for vehicles," Mayor Jerry Abramson said in a statement. "That was an urban planning mistake. The complete streets policy will help rectify that."

The policy could be attached to the land development code, or it may require Metro Council approval, Cash said. The planning commission's planning committee will be briefed on it today, with a full presentation scheduled for April 12.

"Complete Streets" was among a series of goals to make the city more bicycle-friendly as outlined during a Louisville bike summit two years ago. Other goals include projects such as a greenway along the Ohio River.

The city recently announced that $1 million in federal funds will be used to start planning a seven-mile bikeway along River Road, from near Zorn Avenue to U.S. 42.
"Bike paths and bike lanes are good because they inform drivers that, yes, bicyclists are legitimate transportation users just like car drivers," said David Morse, a cycling advocate.

Across the country, 22 cities have adopted "Complete Streets" guidelines recognized by the Thunderhead Alliance, a national nonprofit organization made up of local bicycle and pedestrian advocacy groups.

Policies along the West Coast have been effective, said Morse, who lived in Los Angeles and the San Francisco bay area from 1995 to 2002.
"There's a bicycle commuter culture there, and there's so many people bicycling," he said.

Cycling is an emphasis of the Louisville policy - but it also requires features that will make it easier for people with disabilities to access roads and sidewalks.
In many cases, said Tommy Clark, Metro government's disabilities coordinator, sidewalks are barriers to people who use wheelchairs.

"That's basically a useless sidewalk," Clark said. "With this manual it makes it a usable sidewalk for people with disabilities - people in a wheelchair - or a family that's pushing a baby stroller."

Officials aren't estimating how much it will cost to apply the policy's guidelines.
"In the bigger picture, it is a relatively minor addition in terms of the cost. It is also minor in terms of the addition of the right-of-way," which would be 5 to 15 percent wider, said Mohammad Nouri, the city's assistant transportation services director.

For existing streets, Nouri and Cash say, elements of "Complete Streets" would be done on a case-by-case basis. They acknowledge that it may be difficult to improve some streets but point to examples such as recent bike lanes added to Third Street downtown.

The policy recommends various types of access for cyclists - whether it's sharing wider traffic lanes, using dedicated bike lanes or multipurpose paths off the road - depending on the character of different city neighborhoods.

The policy was developed with broad input, but officials say there will be several public hearings before any action is taken to approve it.
"There will be plenty of time for public input," Cash said.

Reporter Marcus Green can be reached at (502) 582-4675.