Bike lanes to nowhere.

Nice bike lane on Mill St. between Wells and Kirman Ave.

Termination of bike lane on Mill...with no warning about a merge to cyclist or vehicles.

An aerial view.  Note the turmoil is caused by the "need" for a designated left turn lane (there's not that much traffic).

Not to get off on the wrong foot here, I'm really glad to see bike lanes on Mill St. at all.  Especially, with the  closure of the river path for most of last fall / winter, this was my daily commute.  It is however less than ideal.


For some reason, Steve Irwin just started narrating in my head....

Bike lanes, the smaller cousin of roads, exist in relatively limited numbers, in sporadic isolated locations throughout the Reno outback.  Their populations often seem to have problems competing with their larger counterparts.  Here in the remote urban province of Mill and Kirman you can actually see the road devouring the smaller bike lane without remorse due to competition for territory.

Ok, you just read that in Irwin's voice didn't you.  Hopefully, your accent is better than mine.  Really though, this is one of the primary East-West bike routes (with signs and all) in Reno.  Yet the lane drops at Kirman Ave. and you don't see it again until you reach Kietzke Ave.  Ironically this is right in front of the Hospital....read into that what you will.  You can argue that it is present again just past Renown Hospital (at Yori Ave.), but really this is a parking lane and you will be dodging in and out of traffic avoiding all the cars parked here.  It also disappears in favor of a designated right turn lane at the intersection of Kietzke Ave., so it's rather apparent it's not an official bike lane.

All of this being said, RTC is looking at this area right now with a corridor study (which also includes Terminal way), with the idea of making the route one of the new "complete" streets with nice side walks, full bike lanes, improved bus service, and even nice trees and plantings!  They have started already with traffic counts (including bikes and pedestrians), so the groundwork is being laid for improvement.  You might even  be able to walk or bicycle from the airport to downtown without fearing for your life!  So here's to hoping!

There is a link to the corridor study at the top of the blog if your interested.  There isn't much there yet, but put in a comment so they know people are interested in improving this stretch!