Buffalo Rising Online

Does this mean that traffic engineers are not going to be the sole and dominant voice in creating our roadways? How does this legislation (without knowing the details) going to affect the DOT and their omnipresent perspective that unless you are servicing cars first and foremost it isn't a 'doable' project?

I love the legislation and hopefully will give that voice some weight in the decision making process like it says.

So does this mean Hertel is getting new bike locks fashioned from parking meters?

So willl this mean we can see vast improvements along Church St. Tupper, Pearl/Tupper, Delaware Ave. along Forest Lawn and more?

My understanding is that this only applies to a street if it is being worked on. So, unless Delaware, Church, etc are being rebuilt, there is no mandate to change them. However, it certainly sounds as if the Council is behind the idea of making Buffalo a more bike friendly place and may be open to plans to increase the number of bike lanes in Buffalo. Delaware Ave would be tough because it isn't wide enough and reducing it to one lane would cause traffic congestion, but why not Elmwood? Is it wide enough to add a bike lane?

This smells alot like an un-funded mandate!

how is it unfunded? When roads come up for repairs/repaving or rebuild the planning process needs to take into account all users. Should be a no brainer in an urban environment, sadly it was not. Hopefully they follow through on these quidelines and don't ignore them like the other master plans.

I wish they would neck down this section of North and South Division/Church to resemble Clinton/Broadway/Court. Maybe as part of the Main St Redo in 10 years or so? This three lane speedway is a needlessly difficult to cross due to high speeds it promotes and it cuts off the Ballpark, Pearl St Brewery etc places south from the blocks north.

Unfunded in that is a resolution by the city council...it would be similiar to the council passing a resolution stating their desire to creat 10,000 jobs by 1/1/09 or passing a resolution stating that we need to clean up our lake...all well in good, however, it has no bite behind it. Sure it sounds nice, but show me some results. In summation...Talk is cheap! (especially from this council)

Elmwood is wide enough for bike lanes. It exceeds the requirement for 2 lanes of traffic, 2 lanes of parking, and 2 bike lanes by like 2 feet. I want to say the requirement is something like 45 feet and Elmwood is 47.

It does have money behind it because every time a road gets repaired and reconstructed.. which happens with regular consistency it will be brought up to this new standard. This isn't something that says everything will become a complete street overnight but is a way to move forward.

sounds like a liberal love fest. Bring your condoms, boys!

The main street reconstruction project is going to going to walk the walk. It was (the last I saw) a well designed road that did balance everyones take. Bike lanes and bump out were a part of the plan. We shall see what gets value engineered out of it though.

very good stuff.

Having faced the resistance to the Complete Streets concept in suburban Cleveland firsthand, I can only say that this is fantastic for Buffalo. Maybe there is hope for progressive planning in Buffalo.

It's a good start, and maybe with the current gas prices, some people will actually consider biking...not that I expect the politicians to do so after the photo-op is passed. Perhaps we could push to make parking meters more expensive, and the Metro a little cheaper.