KTVN posted a story today regarding the conversion of a portion of Center St. from two lanes to one....for the purpose of added parking. I think this might be an interesting case study to see if people are more open to reducing the number of lanes for the purpose of parking their cars vs. create bike lanes (e.g. an alternative way to get to a core area of midtown and reduce parking needs). I find it a little weird that this is on the table, since (to me) the whole vibrancy of Midtown is the bicycle / pedestrian culture that it seems to be developing.
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I also find it a little strange that parking is such a big deal. While it's true I mostly ride to this area, there are certainly times I have driven. I can't recall any particularly arduous hunts for parking on these trips....however, I am willing to walk a few blocks. Anyway, it's something that's going on and it might be interesting to observe the process for a project I don't particularly care about.
I am hoping they'll put Center Street on a road diet by narrowing it down to one lane, allow parking on both sides and put in a protected bike path. Traveling in Midtown is easier on a bicycle than driving (when we're carpooling). Parking hasn't been an issue for us either but then again, we make sure to park a block or two away from Virginia Street.Geopower has some good comments here http://www.downtownmakeover.com/8-5-14-Center-Street about diverting traffic away from Virginia down Center Street and then Virginia can become more bike/ped friendly. The traffic on Virginia is so frantic, I nearly had a head on with a vehicle once while waiting in a turning lane to turn left and the driver of a car making a right turn onto Virginia drove wide into the turning lane sooner than he really needed to.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I do have the concern that reducing Center St. by a lane might put more traffic back on Virginia. I'd still rather see Virginia get the bike lanes and move parking off of it all together.
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