Night Riding and Good Route Planning.

Yep, it's dark out there after work these days.  I had to make a quick run to REI after work a couple nights ago.  As a result I ended up riding on this portion of Kietzke (between Reno Toyota and Vasser) in an attempt to make it to a lower traffic road (Vasser).  While there are now bike lanes on much of Kietzke Lane....it's still not a fun or safe place to ride (even with good lights) at night.

So how do you avoid this type of situation.  The short answer is route planning.  I chose to ride out through the Reno Toyota and go down Kietzke Lane to Vasser (Red Route).  What I should have done to have a safer ride was head back out via Harvard Way and connect up with Vasser a little farther East (Green Route).

In my case I choose the red route on purpose (I normally do take the green route), just for a change of pace.  I have quite a few lights on my bike and person (4 total) so I wasn't too worried about being visible to traffic.  However, after even this short section on Kietzke, I was reevaluating this choice.  The sad truth is that while there is bicycle infrastructure on this road....I just didn't feel like people were expecting, looking out for, or aware that I was right next to them as they zipped along at 50 mph or more.

I'm tempted to use the analogy of "putting lipstick on a pig" for the bike lanes on Kietzke Lane.  While route planning is definitely the answer to safety.... I'm left wondering how to further implement bicycle infrastructure with respect to certain road types (e.g. 4 lane "highways").  Are we better off developing this type of infrastructure just so we can say it's there, and we "can" ride there.  Or should we be developing a network of neighborhood "greenways" (like my green route) where there aren't painted bike lanes (there aren't on much of Harvard Way), but bicycles are prioritized via sharrows or some other shared roadway designation on the lower speed, lower traffic streets?

Anyway, something to think about....

Kietkze Meeting....an update.

So the meeting happened last night and it's looking pretty impressive!  They have all the bike design in Priority 1 status and a huge number of ADA items (think sidewalks, curb extensions, etc.) in Priority 2.  This is probably because bike lanes only use paint or thermoplastic and cost relatively little (in terms of both time and $$$) compared to pouring a lot of concrete for the sidewalks. 

Here's the rather gruesome ped/bike accident statistics on Kietkze (yellow is injury, red is deaths)...definitely time for some updates in terms of facilities!

The meeting drew a rather good crowd even early on.  I had to split after about 30 minutes....yoga class was calling.

Here's what that huge long board shows up close....very specific plans and documentation of problem areas all along Kietzke.  RTC has really put some time and effort into this one and it might just make Kietzke a great North-South bike and pedestrian corridor in the near future!

Bicycling on Kietzke....attend this meeting if you want it to be the best street ever!

I'm reporting this from the Reno Bike Project page.....it's important to get people here if you want to see the changes happen, so tell your friends and neighbors!

Help us make KIETZKE the most bicycle friendly road in Reno!

Calling all bicyclists to attend the Kietzke Lane Safety Management Plan Open House on February 21, 4-7pm at the Wooster High Gym. NDOT will be presenting their best options for improving Kietzke Lane and creating a safe, community street that connects neighborhoods in South Reno and improves travel between shopping, schools and work. This is a critical meeting to ensure that bicyclists and pedestrians demonstrate that all of the proposed improvements be kept in the plan.
These safety improvements include: Green bike boxes and bicycle signal heads at key intersections, buffered bikes lanes or cycle tracks, and possibly roundabouts at Plumb and 2nd Street intersections. Lastly NDOT is proposing to remove on-street parking and purchase right-of-way to allow space for the Complete Street components of wider sidewalks and bike lanes. This is one of the first times that this has occurred in Reno/Sparks, and it will set a precedent for safety planning and accommodating bicyclists in the community into the future. This project is also important because NDOT will consider relinquishing (trading) Kietzke to the City of Reno down the road, so we need to install these improvements now.
Please attend the Open House and submit comments supporting the improved safety proposals for Kietzke Lane. NDOT is depending on the cycling community to show support for these improvements and to show the governing agencies that we are committed to increasing the safety of bicyclists and pedestrians who will travel this corridor. The estimated cost for everything is $30 million, so they will have 3 levels of priority. We need to keep bicycling facilities at a Priority 1 or 2 to get them built within five years.
See you at the meeting!