Board,
Another chance to comment on an imminent project. What types of facilities (if any) do you all envision on the streets below? I’ve split up the streets tentatively included in our 2019 paving plans into three categories: those already present in our spine network, those not present but which maybe should be (according to my judgement), and those not present that probably should remain not on the network (again, according to my judgement). Please review the list of streets below and send me your thoughts. Below the list is a series of related considerations.
Note:** indicates both sides on-street parking; * indicates one side on-street parking
Included in our current bicycle spine network as significant:
**Green
*Wilson (Grand to Lyndhurst)
**Baldwin
*Krepps (not paving, but installation of sidewalk)
Evansdale Dr (University to just before where the Zip Cars are parked in front of Bennet Tower)
Rawley Ave (Evansdale to Oakland)
*Grove St (not in paving plan yet but we’re advocating for its inclusion)
*Cornell (also not in paving plan yet and about the steepest on the spine network)
Not included in current spine network but maybe should be:
*Kingwood (Deckers Ave to Brockway)
**Decker’s Ave (Ped Bridge to Kingwood, and maybe all the way to Pennsylvania – kingwood to penn has no on-street parking)
North St (we are building a sidewalk here)
Falling Run (Protzman to dead end, this could be access to Falling Run Trails?)
Kirk St (University to Spruce)
Spruce St (Kirk to Pleasant St)
**East Brockway Ave. (Route 7 to White Ave – parking is only near )
Not included in spine network and maybe should stay that way:
Listravia
Sturgiss St. (below funeral home)
Avalon St.
Jacobs St.
Since we installed the sharrows, we have been hearing from people both within and outside our cycling community that believe they aren’t going far enough to encourage cycling – and the national consensus continues to be mixed on their effectiveness. We haven’t done any formal studies here so we don’t know how they are affecting our environment (Are they increasing the number of cyclists? Are they helping existing cyclists to cycle more frequently or longer distances? Are they increasing motorist awareness? Are they making people feel safer? Are they actually improving measurable safety performance?).
We haven’t received anything but positive reviews of the two bike lanes we installed, both within and outside our community.
The cost of both facilities is more than we had anticipated but is roughly comparable and reasonable to include in our plans if warranted. Cost might go down over time as our contractors become used to installing the facilities.
Thanks for your time and consideration!
-Drew
Drew Gatlin
Staff Engineer
389 Spruce St., Rm. 24
Morgantown, WV 26505
Office: (304) 284-7411
Cell: (304) 719-7900
Fax: (304) 284-7409