STAFF REPORT
Meeting Date: March 15, 2022
To: Honorable Mayor & City Council
From: Daren Grilley, Assistant Director Public Works/City Engineer Jessie Holzer, Transportation Planner
Subject:
Attachments:
Roxbury Drive Protected Bike Lane Pilot Project Update
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INTRODUCTION
This report provides an update on the Roxbury Drive Protected Bike Lane Pilot Project installed in late 2021, which includes a southbound protected bike lane and northbound conventional bike lane on Roxbury Drive south of Olympic Boulevard.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no direct fiscal impact to this item.
DISCUSSION
On September 19, 2021, City Council approved implementation of the Roxbury Drive Protected Bike Lane Pilot Project, consisting of a southbound protected bike lane and northbound conventional bike lane, for a one-year evaluation period. Staff completed installation in late December 2021, and the pilot project evaluation period began in January 2022. This was the first high priority bikeway project the City pursued since adoption of the Complete Streets Plan.
The northbound travel lane width of nine feet is consistent with Federal Highway Administration safety guidance and NACTO recommendations for travel lanes on local roads. The southbound lane is twelve feet wide, in accordance with the City’s parking standards, to provide adequate space for drivers backing out of parking spaces to see approaching traffic.
First Quarter Evaluation
During the installation in late 2021, some residents and park patrons expressed concern about the changes, such as concern that the narrower lane widths might present safety issues and residents on the east side of Roxbury Drive could have challenges exiting their driveways. These types of comments have not been expressed to staff since the •
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Meeting Date: March 15, 2022
installation was completed. However, staff continues to hear concerns regarding perceived speeding vehicles. Staff has also heard that there is confusion regarding which meters correspond to which parking stalls, so the meter numbers will be painted into the parking stalls for clarification.
Since installation was completed in late 2021, the majority of feedback from residents overall has been positive. During site visits, residents on Roxbury Drive told staff that they like the changes to the street and support expanded bicycle infrastructure, especially high quality infrastructure like protected bike lanes.
No collisions have been reported on this block since project installation.
Implementation of the pilot project has provided the opportunity for staff to learn how protected bike lanes may be installed in other parts of the City. Observations from monitoring the pilot project to date include: Plastic delineators as buffers between parked vehicles and bike lanes are not always effective as some drivers push their vehicles into the delineators or maneuver between them. Protected bike lanes are a challenge to maintain under trees due to falling leaves and debris that accumulate despite daily sweeping. Staff is researching street sweeping equipment that would allow for more efficient sweeping and that could also be used for enhanced alley cleaning. Five-foot wide protected bike lanes with two-foot buffers are adequate, but only provide sufficient rideable space if gutters have seamless transitions to the pavement. Six-foot bike lanes would be preferable. Conflicts between bicyclists and people crossing the bike lane to access metered parking stalls have neither been observed nor reported.
Finally, due to global supply chain issues, staff experienced several challenges to completing the project, which may or may not be issues for other future projects. Green “skip” markings still remain to be installed where bike lanes cross driveways and alleys to indicate the conflict zone between drivers and bicyclists. These will be installed as soon as the green pavement marking material is available.
Next Steps
Staff will continue monitoring and observing the pilot project and anticipates providing a second quarter informational update in summer 2022. Staff also intends to explore the use of CCTV cameras to evaluate the project, including conducting regular multi-modal user counts.
RECOMMENDATION
This report is for information only.
Shana Epstein, Director of Public Works
Approved By