Why Gainesville Reversed Its Road Diet

[thelakelander]

As Gainesville returns bike lanes to cars, the decision reflects a broader debate over removing traffic lanes.

ERIC JAFFE

In mid-2013, a mile-long stretch of 8th Avenue in Gainesville, Florida, went on a road diet. Four vehicle lanes became two for cars and two for cyclists (as shown in the rendering above). Pedestrians on adjacent sidewalks gained a bit more separation from moving traffic. A painted median reserved road space for a pleasantly landscaped version to come.

The hope was that the design trial would convince local officials to adopt a permanent two-lane multimodal street. Those hopes ended in December 2014.

After a lengthy public hearing, the city commission voted 4-to-3 to reverse the road diet and revert 8th Avenue to its original form. That meant re-striping for four car lanes, nudging cyclists back onto the sidewalks, and reducing the median to a mere double yellow line. Public works crews finished the job last weekend.

In November, Gainesville Mayor Ed Braddy raised the stakes with an editorial in the Gainesville Sun opposing the lane reduction as misguided "road diet ideology." Citing a low count of cyclists using the street bike lanes compared with those still riding on the sidewalk, Braddy said the 8th Avenue project failed in its goal of growing the city's "burgeoning bicycling community." He called for a return to four car lanes on 8th and the possible development of a nearby cycle track:

Shouldn't that be the goal for Gainesville? Or is it more important to promote road diet doctrine that inconveniences people in cars but only marginally affects bicycling?

Original road diet layout


New potential alternative


Full article: http://www.citylab.com/commute/2015/01/why-one-florida-city-reversed-its-road-diet/384307/

[acme54321]

So they added the car lanes back and then widened the sidewalk to accommodate the bike lane?  Seems like it might have been a win for both sides in this case.  That road carries pretty heavy traffic.  I remember that after they restriped it thinking that the way they did it was sort of goofy though, so maybe poor design was partially to blame.

[Gunnar]

Shouldn't that be the goal for Gainesville? Or is it more important to promote road diet doctrine that inconveniences people in cars but only marginally affects bicycling?

Wasn't this (part of) the problem - cyclists not actually using the bike lane but the sidewalks instead?

Citing a low count of cyclists using the street bike lanes compared with those still riding on the sidewalk, Braddy said...

[thelakelander]

In theory, widening the streetside (sidewalk) from 5' to 10' would provide space for pedestrians (5') and bicyclists (5'), keeping both modes out of the street with motorized vehicles.

[urbanlibertarian]

Bikes and peds sharing the sidewalk seems to work in european cities as long as the peds stay on their side of the line (personal experience).

[tufsu1]

They have not widened the sidewalks yet.  It is one of several options being considered.

[peestandingup]

In theory, widening the streetside (sidewalk) from 5' to 10' would provide space for pedestrians (5') and bicyclists (5'), keeping both modes out of the street with motorized vehicles.

I'm actually OK with this method & wish Jax would do similar things instead of just painting a stripe down a highway right next to (sometimes) 60mph traffic & calling it a day. The sidewalk extend & separate method is safer, is more of an infrastructure, is easily accomplished in most cases & best of all more attractive to casual riders like families, children, etc, which is what you want. If hardcore road cyclists wanna continue to use the road, no one's stopping them.

[thelakelander]

^That's basically how I feel. Outside of the hard core cyclists, no one is riding on a 4' bike lane with cars blowing by at 40 mph. If we really want more people using these facilities, they need to be separated from motorized traffic.

[cline]

For what its worth FDOT just issued a bullentin that allows for lanes as narrow as 11' in certain areas and includes a 7' buffered bike lane.