The Bicycle TRANSPORTATION System JANUARY 2010
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FINAL DRAFT The bicycle TRANSPORTATION system JANUARY 2010 “Cycle tracks will abound in Utopia.” - H.G. Wells / BIKEPORTLAND.ORG MAUS JONATHAN Part THREE PORTLAND BICYCLE PLAN FOR 2030 39 A healthy community, vibrant neighborhoods... and bicycles everywhere ! Part Three: The bicycle transportation system Neighborhood: TOM SLOAN TOM RICHMOND Reason for bicycling: Commutes to school because it’s LESS HASSLE than driving a car - and it saves money too. Favorite Portland bicycling event: PROVIDENCE BRIDGE PEDAL “Block for block, Portland has the best biking infrastructure of any U.S. city. The lanes, the signs, the biking directions, the green boxes all make biking feasible for anyone in this city. I sold my car three years ago and haven’t regretted it a day since.” YAHOO MAPS YAHOO Bicyclist needs image PROFILE Alana 40 FINAL DRAFT - JANUARY 2010 FINAL DRAFT The bicycle transportation system JANUARY 2010 3.1 EXPANDING THE BICYCLE 3.1.2 Form a fi ne-grained bikeway network NETWORK A study of best practices from the world’s most 3.1.1 Introduction successful bicycling cities reveals that a dense Th ere is a direct correlation between the bikeway network has the advantages of limiting expansion of Portland’s bicycle network and out-of-direction travel and providing a variety / BIKEPORTLAND.ORG MAUS JONATHAN the growth in bicycle ridership that the city of route options to each destination. Having experienced between the early 1990’s and 2009. more route options allows bicyclists of diff erent Focused investments to build the city’s bikeway skill and comfort levels to identify routes best network eliminated barriers to bicycling for suited to their transportation needs. Streets Low-stress bicycle boulevard, SE Ladd Avenue many and gave proof to a ‘build it and they will optimized for bicycle travel translate to savings come’ approach. in time and energy that help to make bicycling more attractive than driving. To attract more Portland residents to bicycle for transportation, the Portland Bicycle Plan Th e density of Portland’s recommended BORKOWITZ TODD for 2030 proposes a three-pronged strategy for bikeway network varies from district to district. creating a more complete network: Spacing guidelines identifi ed in the survey of best practices suggest that a bikeway be 1. Form a fi ner-grained bikeway network provided every 800 feet in urban areas (about 2. Emphasize low-stress bicycle routes three Portland blocks). While this standard 3. Ensure access to common destinations can be met in many areas in Portland, it can’t be achieved in all Portland neighborhoods due At a bicycle signal at the Broadway Bridge Th is strategy is consistent with guidance off ered 1 to disconnected roadway networks, physical in the Dutch CROW Manual, the world’s barriers or terrain constraints. In such cases, the most authoritative manual on bikeway design, bikeway corridors have been spaced as closely which emphasizes cohesion, directness, safety, as possible while minimizing out-of-direction BORKOWITZ TODD attractiveness and comfort as the primary travel and steep slopes. factors in a successful bikeway network. Portland’s 1996 Bicycle Master Plan proposed a network of planned bikeways. Th e Portland 1 CROW is the acronym of the Information and Technology Platform Bicycle Plan for 2030 signifi cantly expands that for Transport, Infrastructure and Public space, a Dutch non-profi t collaboration between government and businesses that produces planned network. A network summary by the CROW-publication 261 ‘Handboek verkeersveiligheid’ (‘Road safety manual’). facility type is provided in Figure 3.2. Wide bike lane, N Vancouver Avenue PORTLAND BICYCLE PLAN FOR 2030 41 A healthy community, vibrant neighborhoods... and bicycles everywhere ! Part Three: The bicycle transportation system Bicycle network EXPANSION by facility type: 3.1.3 Develop a cohesive network of low-stress bikeways Bicycle facility type Existing Miles Total miles Facility As Portland’s bikeway network has expanded developed added by at plan proportion of and ridership has grown, it has become clear miles this plan completion total system that many residents who do not bicycle Trails 75 miles 64 miles 139 miles 14% regularly would ride more oft en if they could minimize their exposure to automobile traffi c. Separated in-roadways 176 miles 314 miles 490 miles 51% Th is realization forms the basis for this plan’s ( bike lanes, buff ered strategy to emphasize low-stress bicycle routes. bike lanes, cycle tracks) Bicycle boulevards / 30 miles 256 miles 286 miles 30% Low-stress bicycle facilities, including trails, advisory bike lanes low-traffi c shared roadways (such as bicycle boulevards) and cycle tracks, are bikeways Enhanced shared - 47 miles 47 miles 5% that are separated either physically or spatially roadways from higher-volume roadways. Emphasizing Signed connections 28 miles 0 miles 0 miles * 0% development of this low-stress network of streets and trails provides an eff ective strategy TOTAL 309 miles 681 miles 962 miles 100% for advancing the critical principles of cohesion, * Routes previously identifi ed as signed connections will be developed as another bicycle facility type in the Portland Bicycle Plan for 2030.” comfort, directness, safety and attractiveness commonly identifi ed as international best FIGURE 3-1: Bicycle network expansion by facility type practices for bikeway design. “The draft Portland Bicycle Plan for 2030 takes Portland’s current bicycle planning eff ort to Bicycle boulevards, in particular, have proven the next level by providing a more holistic range of bicycle planning policy, objectives and to attract high numbers of riders due to the action items in order to improve facility design, safety, rider education, encouragement and level of comfort they provide, the mobility enforcement.” function they serve and their proximity to where people live and travel. Indeed, bicycle - Portland Bicycle Advisory Committee letter to Portland Planning Commission, 2009 boulevards have become among the city’s most “We agree with the recommendation of the Plan to focus initial investments in bicycle popular bikeways. Although bicycle boulevards boulevards to rapidly bring a comfortable cycling experience to as wide a portion of Portland represent only one percent of Portland’s overall as possible.” roadway network, a recent study by Portland tate University Professor Jennifer Dill found - Portland Planning Commission, October 2009 that they attracted ten percent of all the bicycle 42 FINAL DRAFT - JANUARY 2010 FINAL DRAFT The bicycle transportation system JANUARY 2010 trips.2 Th is 10:1 ratio is higher than the ratio streets in Portland’s Transportation System Plan either for streets with bicycle lanes or for trails. (TSP) and only 20 percent of the streets in Metro ’s 2040 Growth Concept centers (Central A Bikeway Network Gap Analysis performed by City , regional centers and town centers) had the Bureau of Transportation in 2008 showed a developed bicycle facility at that time. Th e that fewer than 30 percent of Portland residents defi ciency is due to the wide range of other JONATHAN MAUS / BIKEPORTLAND.ORG MAUS JONATHAN live within a quarter mile of developed low- demands on main streets for motor vehicle stress bikeways.3 Even if the low-stress bicycle capacity, on-street parking and pedestrian network designated within Portland’s 1996 facilities. Portland’s 1996 Bicycle Master Plan Bicycle Master Plan were completed, it would called for bike lanes on many main streets where still serve only half of city’s population. they have not yet been implemented due to such constraints. Th e Portland Bicycle Plan for 2030 calls for updating Portland’s bicycle network to include Th e Portland Bicycle Plan for 2030 promotes more low-stress bicycle boulevards and trails, bicycle facilities on all main streets and and to update its design guidelines to include recommends that they be designed to provide treatments like buff ered bike lanes and cycle as much separation as feasible from the high tracks to make higher-volume roadways operate volumes of traffi c. Facilities such as wide bike in a more low-stress manner for bicycling. Th e lanes , buff ered bike lanes and cycle tracks4 are plan recommends a dense network of bikeways appropriate to provide separation between that will more than triple the size of the existing bicyclists and motor vehicle traffi c. As with any bicycle transportation network and increase the project, facilities must be tailored to the site Low-stress bicycle boulevard, SE Harrison Street low-stress bicycle network more than ten-fold. context and constraints, and the essential needs of other modes and uses of the right-of-way, 3.1.4 Provide direct access to common including walking, parking, street trees, freight destinations and surface stormwater management, must be A 2008 assessment of Portland’s existing considered in their design. bikeway network found that it fails to provide direct access to most commercial areas in As described in Part Five: Strategic Portland. Only 33 percent of designated main Implementation, the initial strategy for / BIKEPORTLAND.ORG MAUS JONATHAN 2Bike-GPS: Understanding and Measuring Bicycling Behavior. a building the new network will be to emphasize focus on travel time and route choice. Jennifer Dill, Ph.D., Portland State University. December 2008. 3 Such low-stress routes include the city’s 32 miles of bicycle 4 Facility types are described in detail Chapter 3.2 and in Appendix boulevards and 75 miles of off -street paths. G, Glossary Low-stress bikeway connection through a Portland park PORTLAND BICYCLE PLAN FOR 2030 43 A healthy community, vibrant neighborhoods... and bicycles everywhere ! Part Three: The bicycle transportation system Planned bikeways: Built bikeways: the development of the low-stress network, especially bicycle boulevards and other BIKEWAY GAP MAP #1 BIKEWAY GAP MAP #2 AREAS MORE THAN 1/4 MILE FROM A AREAS MORE THAN 1/4 MILE TSP CITY BIKEWAY OR OFF STREET PATH FROM AN EXISTING IMPROVED BIKEWAY shared roadway facilities .