Working 12 to 14 hour a day don't help when I need to write this blog post so I do miss a lot of things that I should be writing about, but I cannot pass this up. It has come to my attention that the city of San Antonio isn't interested in providing the protected bikeway south of Josephine that virtually all people who ride a bicycle in San Antonio wants. From the grapevine, I hearing that VIA is standing in the way of a Protected Bikeway because they would like to see future rapid transit go down Broadway. I am also going to tie in a public announcement going around asking you to stop at red lights.
I discovered that this public announcement on the Chain Reaction San Antonio Facebook Page and other friends timelines asking cyclist to stop at red lights so they don't hate us so much. I'm here to inform you stopping at all the red lights while riding your bicycle will not make motorist stop hating you.
There's a reason why people who ride are happy and that's simply because when you exercise, your body produces endorphins. When you are in operation of a motor vehicle, you are more likely to get angry because you are sitting down, not moving and stuck inside a cage, literally. Having to stop your car constantly creates stress so when you happen to see someone run the red light on two wheels, well you're pissed off. It's not just having to stop and go, stop and go and not hit the idiot in front of you, but you're worried about your finances because you barely make ends meat, you don't have money to pay for the deferred maintenance on the car your driving let alone gas and you need a car to get by. And now, a fucking cyclist who can't keep up with your car is slowing you down. Unless that driver is aware of the law, he or she will be thinking that damn cyclist should be on that non existing sidewalk that the driver cannot see because they're sitting so low to the ground. Let's not forget that angry driver will be unaware of the law, City of San Antonio (Code 1959, § 38-52)
Sec. 19-286. - Driving or parking on sidewalks prohibited.
(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to drive or propel or park or stand any vehicle upon any sidewalk.
So I have a question to ask anyone, how is having people stopping at red lights and stop signs going to make that motorist happy? I run red lights all the time and I know that's it's against the law. But I found that in many cases, it's safer to run that red light then it is for the motorist violates the 3ft rule passing me as I ride through an intersection after the light has turned green. What makes motorist the most happy in my experience is when you're waiting at a red light, (yes I don't run them all) that you get out of their way and allow them to make that right turn. Another thing is when your in the left lane waiting for the light to turn green, is to go strait across the intersection and then go left By doing this you allow the car behind that were waiting behind you to speed away and pass you at the same time.
My rules for running a red light is located at the end of this blog post.
A thing that the city could do to encourage people on bicycles to stop at red lights is to build the necessary Protected Bikeways for they encourage people to stop at red lights and in my travels to other cities that I rode, I see people stopping at red lights more often when they're in a protected bikeway but not always in a bike lane. Now this brings me to Broadway for I have heard that VIA is now the biggest opposition to a protected bikeway. You've probably have seen my post on FB and Instagram asking people to email richard.grochowski@sanantonio.gov of the engineer in charge of the project. Well we need to contact VIA by clicking here. When on the page, click on "Submit Online Comments Here". In the first box, choose ". Let them know that you want them to put a Protected bicycle lane instead of Rapid Transit. Also sending tweets and posting on their Facebook page will also help.
If you want me to explain what a "Stroad" is, please watch this video.
Here's the dilemma. Do we as a city want cars to go fast, or are we serious about Vision Zero? For if we want motor vehicles to go fast, well we really should rethink the entire project and turn Broadway and N Alamo into one way stroads. To make these one way stroads into compliance with Vision Zero, then we are going to need a protected bikeway both down N Alamo and Broadway due to the fast moving motor vehicles.
Now if we want to encourage development along Broadway, we're going to have to slow down the motor vehicles including VIA's buses, reduce the travel lanes from 4 to 2. The decision has to be made on what the final goal for this project should look like. VIA should be advocating for one way stroads if they want faster buses along with protected bicycle lanes to keep the slow moving bicycles out of buses way.
Now if you remember the last city election in 2017 I had a voters guide and in that guide, I had a question that asked, Will you make sure Broadway has a protected bicycle lane from Houston to Hildebrand? Well I'll be holding the Mayor Nirenberg and Councilman Trevino to account for this if it's not in the final plans come march, then well, these two people will not be recommended by me or this blog. So please let the mayor, the councilman Trevino know when you email them.
Always remember that it is illegal in 49 states to run a red light on your bicycle. The exception is the Idaho Law.
Always treat a red light as a stop sign and COME TO A COMPLETE STOP. Look left and look right. when the intersection is clear and you know you have time to make it safely acroos, proceed.
When approaching a red light with cars waiting DO NOT GO AROUND THE CARS. Wait behind the car until the light turns green and the car proceed.
When riding in bicycle lane and you're approaching a red light, look for the cars with their right blinkers on and wait behind them. Treat the person behind the wheel of the car with their right blinker as if they aren't paying attention. Stay behind the vehicle until they make their turn then proceed. Make eye contact with the person behind the car with the blinker and stare at them for a few seconds. Always remember if you get hit by a car running a red light, it is your fault.
And those are the rules that I follow when I decide to run a red light.
Gone are the days that to get on this list, all you had to do was build a bunch of hike and bike trails. Today, there's hike and bike trails galore stretching hundreds of miles. If you ever get the chance to visit a small town in Iowa, you are very likely to come across one. In southwest Ohio, there are several trails stretching from Cincinnati to to just north of Dayton, even to Columbus. Every city/town in the United States is basically copying Austin, Texas to improve their community.
A friend of mine ask me to ask you to help him get a list of bicycle friendly businesses so they could be asked to contact The League of America Bicyclists. If you know of any business that would like to be listed as a bicycle friendly business, please have them visit http://bikeleague.org/business.
Now if you ever read "Why San Antonio Don't Deserve Bronze," you would know how I feel about the League's grading system. Although having more bicycle friendly businesses would help to expand San Antonio standing, it will not be enough to make San Antonio make the list in 2018. If San Antonio is to be back on the Bicycling Magazine bicycle friendly list, we are going to have to build protected bicycle lanes. If this recent Rivard Report story on the Broadway is any indication, we'll never be on this list ever again.
Below, you'll find the cross sections that were featured on the Rivard Report story with my cross sections right below them. In Each and everyone of them, I show how there's plenty of room to put a two way protected bicycle lane. I'll be going in order, from north to south.
Starting at Hildebrand, we have a 100 feet to work with. In the proposed rendering, you see a bicycle lane at either end. Well this doesn't have to be for there's plenty of room not for just a two way protected bicycle lane, but also for on street parking. (Image 60.3)
60.3
The next one is from Allensworth to Tulet. Even though they have a 10ft protected bicycle lane, it is recommend by NACTO that bicycle lanes are at least 6ft wide. I decided to add on street parking, because there's plenty of room for that too. And keeping with having trees in the turn lane, I did that too. (Image 60.4)
60.4
I don't know why they couldn't even add the protected bicycle lane that they started from Allensworth down to Josephine. There's plenty of room for that too. (Image 60.5)
60.5
Any proposals that are made south of Josephine must be able to incorporate the yearly Battle of Flowers Parade. In their proposal, there's no bicycle lanes. But if we remove the center turn lane, we will gain the room to put in either bicycle lanes or a protected bicycle lanes with removable planters or barriers. Knowing the City of San Antonio, they won't do this. (Image 60.6)
60.6
As We go further south, again we see no proposed bicycle lane, nor on street parking, the reason why this part of Broadway had it's bicycle lane removed back in 2010. Again this is where the Battle of Flowers parade goes down and taking that into account, we can have the protected bicycle lane with the removable barrier and what the businesses want, on street parking. (Image 60.7)
60.7
Even From Houston To 3rd, there's plenty of room for both parking on both sides of the street and a two way protected bicycle lane. (Image 60.8)
60.8
If these illustrations that were featured on the Rivard Report tells me anything, it tells me that the City is not serious about Vision Zero,(#VisionZero) but are for making sure that driving a car as enjoyable as possible.
I'm starting to notice a frightening trend here in San Antonio. Bicycle lanes are being removed from parts of San Antonio. The two so far that I am aware of is the northbound lane on Broadway at Jones and the second one, not a bicycle lane, but a shoulder nonetheless on Fredricksburg Rd.
If you read my previous posts on improving Broadway, you would have seen my cross-section on that part of Broadway which I called it the 281 Section. Today, the new development decided that we don't need a bicycle lane. (Image67.1) That on street parking is more important than providing a safe place for `people to ride their bicycles.
67.2
I contacted several people and since I was talking off the record , I am unable to provide contact info. This is what I learned when I talked to these individuals. City Council had no way to stop the removal of the bike lane. San Antonio Transportation and Capital improvements are designing a pretty sign to tell you, the cyclist to go onto the sidewalk. I didn't get a chance to ask if SAPD will give us tickets if we go onto the sidewalk but I'm assuming no. If you happen to get a ticket for riding on the sidewalk, please contact me. The main thing that will make this lousy solution not work is that there will be no ADA ramp back into the bike lane that is already left. (Image 67.2)
If you want to complain at somebody, call the district 1 Councilman Robert C Trevino (Info at the bottom) and the private engineer firm (Image 67.3) that said that removing a bicycle lane was okay. That's the only thing I can tell you what to do in protest.
67.4
The second is the new park at the intersection of Fredricksburg and De Chantle (Image 67.4). Where there was a shoulder to ride in safely, now a curb and a tiny sidewalk was built. For the record, they only removed the northbound shoulder. Instead of leaving well enough alone, they decided that the space surrounding the left turning vehicles needed extra protection, so they created these painted barriers directing traffic around the center turn lane. (Image67.5) I find it ironic that if you go up just one block to Williamsburg, (Image67.6) you'll see the original paint pattern, and there seems to be no need to remove a shoulder to protect left turning cars.
67.5
67.6
67.7
As Halloween rolled around I came across this picture tweet from David Killmon. He wanted to dress up in the most frightening costume he could think of, so he dressed up as a construction sign saying the bicycle lane is closed. (Image67.7) I have a saying that goes, it takes a dead person to put in a traffic light and a crosswalk. I can only hope that it doesn't take a tragedy to fix this mistake.
District 1 Robert C Trevino City Hall
P.O. Box 839966
San Antonio, TX 78283
Office Line: 210.207.7279 Constituent Office
1310 Vance Jackson
San Antonio, TX 78201
Field Office Line: 210.207.0900
Images:
67.1: Viewing South on Broadway showing newly constructed parking where a bicycle lane use to be.
67.2: Showing the end of the sidewalk construction where no ADA ramp was installed.
67.3: The Engineer Consulting firm info advertising their destructive work.
67.4: Viewing North on Fredricksburg Rd showing the Shoulder disappearing.
67.5: Viewing north on Fredricksburg Rd Showing added painted lines around the center turn lane at De Chantel.
67.6: Viewing north on Fredricksburg Rd Showing the intersection at Williansburg.
67.7: Tweet from @kohidave with him wearing his Halloween Costume. Link to tweet: https://twitter.com/kohidave/status/792946517443092480
As I write this post, It's coming up to the 2nd anniversary of this blog. Two years ago, I've seen the city of San Antonio change it's mind from putting bicycle lanes in the right place to putting them down streets that really don't need them. The latest example can be found on Trinity and Martin and San Jacinto and Martin. Narrower lanes do make the streets better, but it's been my experience that a bicycle lane would do more good down Colorado and/or Martin. Since the start of this blog, the city has gone from actually building stuff that works, to just building stuff which I'm dubbing "green smoke." It's there to say "hey, we're making a progress" when in fact they're not. Since I'm not spending a lot of time in San Antonio like I use to, I would have updated my latest Useless bicycle lanes, so far, nothing has really change in this regard. It's like we went back to 2008 to when we as a city was just talking about the future of bicycle lanes and alternative transportation infrastructure.
It also seems like I predicted the future in someways when it comes to the future of rail in San Antonio. As I wrote back in December of 2014 in the post Streetcar IV: The Future of Rail in SA, I wrote the following, quote:
"Union Pacific Railroad
will also stand in the way like one of their freight trains blocking
traffic at a railroad crossing. They dragged their feet when it came to
the linear creekway trails going underneath their railroad tracks. I'm
personally counting on Union Pacific to seal those feet in cement to
prevent that train from getting next to the Westside Multimodal Center, and even further to Blue Star and Elmendorf."
Fast forward to 2016 and the announcement from Union Pacific Railroad that they will no longer be in negotiations with the Lone Star Rail District in the use of their railroad right of way between Austin and San Antonio. In some ways, I did call it, but not really. When I wrote that paragraph, I was referring to a possible future passenger rail on the railroad track that parallels I-10 on the northwest side. When I heard that the city was taking the Austin/San Antonio Commuter Rail seriously, I was shocked and for once I saw hope. But that has since changed, and today, I'm convince that the only passenger rail we'll ever have is the Brackenridge Eagle. Hope I'm wrong.
51.1
As I look back from my Streetcar Series, I see some hope taking place. In the recent competition of BYOBroadway, (image 51.1) I saw the stuff I wrote about come to life. As I read the stories from the Rivard Report on the 6 top finalist, I came to see my park come alive that I wrote about back in August of 2014 underneath US 281 and the I-35 interchange. In my twitter feed I said that I wasn't worried about getting any credit for seeing the competition and I'm not. Seeing the competition BYOBroadway was credit enough for what I wrote down two years earlier.in my blog post Streetcar Part III, No Need for Streetcars Down Broadway. Now I can only hope that some of those ideals including mine will be included and rebuilt. Also a warning to engineers redesigning Broadway, if you keep the center turn lane, we won't get the desired results that we're all want which is a nice place to walk.
51.2
I even entered the competition myself basically submitting what I put forth two years ago on this blog. I did however change the Midtown section a bit in one of the cross sections (image 51.2) where I put both bike lanes on the Brackenridge side. But I said that this was a bad ideal because knowing what San Antonio Transportation and Capital Improvements do to the bicycle signals. Basically they're going to do what they did to the Hemisfair protected bicycle lane, make the bicycle signal not the same as the motor vehicle signal. If Chicago can keep their bicycle light green with the motor vehicle green light, so can San Antonio. (Image 51.3)
51.3
As I close this blog, I wonder what the next two years are going to bring. I wonder if we will actually get those lights fixed along the Hemisfair protected bicycle lane, will we see rail back on the ballot, or will we see my worse predictions come true like SATomorrow2040 just being there to add more lanes to our freeways. I still want to see several changes to the law to take place like not having it be illegal to ride on the sidewalk, like not having it to be illegal to ride your bicycle after dark on the linear creekways. But knowing San Antonio's government track record, doing those improvements won't be living up to the saying Keep San Antonio Lame.
Images:
51.1: BYOBroadway banner
51.2: My cross section of Broadway of the midtown section facing north with the protected bicycle lane on the Brackenridge side.
51.3: Comparing the bicycle signals which are green with the motor vehicle green light in Chicago. The Chicago picture was taken in November 2015 at the corner of S Dearborn and W Harrison looking north. The San Antonio picture was taken at Commerce and I-37 looking South.
Sorry for the wait, but as usual my life has been busy. Since I got a new job and my hours have change, I'll be changing the publishing day to Monday or Tuesday every week and I'm still committed to publishing every week.
Also, I'll be creating two new pages, one, of important meetings that cyclist or concern citizens should attend to make San Antonio a real place, and two, one of bicycling related events that are taking place in San Antonio. Streetcar Part III, No Need for Streetcars Down Broadway.
Now lets get one thing strait, I was a streetcar supporter. Why you ask, because even this slow, lousy system would be a plus to our transit system that sucks. It would have gotten some political supporters that "choice users" bring to the transit discussion that San Antonio currently lacks, and most of all, I wouldn't have to worry about a bike rack being full especially on a rainy day for I would be able to take my bicycle aboard and not just the minimum three allowed and most of all, maybe a chance to actually get a protected bike lane on Broadway. I also felt that this was a scheme in Via's long range plan from the former CEO, Keith Parker, now in charge of Atlanta, GA MARTA in which he said, that once you build it, the people are going to change their tune from the current "rail sucks" to "when are you going to bring it to my neighborhood." I felt that after they build it, they would have eventually either expanded the system to include more of the city like out to Loop 410 with faster speeds, or put light rail back on the ballot like back in 2000.
19-1
The more and more I heard about the development results of the streetcar, the more I felt that the goal of the Streetcar was based on the McKinney Ave Streetcar (Image 19-1, 19-2) in the Uptown neighborhood in Dallas which to me seems to be a place a lot like La Cantera. It was the dream of Mayor Hardberger to connect the Pearl with the rest of Downtown and the streetcar would have done that.
Back in September 2013, I went to Dallas to see the new transit service to the largest city that lacks transit service, Arlington, TX; although, what I found was disappointing, I also wanted to ride with the Dallas Critical Mass to get their opinion on how they deal with McKinney Ave Streetcar tracks for which they said they treat it like any other street with lots of pot holes.
19-2
19-3
That night as we rode, they took me to a place called the Truck Yard just off of Greenville Ave, and there I discovered a place that was the pinnacle of what good urbanism brings out, a First Friday every night, or at least every weekend. For those of you who don't know what First Friday is, well think of the Pearl Farmers Market is every Saturday morning. It was after that that I finally realize that we don't really need a streetcar to achieve development goal of what the Streetcar promised,(Image 19-3) but what we really need to do is create the foundation of a neighborhood that creates the conditions that makes a really happening place.
19-4
To create that foundation of development that was sought with the Streetcar, we need to fix the problem that is currently found on Broadway or for that matter, the entire downtown where the Streetcar was planned to travel down.
Before the big sidewalks were added, Greenville was much like Broadway is currently. A stroad with fast moving, many lanes of traffic and nothing happening along it. Today, Greenville Ave is a place is much like South Alamo but with super size sidewalks. Even though S Alamo lacks the big sidewalks, the concept is virtually the same, two lanes of slow moving traffic with sidewalks protected by plants or parked vehicles, and a community that is allowed to reinvent itself. Broadway is the opposite of that with fast moving cars, multiple lanes of traffic and tiny sidewalks with no protection from traffic full of obstacles like this bus stop at Fourth and Broadway.(Image 19-4) It's a Stroad in every sense, every space for cars, not much for anything else. We also need to fix the zoning when it comes to new development and make it more flexible, such as no parking minimums with new development.
19-5
19-6
You can tell just by looking at the area around Greenville Ave that it's a happening place and not just by the dancing frogs on top of the Taco Cabana.(Image 19-5) The sidewalks that are here use to be vehicle lanes (Image 19-6) and because there's a space for parking the cars along the street, it provides that barrier between the moving vehicle traffic and the pedestrian activity. Here's my 6 minute video of the place across the street from the Trader Joes. In this video you'll see what is making Greenville Ave a great place and what is missing from Broadway, Slow moving Traffic and good sidewalks.
19-7
For this purpose, I'm only going to focus on Broadway and not other stroads that the Streetcar would have went down. Now the Streetcar was planning to go as far north as Josephine St, but for our purposes, we can actually include the part of Broadway as far north as Hildebrand due to the fact that my fixes won't cost $270 million and the fact that the stroad scape is the same. I've divided Broadway into three parts, (Image 19-7) the first part is the Broadway that has 7 lanes, 6 travel and one center turn lane is the Midtown Section. The part goes underneath the freeway I call the 281 section, and finally, the Downtown Section from Jones to Martin, where we have useless sharrows, narrow sidewalks and to the rest of the general public, abandon buildings. (Image 19-22)
Also for the examples, I'll be using cross sections illustrations like the one below which is how Broadway is pretty much designed today.(Image 19-8) All cross sections illustrations will face north and all lanes have been measured by me on the actual stroad in this case, Broadway. Through these cross section illustrations, I'll be demonstrating the possibilities for Broadway and use this same form for other stroads in future posts. In this cross section illustration(Image 19-8) you see the term "bus lane." For our purposes, this is a regular drive lane where you're most likely to see the bus traveling in.
Midtown Section
19-8
The Midtown section starts from Hildebrand Rd and goes to Casa Blanca. I written about this section before in other blogs such as Two accidents that didn't need to happen, and #sasidewalkssuck. Here you have 1 center turn lane, and 6 drive lanes. Much of the 5ft sidewalks in this section live up to the hashtag #sasidewalkssuck. The Streetcar would have made the sidewalks wider along this part of Broadway, at least to Josephine, and perhaps added some parking in what is now that right 10ft lane. To improve Broadway, the cheapest thing we could do to improve this stroad is to turn that right 10ft drive lane into a buffered bike lane or a protected bike lane by poles. (Image 19-9) By doing this we make it feel a little safer to walk and bicycle along by removing the fast moving traffic that is now next to the sidewalk.
19-9
The Problem with this design comes when we get to the bus stop. You see, currently if a Via bus wishes to stop along Broadway with the Cheapest concept in place, it will have to invade the buffered bike lane. So lets add a small bus stop island (Image 19-10) so the cyclist can keep cycling and the bus can stop without having to worry about running over a cyclist.
19-10
But lets face it, if we are to really improve Broadway, the way the streetcar would have done, we're going to have to remove that center turn lane and put down some on street parking. Here (Image 19-11) is what the city should be proposing to this part of Broadway. I call this the "Ideally Concept" where I reduce the number of drive lanes from Current (Image 19-8) six lanes to four lanes. I remove the center turn lane and put that space for parking on the west side of Broadway and made the sidewalks bigger. Now remember, your always looking north on my cross sections illustrations and the reason why I put the parking on the west side, (the Witte Museum side) is because that's the side on which you'll find Brackenridge Park and businesses without on street parking for the most part. I did my measurements for the Midtown Section in front of the Tuk Tuk Taproom,
so all measurements are to that area, however, the Right Of Way,
that's the Government property part of Broadway, gets a little bit bigger
as you go further north so these things could be widen a bit.
19-11
Now to put in the bus stops with the "Ideally Concept," I put in two different versions. On the west side of Broadway, we remove the parking lane and put in a bus stop island with Shelter. (Image 19-12) For the east side, since the bus stops aren't as big like the current bus stop at Lions Field park, I've decided to go with the bus stop island being about 4ft wide.(Image 19-13) This way, no matter what side your on, you'll always have a protected bike lane without having to worry about a bus making a stop in the bike lane.
19-12
19-13
Now Traffic flow is important for this Stroad is a major thoroughfare. But we need less of the stroad and more of a famed Boulevard (BLVD) design. So reducing the number of driving lanes from six to four, we reduces the current scene of cars trying to out run each other. By reducing the travel lanes from 6 to 4 and removing the center turn lane, we also reduce the amount of distance a person on foot has to cover when they do cross Broadway from 74ft (Image 19-8) to 44ft (Image 19-12). And with the protected bike lanes, we create a safe place for both person on foot and on bike.
281 Section
19-14
This section as indicated in Image 19-7, is between Casa Blanca and Jones. It's also the section underneath the interchange of I-37/US 281and I-35. In this section, (Image 19-14) you currently have a 5ft bike lane, four 11ft drive lanes and one 10ft center turn lane. Not much improvement needs to be done to this section, for the 5ft bicycle lanes does provide some type of barrier between the traffic and the sidewalk. We could use some wider sidewalks, but as a cyclist, I don't want to give up on my bike lanes. So to do this, we need to remove that 10ft center turn lane and put that 10 ft to the sidewalks and a barrier to make a protected bike lane. We can also put in some Bus Stop Islands with out having to reduce the driving lane width and not having to reduce the walkability.
19-15
19-16
Now We've done our improvements to this Section to the street scape, we now have to figure out how to use all this green space underneath the bridges. Has anyone ever thought as this space as a city park? Up until about mid August 2014, there was a small pond that formed underneath one of the bridges (Images 19-17, 19-18) and across the stroad, you'll see a dog park (Image 19-16). Here's my question, why can't we have a bigger dog park that takes advantage of the shade that this exit ramp from I-35N to I-37S bridge produces? And this rain water created pond, back in June and July, I saw several species of birds including a pair of Black Belly Whistling ducks with a family of duckings as well as a Green Heron gorging on tadpoles, and other bug aquatic life. (Image 19-17). Currently the pond has dried up, but given another big rainstorm, it will be back.
19-17
19-18
19-19
City Parks and open space for that matter has been known for years helps with making people happier and healthier. It's that touch of nature that makes city living better. When we lack green spaces in the form of city parks, gardens and trails, we make our communities just a little bit of a dimmer place to be in and take it from me, San Antonio lacks a lot of parks for people to play and relax in.
Downtown Section
19-20
19-21
This is where the Streetcar would have served the entire section. It is also the section where even though we are pretty much in downtown, we have a bunch of abandoned buildings, or at lest to the general public, they are abandoned.(Image 19-21) It's also the section where we would have seen most of the development that the streetcar promised to delivered.(Image 19-3) But look at what is wrong with it right now, you have an abandoned street scape with narrow sidewalks, useless sharrows (Image 19-22) with places that nobody goes to unless they work there. It's pretty much a dump even though it's like two blocks from the Riverwalk Museum Reach. Now the cheapest thing we could do to improve this section of Broadway is to remove that god awful 16ft lane with the useless sharrow/parking lane (Image 19-20) and bring back the bicycle lane, but that would make it somewhat safer for us cyclist, but that's it. (Image 19-23) And this stretch of Broadway use to have bike lanes, but somebody thought that parking was more valuable, but go there on any day of the week, and tell me, who in the hell is parking on Broadway because for the most part, I barely see two vehicles, maybe three. If Spock from Star Trek said that "the needs of the many, outweigh the needs, of the few," wouldn't a painted bike lanes serve more people instead of just three or four individuals with parking spaces for a car?
19-22
Now I don't know what the street scape was going to look like with a streetcar, but my general feeling it would have looked something like this, with improved wider sidewalks.(Image 19-23)
19-23
Now we just don't need Improved sidewalks, we also need a zoning ordinances that will encourage the type of development that the streetcar would have brought, but before we play with the zoning ordinances, we need to make it a more comfortable place to be walking.
19-24
We have 76ft to play with, and we could do a whole bunch of designs, but this is where I cannot decide what is the best choice for the Downtown Section of Broadway. So the question should be asked, do you want Broadway to have flowing traffic, or do you want it to be like Greenville Ave in Dallas? You have to remember, Broadway is one of those important corridors for the city for it is sandwich between a freeway, and a military base. Now in all of my Cross Sections, I have a protected bicycle lane and that's simply because protected bike lanes bring out cyclist and reduce injury risk by 90% and from my experience of riding the one in Austin on Guadalupe St, it's way nicer than riding in traffic with useless sharrows.
The reason why they took out those bike lane in the first place back in 2011, was because there was no on street parking. Well if parking is really that necessary, then this is how The Downtown Section of Broadway should be designed. It should be designed with a Center Turn lane, two drive lanes and two parking lanes on both sides, but this design keeps the sidewalks living up to the hashtag #sasidewalkssuck.
19-25
Now here's the question, do we need parking for both sides of Broadway? If we do, then the concept you see above (Image 19-25) is what we're going to get, but if we want wider sidewalks and keep the traffic flowing, we're going to need to keep the center turn lane, and we're going to need to remove a parking lane from one side of the street. The question is, which side should that be on? For my suggestion, lets put it on the east side of Broadway and add that space that we've taken away from the parking, to the bike lanes and sidewalks. And because we've added space to the sidewalks, lets plant some trees which are lacking right now on this part of Broadway.(Image 19-26)
19-26
For the Bus stops, let's add the 4 ft bus stop islands on either side, only this time when we put it on the east side, we put the bus parking place where the parking lane is. On the West side, I simply added a bus stop island allowing for vehicles to pass in the center turn lane like they do currently on S Flores where the city council voted to remove the lanes.(Image 19-27) We don't want to switch the traffic lanes from one side to the other block by block for that would create some confusion on where to drive and it will create some bad politics that we've experience like before with S Flores.
19-27
I've just showed you how we could improve Broadway with simply changes the way we lay out the street design for Broadway. Now remember, this isn't enough, we also have to change the zoning ordinances so we can allow the development to come from the ground up and we also have to leave room for traffic flow. This is possible, but as long as we have an unwillingness to allow transformation, slowing down vehicle speeds, and putting people on foot and bicycles first over personal motor vehicles, we'll never see a great place that could be Broadway.
Images
19-1: McKinney Ave Streetcar Stop in front of the Starbucks at 3699 McKinney Ave looking Southeast
19-2: McKinney Ave Streetcar Cityplace Station looking west.
19-3: Via Metropolitan Transit Streetcar advertisement claiming about the streetcar developments it would have brought to Downtown. 19-4: Via Metropolitan Transit Bus Stop at the corner of Broadway and Fourth looking north.
19-5: The Taco Cabana at 1827 Greenville Ave, Dallas Texas looking South
19-6: The View of the large Sidewalks on Greenville Ave at Prospect Ave looking south.
19-7: Google Satellite View of Broadway with illustrations showing the different sections of Broadway.
19-8: Cross Section Illustration viewing North on Broadway that is between Casa Blanca and Hildebrand
19-9: Cross Section Illustration viewing North on Broadway having the right drive lane turned into a buffered bicycle lane (Right) or a protected bike lane (Left) 19-10: Cross Section Illustration viewing North on Broadway with a bus stop island being placed over the Buffered Bicycle lane. 19-11: Cross Section Illustration Viewing North on Broadway. The Ideally Concept with 4 lanes of traffic, 1 parking lane, two 6ft protected bicycle lane and 7 1/2 ft of sidewalks on either side. 19-12: Cross Section Illustration Viewing North on Broadway. The Ideally Concept with the Bus stop island on the west side of Broadway.
19-13: Cross Section Illustration Viewing North on Broadway. The Ideally Concept with the bus stop on the East Side of Broadway.
19-14: Cross Section Illustration Viewing North on Broadway that is between Casa Blanca and Jones.
19-15: Cross Section Illustration Viewing North on Broadway. The Ideally Concept with Protected bicycle lanes and bus stop islands.
19-16: The Dog Park at the corner of Broadway and Roy Smith St looking Northwest.
19-17: The Pond During July underneath the bridge with a family of Black Bellied Whistling Ducks and a Green Heron. Viewed from Broadway eastward. 19-18: The Pond At around August 10, 2014. Viewed from Broadway eastward.
19-19: 3 Cyclist riding southbound in the bike lane on Broadway underneath 281 looking North.
19-20: Cross Section Illustration Viewing North on Broadway between Martin St and Jones.
19-21: Picture of one of the buildings that looks abandoned at the corner of 6th and Broadway looking West.
19-22: Picture of one of the Sharrows on Broadway in front of the DPT parking garage viewing North
19-23: Cross Section Illustration Viewing North on Broadway between Martin and Jones. My ideal concept on how Broadway would have looked if it added Modern Rail Streetcars.
19-24: A map of San Antonio illustrating how because of Fort Sam Houston and US 281, how Broadway is a "funnel" for traffic into downtown.
19-25: Cross Section Illustration Viewing North on Broadway Between Martin and Jones on how it would look if they removed the 16 ft right lane and turn it into a parking lane with a protected bicycle lane.
19-26: Cross Section Illustration Viewing North on Broadway Between Martin and Jones on the "Ideally Concept" would look like
19-27: Cross Section Illustration Viewing North on Broadway Between Marin and Jones on the "Ideally Concept" would look like with bus stops islands at either side of Broadway.
As the Mayor issued his Proclamation in support for National Bike Month, two people got into accidents on very busy stroads. The first was at Broadway near Hildebrand where Chase White was riding home on his Cannondale got hit by a SUV. The other was Jose Carlos Macy got sideswiped while riding on in the bike Lane where two cars were racing. Both are dangerous places to ride even with a bicycle lane but they don't have to be, the City of San Antonio has failed time and time again to provide safe places to ride your bicycles on major thoroughfares and from the looks of things, they ain't going to change anytime soon. April 29, 2014. Chase White:
5.1
Chase White, like other people ride daily on Broadway. On the night of April 29,(image 5.1) White was riding his bicycle in the right lane which is roughly 10 feet in width. This lane stretches from Hildebrand to Casa Blanca. As he was riding a SUV came along and rear ended him as he and the SUV entered the construction zone by Hildebrand. He had lights, but the person in the SUV didn't have the patience for sharing the road. He is lucky to be alive, he had a helmet which saved his life, but chances are, he will be buried in debt for medical bills and is officially out of work for a while.
Jose Carlos Macy thought he was safe riding in the bicycle lane on W Commerce St. (Image 5.2) Little did he and his friend knew, two cars decided to race down the stroad and he got dragged underneath the car. The car speed away leaving Jose to die. He wasn't wearing a helmet, and how could he, it really uncomfortable to wear one.
5.3
The Problem with Broadway, Chase White:
Broadway is one big stroad, and because of its location sandwich between US 281 / Olmos Basin and Fort Sam Houston, (Image 5.3) it is a very major thoroughfare between Downtown and the North East Side of town. Now we can blame the driver of the SUV who wasn't paying attention, we can blame Chase White for not yielding to the car, or we can blame the people who designed Broadway.
Broadway consist of one 12ft center turn lane, two 12 ft vehicle lanes and one 10ft vehicle lane.(Image 5.4) Imagine if they didn't have that 10 ft right lane, but a protected bicycle lane also known as a cycletrack. There's no reason for San Antonio to have 3 vehicle lanes going in the same direction. When you have more than two lanes, the cars race each other and overtake each other passing in every lane available whether it is the left lane or right lane. Just go sit at a bus stop along Broadway and you'll see the cars racing each other. But if they actually had a protected cycletrack like the one they have in Austin on Guadalupe St, (Image 5.5) then maybe Chase would still be working and would still have healthy pelvis.
W Commerce St is a one way stroad consisting of a 4ft bicycle lane in the left side of the street, two 14ft vehicle lanes and 10ft shoulder. (Image 5.6) Now I have had problems riding in this bicycle lane to where I don't ride in it anymore. I don't know how many time I almost got killed because a car wanted to make a left turn and couldn't give a damn that I was riding in that lane behind him. This same make up for the stroad going the other way, Buena Vista which also has the bicycle lane on the left hand side and should be kept out of. Now a days, when I find my self on W Commerce or Buena Vista, you'll find me riding in the 10ft shoulder. The good news, cars aren't always parked in it. You have all this space to your self that the other cars are keeping out, might as well use it.
5.6
Now every time I see screwed up designs here on the West, South and East sides, I wonder if it was intentionally put that way because of the Hispanics and Black people live out here. I have no evidence that this is a result of racial discrimination, but when you see the broken small sidewalks and the dangerous bicycle lane on the left hand side, I can only help but think that way. There are many more examples that I will point out in future blogs that has got to be the result of racism in these parts of town..
Now image if we were to shorten the 14ft vehicle lanes to 12ft and replace the 10ft shoulder with a two way cycle tracks. Imagine if that was in place on the night that Jose was riding home, he would probably would be alive right now. One of the two racing vehicles would have probably hit the barrier separating the vehicle lanes from the driving lanes and perhaps killing one of the drivers. Again, you don't have to travel far to see what could have save the life of Jose Carlos Macy. All you have to do is travel to Austin and ride down Rio Grande St by UT and you'll see a two way bicycle lane. You can also go to 2nd St there as well and take a look at that cycle track (Image 5.7). The reason why I want 2 way cycletracks on one way street is to reduce the conflict for when people have to go in the direction against the flow of traffic.
5.6
Now if your worried about the bus stops along these stroads, then I might recommend the bus island. There's no reason why the bus has to enter these protect bicycle lanes. This one in Austin along Guadalupe St is a perfect example on one and you don't have to travel to the Netherlands to see others in action. You can also use this same method to make safe passage for cyclist when it comes to streetcar tracks.
Why We Have What We Have:
Now you have to wonder why we have such screwed up infrastructure when it come to pedestrians and bicycles. So far my only finding in that regard is the city ordinance that you see below.
Sec. 19-66. Conformity with state manual.
All traffic-control signs, signals and devices installed or erected in
the city shall conform to the manual and specifications approved by the
state highways and public transportation commission. All signs and
signals required under this chapter shall so far as practicable be
uniform as to type and location throughout the city. All traffic-control
devices so erected and not inconsistent with the provisions of state
law or this chapter shall be official traffic-control devices.
State law reference— Similar provisions, Vernon's Ann. Civ. St. art. 6701d, § 31.
When I did a google search of
"state highways and public transportation commission," I came up links to TXDOT sites. Now there is an association I have heard called the American Association of State Highways and Transportation Officials (AASTHTO) which is a quasi government body that create the standards in which TXDOT and other DOT's go by. When I complained about the repainting of S Hackberry St, I was told that they went by these standards and was properly painted. This is my only conclusion to the reason why we have such lousy bicycle lanes, sidewalks and other bicycle/pedestrian infrastructure. It is because we are using standards that make highways, not friendly city streets. (Wikipedia Link)
There Are standards we can use to create the neighborhoods we want, but before we can actually impliment those standards, we're going to have to rewrite this law to use The National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO). This is the site on where I got my examples pictures for my first blog,An Introduction and South Flores Success. NACTO is a coalition of 15 of the largest cities in the United States with one Affiliated member, Austin, TX. And naturally, San Antonio is not a member, Keep San Antonio Lame. (Wikipedia Link)
5.8
Just think if we actually had the infrastructure that kept us safe, more people would be riding their bicycles and walking. And when more people ride their bicycles, it makes all of us safer. Just look at this chart (Image 5.9) from NYC, you can clearly see that in the city of New York that the number of cycling accidents were reduce while at the same time the number of cyclist actually increased. Other cities showed the same results from this LiveScience Article. There's no need for a helmet law, or other silly suggestion like "Share the Road." We've been trying these things for the better part of two decades and all they have solved was nothing. Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity. And that is what you'll continue to hear from city officials from the MPO, The City of San Antonio, and other Government agencies. It sounds nice, but if were asking people to share the road with motorcycles too, (Image 5.8) then we should know by know we're doing something wrong.
5.9
There is some good news in this, The city of San Antonio don't have any mandatory helmet laws and we're ain't going to get any. After all, the mayor don't want to reduce the number of B-Cycle trips everyday.
PS
Also your probably asking why I misspelled the Word Street. Well, I didn't, I am simply using a term we need to start using in identifying the problem with our infrastructure, The "Stroad"
Images:
Image 5.1: KSAT 12 News story of Chase White Accident.
Image 5.2: KSAT 12 News Story of Jose Carlos Macy
Image 5.3: My map showing how Broadway is a funnel
Image 5.4: Google Street Image of Broadway North of Funston Pl.
Image 5.5: My picture of the Cycletrack on Guadalupe St in Austin, TX across the street from UT
Image 5.6: Google Street Image of W Commerse St pass Sabinas
Image 5.7: My picture of 2nd St at Red River of the two way cycletrack. Notice how the signal lights are the same for car and bicycles but when they want the bicycle to go they go green while the ones for the cars stay red.
Image 5.8: A sign I found on Google search for Watch for Motorcycles.
Image 5.9: A chart I found showing the number of cyclist out there compared to the number of accidents in NYC. Source: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNAZCSbIVZWBWkxBkciVkvxuUv8LRY9Lb2_fQMQQhU0m3nCjG1VdXFQrR1gG-T4Af7E4W4cpVDZwl-JDuY1OzFPKOlrKblhIJGaMKCcpxqoFRrNJyeFg01Y98wnY2S5k7L_JYhWkdmUqqk/s1600/ridership_graph.jpg
Up Coming Bicycle Events
Ride of SilenceWhen: Thursday, May 15, 2014 6:30pm
Where: Halcyon/BlueStar Art Complex Description: A Bicycle ride honoring those who lost their lives. Frankenbike #48
When: May 17, 2014 10am to 4pm
Where: Red-D Bikes~ 120 Playmoor Suite B ~ 78210
Description: FrankenBike (n) A free bike swap meet held once a month in San Antonio,
Texas that is open to anyone who wants to buy, sell or trade bicycles
and bicycle related gear or parts.
Bike Beat Festival
When: Sat, May 17, 3pm – 11pm
Where: Main Plaza, San Antonio, TX Description: The 2nd Annual BIKE|BEAT features bike demos, live music, roller races, food trucks, giveaways and much more!
Up Coming Important Meetings If you want to make a difference, please attend. Walk & Roll Night (BMAC & PMAC joint meeting)
Where: VIA Metro Centre, 1021 San Pedro Avenue, San Antonio, TX
When: Wed, May 14, 5:30pm – 8pm Description:
The MPO Bicycle Mobility Advisory Committee and the Pedistrain Mobility
Advisory Committee talking about the current projects related to
pedestriand bicycle related. What Should you Say? You should mention this blog, blogsanantonio.blogspot.com. Not much unless you have a minor problem in your neighborhood.
S. Flores Street Improvement Community Meeting
When: Monday May 19, 2014 6pm to 7pm
Where: Cafeteria of Morrill Elementary School, 5200 S. Flores, San Antonio, TX
Description: City of San Antonio’s TCI Department
will present the alternate bicycle route as a result of community
feedback from public meetings held in December, March and April.
What Should you Say? Let them know that they don't need to have alternative bicycle routes and infact that what they did was a pretty good job and the bicycle lane is making it safe for us. You can also hand out this flyer to all those who think getting rid of the bicycle lane is a good ideal. Contact Jeanette Morin at 207-5011 or
Jeanette.Morin@sanantonio.gov
VIA’s South/West Corridor Study Public Meeting When: Tuesday May 20, 2014 6:00PM Where: Harlandale Community Center, 301 Sussex, 78221
When: Thursday May 22, 2014 6:00PM Where: The Neighborhood Place 3014 Rivas St, 78228
When: Wednesday, May 21, 2014 3pm to 6pm Where: Madla Transit Center
When Wednesday, May 21, 2014 6AM To 9AM Where Crossroads Park & Ride
Description: VIA is conducting a study to identify transit improvements along the South/West Connector
Corridor in the San Antonio region. The corridor study area includes Military Drive from
IH-37 on the east to General McMullen on the west; and General McMullen and Zarzamora
from Military drive on the south to Fredericksburg Road on the north. More info can be found here: http://www.viainfo.net/Planning/Corridor.aspx
What Should You Say? You should ask for more frequency on the crosstown routes and bicycle racks called bicycle hoods at bus stops. Also ask that via look into creating bus islands so the bike lane can go around a busy stop.
Open House: Improvements to I-35 (I might be able to attend this meeting.)
Where:
Central Catholic High School Elizondo Center (corner of Wilmington
Avenue and Dallas Street) 1403 St. Mary’s St. San Antonio, TX 78215
When: Wednesday,May 21, 2014 5 p.m. - 7 p.m.
Description: TxDOT invites you to an open house on proposed improvements for
Interstate 35. The project staff will be on hand to answer questions and
provide information. No formal presentation will be given. Attendees
are invited to come and go at their convenience.
TxDOT proposes improving I-35 between North Flores and New Braunfels
Ave. and between AT&T Parkway and Binz-Engelman Road. The proposed
project includes auxiliary lanes, ramp adjustments and other
improvements to improve mobility and enhance the operation and safety of
I-35 in this area What Should you say? Ask for
Bicycle lanes along the the frontage roads or mix use sidewalks and make sure they use the
City of San Antonio Bicycle Master Plan when making improvements. Also ask for these types of intersections so they can become safer for all users. https://vimeo.com/86721046
Open House - Improvements to US 90 from Loop 1604 to I-410
Where: Mary Lou Fisher Elementary School Cafeteria, 3430 Barrel Pass, San Antonio, TX 78245
When: Tuesday, May 27, 2014, 6:30pm - 8:30pm
Description: TxDOT invites you to an open house on proposed improvements for US 90
From Loop 1604 to I-410. The project staff will be on hand to answer
questions and provide information. No formal presentation will be given.
Attendees are invited to come and go at their convenience.
Proposed improvements along US 90 from LP 1604 to I-410 on the west side
of San Antonio are designed to improve operations and safety along this
section of US 90. The proposed improvements include:
Conversion of the two-way frontage roads to one-way operations
Relocation of entrance and exit ramps
Intersection improvements
What Should you say? Ask for bicycle lanes/Shoulder or a
mix use sidewalk along the proposed Frontage roads and Safe bicycle
lanes that stay to the right of the lane intersection. Also ask for these types of intersections so they can become safer for all users. https://vimeo.com/86721046
Upper Woodlawn Drainage Project Public Meeting
When: Tuesday, May 13, 2014 6:00 PM Where: Joe Ward Community Center 435 E. Sunshine, San Antonio, TX
What Should you Say?
Ask for a hike and bike trail along the drainage all the way too
Woodlawn lake as well as any increase size in the sidewalks that cross
over the drainage.... Contact: Peter Rodriguez at 207-8154
Skyplace Boulevard Extension Project Public Meeting
When: Thursday, May 15, 2014 6:00 PM Where: Northeast Service Center, 10303 Toolyard, 78233 What Should You Say?
Ask that the city makes sure that there is sufficient access to the
Salado Creek Trail and 6 ft bicycle lanes on each side of this street. Contact: David McBeth at 210-207-6342 or david.mcbeth@sanantonio.gov.
Bronco Lane Bridge Project Public Meeting When: Tuesday, May 20, 2014 6:30 PM Where: Virginia Gill Community Center, 7902 Westshire Drive, San Antonio, TX
What Should You Say? Ask that the Bridge has a minimum 6ft width sidewalks across with 25mph speed limits. No need for bicycle lanes. contact: Peter Rodriguez at 207-8154
Shaenfield Road Bridge Public Meeting
When: Wednesday, May 28, 2014 6:00 PM Where: Burke Elementary School Cafeteria, 10111 Terra Oak, San Antonio, TX
When: Tuesday, June 3, 2014 7:00PM Where: Burke Elementary School Cafeteria, 10111 Terra Oak, San Antonio, TX
What Should you Say?
Ask that the Bridge Contain 6ft bicycle lanes on either side with
extra stripping between the bicycle lane and the traffic as well as 6ft
sidewalks. Also ask them to remove the Turn Center lane and add that
space to the sides of the rd for bicycle lanes. Also Ask that they
abide by the Bicycle Master Plan as well. contact: Peter Rodriguez@ 207-8154 Frio City Sidewalks Public Meeting When: Thursday, May 29, 2014 6:00 PM Where: Collins Garden Branch Library 200 N. Park, San Antonio, TX
What Should you Say?
Ask that the Sidewalks are at least 6ft wide with neckdowns at every
intersection on the streets that connect with Frio City Rd. Demand that
a protected Bicycle lane is also added and that they abide by the
Bicycle Master Plan. If parking is added, demand that they put in the
parking as a barr.ier so that the bicycle lane is along the curb, and
the parking is a natural barrier to the bicycle and sidewalks. Also ask for these types intersections called "Protected Intersections" so they can become safer for all users. https://vimeo.com/86721046 contact: Peter Rodriguez at 207-8154
West Huisache Project Public Meeting When: Monday, June 02, 2014 6:00 PM Where: Young Women's Leadership Academy 2123 W. Huisache, San Antonio, TX
What Shold you Say?
This time, no bike lanes, this is a neighborhood street. It should
have neckdowns to keep traffic flowing slow with islands and speed
humps. It should also have 25MPH on this street. Putting a bicycle
lane down this street is just a waste of paint. Also ask for these types intersections called "Protected Intersections" so they can become safer for all users. https://vimeo.com/86721046 Contact: Peter Rodriguez@ 207-8154 or David Pulido @ 207-8128
