 On July 13, 2009, City staff briefed the Council regarding the status of implementing Bicycle Lanes and Bike Route signage along Custer Parkway (Campbell to Renner) and Grove Road (Centennial to Arapaho) in addition to the status of the City’s overall Bicycle Route Plan. The bike lanes are a very high profile initiative to calm traffic and provide a safe bicycle environment on both Custer and Grove. This webpage includes several exhibits that display the initial limits of these bike lanes, as well as a graphical illustration of the typical roadway cross-section and the Richardson Bicycle Route Plan.
The Custer and Grove bike lanes are the first implementation of on-street lanes through neighborhoods in Richardson. They are a trial case and will be evaluated for effectiveness before they are implemented elsewhere. Their purpose is two-fold: first, they are intended to provide a safe environment for bicycles; secondly, the lanes are intended to narrow the travel lane down to 10 feet for motorists. With the wide unmarked travel lanes, some motorists have used the entire width of the roadway for travel. The slightly narrower travel lane, and clear indication that the right lane is not for passing vehicles, will encourage motorists to drive at a more reasonable speed. The traffic moving through the neighborhood will be further from the parked vehicles, mailboxes and the sidewalk thereby giving the adjacent residents a wider safe zone from the traffic. Parking in front of homes will not be prohibited because the bike lane and parking lane will have a combined width of approximately 12 feet.
City staff met on several occasions with the Canyon Creek Homeowners Association and the Highland Terrace Neighborhood Association, both of which worked diligently to gather community support, and gained a significant level of positive input from the residents along each roadway. If the residents on Custer and Grove did not support the initiative to calm traffic speeds and enhance bicycle safety, the City would not have moved forward with implementation.
Other bicycle routes and designated bicycle lanes are included in the City’s Trailway and Bicycle Route Master Plan and will be implemented in a phased approach when additional funding is available and community and neighborhood support is established along each corridor.
Types of Bicycle Users
There are several types of bicycle users and it is understood that some avid bicyclists do not like bike lanes. The City’s goal in providing an overall Bicycle Route Plan is to accommodate all types of users. Some recreational users may prefer to use trails in the City’s Parks. Vehicular bicyclists may prefer to commute on arterial streets and do not want their "right" to occupy any travel lane jeopardized by having bike lanes. The City will also be implementing "Share the Road" type signs on Renner Road where hundreds of cyclists travel many evenings and weekends despite the higher speeds and traffic volumes. On collector roadways and residential streets we may simply provide a Bike Route sign with or without a dedicated lane.
Bicyclist’s Rights
The Texas Transportation Code states that "A person operating a bicycle has the rights and duties applicable to a driver operating a vehicle". To summarize the legal code: bicycles have the right to ride on public roadways because they are deemed a legitimate transportation vehicle by legislature. The City does not have the authority to restrict bicycles from local roadways, but TxDOT may restrict them from certain limited access highways. Below are a few links to the Texas Transportation Code that deals with bicycle operations.
In order to provide a safe environment for bicyclists, the City of Richardson is in the process of implementing a long range plan to provide bicycle facilities and to designate preferred bicycle routes on lower-volume, lower-speed collector roadways. Even though the City will not be encouraging bicyclists to ride on major arterial thoroughfares, we will be providing "Share the Road" signs at strategic locations to inform motorists that bicycles have the legal right to occupy the roadway.
There has been a dramatic increase in bicycle activity in the past few years, including a larger number of bikers who commute to work. Several other Cities including Dallas, Plano, and Frisco are also enhancing their bicycle trails and on-street routes with new signage. The City anticipates the trend in bicycle usage to increase in the future and will endeavor to provide as safe of an operating environment as possible.
|