Lack of bike path in Jacksonville Beach revamp raises safety concerns Read mor

[Bridges]

Loaded up the bikes and headed to the beach yesterday.  I couldn't believe that there was no bike path for the new construction.  Thought maybe I just wasn't seeing it because the road wasn't complete.  Guess not. 

http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2012-07-02/story/lack-bike-path-jacksonville-beach-revamp-raises-safety-concerns

A key component of the Jacksonville Beach Downtown Vision overhaul to streets and other infrastructure is now being criticized as being unsafe.

Jacksonville Beach spent about $7.4 million in the past year and a half revamping the main downtown business district to enhance pedestrian traffic and make it more inviting to visitors. But the main renovation to First Street North, which runs through the heart of the community, no longer has any bicycle paths on the sides of the road.

Steve Lancaster, a Jacksonville Beach optometrist who lives just south of First Street and Beach Boulevard, is an avid jogger and said the bike paths are wildly popular among runners and bicyclists. But the renovations over the past year installed brick pavers in multiple colors and narrowed the thoroughfare. Lancaster said the city may have good intentions but the revamp made the roadway more dangerous for joggers and bicyclists, some of whom come from well west of the Intracoastal Waterway.

"It's very easy to tell this could be a potential problem because you can see tire marks on the new curb there," Lancaster said. "They've created a few more parking spaces, but I think they have created a possible safety factor for runners and bikers that go through the Jacksonville Beach First Street area."

The old bike lane still has some remnants on First Street for about 10 yards on each side of the road near the Beach Boulevard intersection.

But the design of the revamped roadway intentionally sought to bottleneck traffic and increase pedestrian use in the area, Jacksonville Beach City Councilman Rick Knight said.

Knight has been a staunch supporter of the revamp of the central business district since it was first discussed about seven years ago. Now that it's coming to fruition, Knight said bicyclists and joggers are missing the point of more narrow streets and areas where the road bends and ambles through downtown.

"The way we got First Street designed now is that it's supposed to slow traffic down, and the bicyclists are supposed to slow down, too," Knight said.

But Lancaster said there should at least be a sign or advisory on First Street telling bicyclists to detour to the sidewalks or to areas off Second Street or along the SeaWalk strip running in front of the ocean.

Knight disagreed, noting it's illegal for bicycles to ride on sidewalks or the SeaWalk.

"You're not going to satisfy everybody," Knight said.

Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2012-07-02/story/lack-bike-path-jacksonville-beach-revamp-raises-safety-concerns#ixzz1zSyGnwWQ

[Bativac]

I like the dismissive "you're not going to satisfy everybody" comment. Has this guy not actually seen the number of people who ride bikes at the beach? How does it make any kind of sense not to include bike paths in a modern 21st century road redesign?

[tufsu1]

because sometimes it is better to have bikes and peds mix with cars....IF the cars are going slow enough...which is where the redesign and narrowing of the street width comes in.

one of the biggest problems with 20th century design was that we encouraged separation of uses (both in land use and transportation).

[fsujax]

Just paint a "sharrow" on the roadway.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

^^Agreed.

I definitely don't feel unsafe, walking or biking, in Jax beach.  When vehicular traffic is only going 10-15 mph, it's not exactly scary.  Now, if we could just force drivers to turn down the radio and open some windows so they can actually become part of the environment, that would be awesome.

[Tacachale]

I couldn't believe that. This was a dumb, dumb move. Fortunately I doubt it will stop anyone from biking in that area. The Beaches has far worse problems - namely 3rd, Atlantic, and Beach.

[JeffreyS]

In stead of truly narrowing the street they should have just put moderately decorative dividers between traffic lanes and bike lanes effectively narrowing the street and providing for bikes and not paying for rebuilding roads.

[tufsu1]

^ this was first and foremost a beautification project

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

let me ask this question:

Would it be at all surprising for Jax Beach to just eliminate vehicular traffic on 1st St (maybe 2nd St, too?) from Beach Blvd to, say, 5th/6th Ave N - Thursday, Friday and Saturday night from 6-2?

[Ocklawaha]

Only if you want to eliminate whatever is left of what was once a vibrant beachfront 'downtown'. Pedestrian and transit malls are mainly an idea from the 60's and 70's. Most have run their course and been converted back to traffic lanes. Bypassing businesses, even by just a block, has the same effect as the interstate highway system has had on little towns where the roadway skirts the edge and they get a single exit or two. It's a death sentence. One of the principal benefits of road diets is that slower traffic is many times more likely to stop and shop, creating better economic times for those along the new, narrower road.

[cline]

Only if you want to eliminate whatever is left of what was once a vibrant beachfront 'downtown'

When was the lasts time you went to the beachfront in downtown JB?  The place is packed with pedestrians and bicyclists all the time.  Downtown JB is thriving- they've got plenty of vibrancy.  Bypassing a street in JB is nothing at all like the interstate highway system in which exits could be miles apart.  There's a grid in JB- even if 1st St was closed at certain time you would still be able to easily walk a block to get to the businesses.  Not possible on the interstate.

[Tacachale]

^Yes, very much so. In fact, I don't think it would be such a bad idea to eliminate cars from that area on weekend nights, except that unfortunately a lot of the parking is there.