The City of Buffalo Department of Public Works has shared their current plan and its justification f

The City of Buffalo Department of Public Works has shared their current plan and its justification for Linwood Avenue on Friday (see below) identifying the project goals and their design considerations. These goals include: • Resurface Linwood Avenue in 2012; • Comply with Complete Streets Ordinance; • Provide a much needed traffic calming solution for Linwood Avenue; • To address all concerns raised by the community and utilize this information to aid in selection of the best option moving forward. Through folding travel cosmetic bag their consideration of multiple scenarios including two-way traffic, they identified a two-way cycle track to be located along the West side of the street buffered with a parking lane, one lane of traffic and an additional parking lane on the East side of the street to effectively implement all project goals. In addition, folding travel cosmetic bag they have stated that the "cycle track would receive prioritized plowing to keep it clear and maintain visual cue of where cars should park." As a bicyclist who has ridden folding travel cosmetic bag in many cities across the country and often lust at what cities in Europe have been doing as a matter of course for decades, I personally find this exciting especially folding travel cosmetic bag in light of the fact that there are only a handful of cities across the country folding travel cosmetic bag that have done this and Buffalo folding travel cosmetic bag could receive some positive national press with such a complete streets project. Many people though are unaware of what cycle tracks are and how they will function, the benefits and the impact it can have on a street - so here is an attempt to shed some light. A definition of a cycle track can be found in Alta Planning Design's folding travel cosmetic bag "Cycle Tracks: Lessons Learned" workbook (pdf): A cycle track is an exclusive bicycle facility that combines the user experience of a separated path with the on-street infrastructure of a conventional bike lane. Cycle tracks have different forms, but all share common elements. Cycle tracks provide space that is intended to be exclusively or primarily for bicycles, and are separated from vehicle travel lanes, parking lanes and sidewalks. Cycle tracks can be either one-way or two-way, on one or both sides of a street, and are separated from vehicles and pedestrians by pavement markings or coloring, bollards, curbs/medians, parked cars or a combination of these elements. There are many advantages to this type of treatment which include increasing the comfort of bicyclists, improving clarity of expected behaviors of both bicycles and cars, has a low implementation cost and eliminates conflicts between bicycles and parking or parked cars from "dooring" cyclists. According to the National Association of City Traffic Officials (NACTO) Urban Bikeway Design Guidelines , the appropriate application for buffered bike lanes would be on streets with high speeds, high volumes, large volumes of truck traffic, on streets with extra lane width or extra lanes or where there are few conflicts such as driveways and intersections. Also, several studies have shown benefits in both safety and increased ridership associated with cycle tracks. An evaluation of cycle tracks in Montreal found, when compared with roads without this treatment, roadways with cycle tracks have a 28 percent lower injury rate and 2.5 times as many bicyclists. My excitement for cycle tracks is tempered by the fact that many residents along Linwood are upset about the lack of communication on the project. While I have personally received or have been copied on multiple messages in favor of this, a consistent point of contention folding travel cosmetic bag is their desire to have known about this project sooner. There are also other residents that have expressed a desire to see the street go two-way, which could also have some of the desired effects of slowing down traffic but this would not be as effective in improving the street for cyclists and could also increase the traffic volume. Meanwhile, here at GObike Buffalo we have received folding travel cosmetic bag 1,750 signatures to date on our bicycle lane request form from people folding travel cosmetic bag across the city demonstrating their desire to increase the number of safe bicycling facilities throughout the city. There are tradeoffs with all street projects from circulation, folding travel cosmetic bag travel patterns, safety and other health and environmental impacts. The City of Buffalo's Department of Public Works is always balancing folding travel cosmetic bag these tradeoffs with the community's desire and I do not envy their position. I am inspired though by the fact that they have seriously considered this treatment because despite the current opposition, it signals a significant shift in the way we have designed our streets in the past while showing leadership for the future and a commitment to improve our city. This shift also recognizes that city's thrive when they are designed for people folding travel cosmetic bag - not cars and it's progress such as this that keeps me and many other people from moving away. Lead image: Cycle track in DC within a similar context Following is the plan from the city... Project goals - Linwood Avenue folding travel cosmetic bag 1 - Resurface Linwood Avenue in 2012 2 - Comply with Complete Streets Ordinance 3 - Provide a much needed traffic calming solution for Linwood Avenue 4 - To address all concerns raised folding travel cosmetic bag by the community and utilize this information to aid in selection of the best option moving forward. Please note that one of the biggest challenges of this whole project is the addition folding travel cosmetic bag of Linwood to the City's 2012 paving list, about 9 months ahead of the original schedule.   Article XIV. Complete Streets [Adopted 5-27-2008, effective 6-11-2008] § 413-68. Complete streets defined. Complete streets are defined as facilities that are designed and operated to enable safe access for all users. Persons with disabilities, pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists and transit folding travel cosmetic bag riders are able to safely move along and across a complete street. § 413-69. Implementation of complete streets and exceptions. A. The Commissioner of Public Works, Parks and Streets shall include pedestrian and bicycle facilities in all new street construction, street reconstruction, street maintenance, public works and park projects undertaken by the City of Buffalo, subject to the exceptions contained herein. B. The City of Buffalo Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board shall review all new street construction, street reconstruction and street maintenance projects undertaken by the City of Buffalo and shall provide consultation regarding its implementation as a complete street. C. The inclusion folding travel cosmetic bag of bicycle and pedestrian facilities shall be mandated in all new street construction, street reconstruction and street maintenance projects undertaken by the City of Buffalo unless one of the following conditions exists: (1) Bicyclists and pedestrians folding travel cosmetic bag are prohibited by law from using the facility. In this case, alternative facilities and accommodations for pedestrians and bicyclists shall be provided within the same transportation corridor as determined by the Commissioner of Public Works, Parks and Streets. (2) The cost of establishing bikeways or walkways would be disproportionate to the need or probable use. Costs shall be considered disproportionate for purposes of this section if the cost of including bicycle and pedestrian facilities exceeds 20% of the cost of the larger project. (3) Where the existing right-of-way does not allow for sidewalks, bike lanes, paths or other improvements. In this case, the Commissioner shall explore alternatives such as the use of revised travel lane configurations, paved shoulders, signage, traffic calming, education or enforcement to accommodate pedestrians, cyclists and persons with disabilities. If the Commissioner makes said determination, he shall reduce it to writing and file it with appropriate supporting documentation with the Common Council and Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board for its information and review. (4) Where the Commissioner determines that the inclusion of bicycle and/or pedestrian facilities on a roadway would constitute a threat to the health, safety and/or welfare to the motorists and/or pedestrians and bicyclists of the City of Buffalo. If the Commissioner makes said determination, he shall confirm it in writing and file it with appropriate supporting documentation with the Common folding travel cosmetic bag Council and Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board for its information and review. § 413-70. Planning, design and maintenance of facilities. Bicycle and pedestrian facilities will be planned, designed, developed and maintained in accordance with guidelines adopted by the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT), New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) or other guidelines approved by the City of Buffalo.   Observations made - existing conditions: - Two Lanes of Traffic folding travel cosmetic bag Linwood is configured as a 38 foot wide one way northbound street with parking allowed on both sides of the street folding travel cosmetic bag except between the hours of 6pm and 11pm on weekdays as follows 8' parking - 11' travel - 11' travel folding travel cosmetic bag - 8' parking - Low Traffic Volume Traffic counts taken by the GBNRTC show an average of 3200 vehicles per day (year 2012 count) on the busiest section of Linwood (between folding travel cosmetic bag Utica and Ferry). This volume of traffic could easily be accommodated by a single lane of traffic. - High Speeds Cars traveling at speed that appear to be well in excess of the 30 mile per hour speed limit. GBNRTC data from 2012 shows that on the block between Utica and Ferry, only 25% of vehicles are traveling at or below 30 mph. 15% of vehicles are traveling at speeds higher than 40 mph. (GBNRTC data attached) - On several visits to the street over the last 2+ weeks I have noticed a number of cyclists riding in each direction.   Alternatives considered: folding travel cosmetic bag Reinstall existing folding travel cosmetic bag condition - Does not address Complete Streets or provide any traffic calming Convert Linwood folding travel cosmetic bag Avenue to two way traffic - 8' parking - 11' vehicle with "sharrow" - 11' vehicle folding travel cosmetic bag with "sharrow" - 8' parking - Traffic signal systems would need to be re