Latest Update: Success!
Bike Lanes Are Coming Back!
The city of Henderson informed us that most of the bike lanes are coming back on Wigwam! After months of confusing communication on what bike lanes will remain and which ones are gone forever, we were able to confirm bike lanes will come back all the way to Valle Verde and then start again after Arroyo Grande all the way past Gibson.
Currently the road surface is being milled and prepped for resurfacing.
The city has replaced our bike lanes with gigantic sidewalks on one side of the road. We asked different sources at the city about it and everyone said they weren’t coming back. We threw a tantrum along with lots of other cyclists and now that lanes are coming back. Was it because of all the feedback or was it always the plan and everyone who responded from the city were miss-informed? We’re not sure.
Chapter one: Confusion
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:
Why did the city think it’s safer/better for its residents to put in gigantic sidewalks and get rid of bike lanes?
Is there a report I can read that researched the impact it would have on the safety of cyclists?
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. 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.
We would hope that safety is more important than convenience.
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.
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?
Chapter Two: Success!
After a lot of back and forth with the city and seeing what other cyclist were hearing, we heard that the city was returning the bike lanes except for the section between Valle Verde and Arroyo Grande. We’ve heard so many different scenarios we weren’t sure what was the truth until we got a copy of the road plans. Looks like they’re coming back.
Now that most the lanes are coming back? We’d love to get the last section back and make all of Wigwam a great cycling corridor.