Madison has a number of "naturally-occurring bike boulevards." I
think Jenifer St. and E. Mifflin Streets could be described that way
on the Isthmus, and the Breese Terrace - Oakland Ave. - Mound St.
chain near campus might also work as a bike boulevard, with a few
modifications.
I think it would be nice to see a bike boulevard on E. Mifflin (or
perhaps E. Dayton) from North Ave to the Square. This would require
a connecting path at the river and some fancy footwork at East High,
but it would be very useful in an area that has less bike access than
it should.
Are there any other potential bike boulevards that people would like
to add to the wish list?
On Mar 4, 2008, at 2:46 PM, Ross, Arthur wrote:
There are several benefits of bicycle boulevards. The main one
being that they provide a similar experience for the bicyclist as a
bike path and thus serve as an incentive to get more people on
bikes more often. There is not space - right of way corridors
independent of existing streets - in all parts of the city for bike
paths. Bicycle boulevards are an option in these areas. In most
areas with grid street networks, you have to stop every block or
two when bicycling on the minor streets. Well designed bicycle
boulevards eliminate many of these stops with traffic calming
techniques while at the same time not encouraging increased motor
vehicle traffic on those streets. Another problem with bicycling
on the minor streets even in a grid network is that when you get to
a major street there is generally not a traffic signal so crossing
the major street can be difficult. Well designed bicycle
boulevards include ways to make these crossings easier and safer.
In areas without a grid street network, like much of Madison
outside the isthmus and near east and west sides, creating
neighborhood connector paths to complete the grid and allow through
bicycle traffic other than along the arterials is important. But
even with a good grid, through bicycle travel off the major streets
can be difficult. I have ridden bicycle boulevards in Portland and
Berkeley, haven't made it to Palo Alto yet (birthplace of the
bicycle boulevard). Portland's were impressive. I would be glad to
organize a field trip if there is interest.
Minneapolis is about to install several bicycle boulevards as part
of their non-motorized transportation pilot project.
See http://www.tlcminnesota.org/Resources/NTP%20Program/bwtc.html
Arthur Ross, Pedestrian-Bicycle Coordinator
City of Madison Traffic Engineering Division
215 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Suite 100
PO Box 2986
Madison, WI 53701-2986
608/266-6225
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