Green Lane Project to increase safety and put motorists, bicyclists at ease

Although National Bike Month has come to a close, there's good news for bicyclists and motorists in six cities today: the Green Lane Project from Bikes Belong is underway. And last week in Chicago, Federal Highway Administrator Victor Mendez was on hand for the official launch.

What exactly are green lanes? They are next-generation bike lanes carefully separated from vehicle lanes by a buffer of curbs, thin posts, attractive planters, or even parked cars.

 

Bikes Belong has selected six cities as pilots for the Green Lane Project. By working together and sharing resources and best practices, these cities hope to develop world-class bike networks on busy city streets. Bikes Belong will provide them with strategic and technical assistance and will work to share the lessons learned with other communities interested in supporting bicycling as a means of transportation.

DOT and the Federal Highway Administration like traffic-separated lanes because they increase safety. And bicycle infrastructure is much less expensive to build and maintain than either transit or roadways, so communities get a bigger bang for their buck.

The FHWA has been working to revamp some of its guidelines to make these projects easier to develop. As Administrator Mendez said, "The work of cities like Chicago and the other Green Lane Project communities will help us improve our future design recommendations."

 
FHWA Administrator Mendez speaks at Green Lane Project launch

Bicyclists also like green lanes because they do protect riders from motor vehicles and make them feel safe. For novices, they are more inviting than regular bike lanes. That means that adding green lanes can increase the number of people using pedal power to get where they're going. In fact, in Washington, DC, since traffic-separated lanes were installed down Pennsylvania Avenue and up 15th Street, bicycling on those roads has tripled.

But, perhaps the most interesting thing about green lanes is that they also help motorists.

Naturally, bicyclists feel vulnerable sharing the road with fast-moving cars, but drivers also endure their fair share of stress. When bikes operate in traffic, it can be difficult to know exactly where to position your car. And bicyclists can appear to be unpredictable. But with a traffic-separated bike lane, drivers and riders can all proceed with greater confidence and less stress.

And, the more people who choose to ride instead of drive, the less congestion motorists experience as they make their way through town. Green lanes even benefit pedestrians and children; by inviting more bicyclists, we reduce the burden of tailpipe emissions on the air we breathe.

FHWA Administrator Mendez heads down the Kinzie St. green lane in Chicago; photo courtesy Bikes Belong

We know from the FHWA's Nonmotorized Transportation Pilot Program that investments like green lanes work. Interested communities can make significant change at low costs in just a few years.

We also learned that this is something that residents and community leaders want. A new study shows that 83 percent of Americans support current or increased spending on biking and walking.

So we're excited about Bikes Belong's innovative push, and we wish the six pilot cities the best as the Green Lane Project proceeds.

Comments

[Bike Guy]

As a District Bicycle Coordinator for a state DOT for 11 years (before I retired) I learned a thing or two about bike facilities and how they operate within the overall transportation system.

As such I learned over and over that separated bike facilities (cycle tracks) are a really dumb idea. Davis, Ca, where the concept of our current "bike lanes" were first developed, back in the late '60, abandoned the idea of protected lanes (behind a row of parked cars)because they were deemed too dangerous and confusing to motorists who believe that such cyclists using such facilities are on a separate routes and are not of concern.

All that changes of course at intersections when bikes, on these so called separate facilities, all of a sudden cross into the vehicular travel lane to cross the intersection (and get hit by right turning cars) or merge to the left to make a left turn.

How our FED DOT folks could support such a stupid concept is beyond me.

Buffered bike lanes, such as those adjacent to travel lanes but separated by white lines, are a much better idea. Using buffered lanes allows everyone (motorists and cyclists) to see each other and interact more positively

Bike Guy

[Peggy]

Great idea. Good too for bike lanes along rural highways, particularly where there aren't local roads or trails as alternatives.

[joey]

excellent!

[John Schubert]

Studies from Copenhagen, Berlin, Helsinki and Amsterdam -- and from Davis, California -- all show that these facilities dramatically increase many types of bike/car collisions. Why? Because they make intersections more complicated, and intersections are where the collisions occur.
These facilities don't protect bicyclists from motorists, and it's irresponsible to use the word "protect." They don't even separate -- not where it counts (at the intersections). No, what they really do is hide collision participants from each other until the moment of impact.
There are many things you can do to _safely_ make city cycling more pleasant and inviting. This isn't one of them.

[brian]

If FHWA likes such lanes, why hasn't it included these cutting edge solutions (or any bike/ped stuff) in it's Every Day Counts program? http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/everydaycounts/

[supercarrot]

i'm glad to see there is extra space provided between the parked cars and the bike lanes. (i was afraid there would be an increase of doorings, due to the lesser likelihood of passengers looking in the mirror before opening their door.) but it looks like you took that into consideration. thanks!

my other concern is the green paint. how does it perform in the rain? is it more slick than plain old blacktop?

and my last concern, do you advise the cities to keep those lanes clean? (i can not tell you how many tires i've had to repair due to the sheer mass of debris kicked to the curb from cars' tires.)