Mayor Combs, Council, Public Works, and Complete Streets Commision,
Now that we are well into our school year, I wanted to take a chance and
report back on how the remodel of Coleman Avenue
has impacted families biking to and from the two Laurel Elementary School
campuses.
The following thoughts are an amalgamation from multiple families.
*Things going really well:*
1) The increased visibility and safety from not having parked cars on one
side of the street is amazing.
2) The three-way stop is an overwhelming winner. It helps traffic and
cyclists stay at a reasonable speed and see each other both when turning
and just when proceeding straight.
3) Overall, the city portion feels much safer and more comfortable to bike
on.
*Things that could be improved:*
1) The speed bumps extending into the bike lane are problematic. They are
very uncomfortable for cyclists and when kids have baskets sometimes
smaller items actually bounce out. Ive watched adults, high school
students, and elementary school students go into the middle of the street
to cut through the speed bump to avoid the discomfort of biking over it.
I understand that the extension of the bumps into the bike lane
is to dissuade cars from going around. However, a potential solution to
having the speed bumps extend into the bike lane would be to eliminate the
speed bumps in the bike lane and have bollards at those portions. This
would alleviate the discomfort for cyclists and also prevent cars from
using the bike lane as a cut through of the speed bump.
2) Parking enforcement is not as strong as is needed with the changes. Many
days, there are cars parked in the bike lane which then forces children and
families to swerve into traffic.
3) At the stop sign, kids and parents are confused as to if that stop
applies to them as well as cars. Perhaps painting a white stop line in the
bike lane would mitigate that confusion.
4) The segue from the city portion to the county portion is quite sudden
with no directed merge for bikes or cars. Hopefully this will be taken care
of when the County acts to improve their side of Coleman.
Thank you so much for your attention to improving this safe route to school!
-Meredith Bergin Bailey
Safe Routes to School Parent Volunteer
