News Flash!

We’re getting (some) of our bike lanes back!

The city let us know that bike lanes will be returning to Wigwam (in Henderson, NV) except for the section between Valle Verde and Arroyo Grande. We consider this an important section and will continue to fight for the return of those bike lanes. Thank you to everyone who let the city know you want your bike lanes back. We’ll update the site soon with more information.

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The city has decided to replace our bike lanes with gigantic sidewalks on one side of the road.  What used to be an amazing bike route now has peek-a-boo bike lanes. One minute you’re in a bike lane, and the next, you’re sharing a lane with cars going 35mph plus. We have a few questions we’d like answered. Keep reading…

Historically, Henderson has been very bike friendly, why are we losing bike lanes now? What changed?

The foreman on site said the sidewalks were being upgraded to be handicap compliant. Really? So every sidewalk in the city will need to be as wide as sidewalks in Disneyland? That doesn’t make sense. So I emailed the city. I asked:

  1. Why did the city think it’s safer/better for its residents to put in gigantic sidewalks and get rid of bike lanes?

  2. Is there a report I can read that researched the impact it would have on the safety of cyclists?

  3. Who asked for gigantic sidewalks?

Here’s their reply from the the City Traffic Engineer:

“I don’t know the history on why the sidewalk was widened here with this project, but I assume it was due to the proximity of Greenspun Jr High.  There was no design report, but high amounts of pedestrian activity have been observed near the school.  With the widening of the sidewalk and the installation of a median, there was no longer room for the bike lane; the sharrow would have been the only option.”

Wait, what?! You assume? There was no design report? Somebody observed sidewalk traffic but didn’t notice hundreds of cyclists? Road infrastructure was changed on a whim?

So… the foreman is guessing, the City Traffic Engineer doesn’t know. We’re asking you, Mayor Romero, and city councilman Dan Stewart… Why were our bike lanes replaced by gigantic sidewalks? Don’t get me wrong, everyone loves giant deluxe sidewalks wide enough to drive a garbage truck on, but I think we like bike lanes more. If this really is to help with foot traffic to the school, don’t you think the sidewalk right in front of the school would be 10 feet wide as well? Also, did anyone consider all the kids riding their bikes to school? Since getting rid of the bike lanes, many kids aren’t riding on the sidewalk (because no cyclist wants to weave in and out of pedestrians) they’re riding on the opposite side of the road, going against traffic in the remaining bike lane.

Mayor Romero and Councilman Dan Stewart, we love our city, we need your help to make Wigwam safe again. We’d love to hear from you why we’re losing bike lanes. We would hope that safety is more important than convenience.

We await your response…

We propose two things

1. Restore the bike lanes

The sections where the city eliminated the bike lanes don’t need center turn lanes. Eliminate the center turn lanes and re-stripe the road to include bike lanes again.

The section between Valle Verde and Arroyo Grande (that the bike lanes were taken two years ago to accommodate double turn lanes) should go back to one turn lane to make room for the return of the bike lanes. Two turn lanes are unnecessary and not worth endangering cyclists. There are only two moments a day when two turn lanes are useful. This doesn’t justify making the roads unsafe because drivers can’t wait an extra minute.

2. A city ordinance that requires posting a public notice

Just like rezoning to allow a bar or a casino in a neighborhood, requires a sign at the location of the proposed change. We want the city to post when bike lanes are slated to be removed.

We’d love to hear from you!

Is a giant sidewalk justified? Maybe we’re wrong?

We decided before we go crying foul, maybe we should count foot traffic and see. Our first pick was to count foot and bike traffic going to school between 7am and 8am. 7am is when the school grounds open and 8am is when school starts. We picked a beautiful day in the middle of the week. The results are not surprising… we live off Wigwam and this is what we observe every day.

First off, no surprise, there were more bikes than walkers and the scooters where in the bike lane (going the wrong way against traffic because there is no bike lane on the south side)

Of the 17 people that walked, pedaled, or scooted, on either side of the street, going either direction, only 3 were students walking to school on the big sidewalk. One student walked on the North side on the regular sidewalk, and one student was walking away from school (ditching?).

3 students used the north side bike lane riding against traffic, 2 students rode their bikes on the sidewalk, and 2 students chose to share the lane with cars.

I expected to see more distracted drivers but thankfully there were very few drivers on their phone.

There was one terrifying woman putting on eyeliner with her face in the rear-view mirror while driving. I should note, she was driving in the lane cyclists are supposed to be sharing with cars. Scary.

The largest group on the sidewalk was a woman jogging with two dogs. Every student was alone except the two students on scooters who were riding together in the bike lane on the wrong side. So no large groups of students on the sidewalk. So you decide, is the city justified in eliminating the bike lane for a 10.5 foot wide sidewalk? We’ll take more samplings at different times in the future. Is there something we’re not seeing? is this a future parade route? Is the city bringing Formula One racing to our streets? Seems unlikely. Why the giant sidewalks?