Let’s Complete Our Streets!
There is currently a national movement underfoot called complete streets and is led by a wide variety of groups that include AARP, Smart Growth America, League of American Bicyclists and the American Council of the Blind. In cities and states across the country this movement is quickly growing. And to date, over 50 jurisdictions have passed such policies including Seattle, Salt Lake City and the State of Illinois.
So what are complete streets? Well, I can assure you that it’s not for building more roads. On the contrary, complete streets is simply the idea that our roadways need to be available for everyone, whether young or old, motorist or bicyclist, walker or wheelchair user, bus rider or shop keeper. But currently, too many of our streets are designed only for speeding cars. They are unsafe on foot or bicycle and unpleasant for everybody.
If we continue to design our city for automobiles the result is that more people will drive and more parking for our cars will be needed. When cities become better places for automobiles they become less humane. We know that the design of our built environment determines a way of life and until we can define Buffalo as a city for people, a city that takes care of its most vulnerable citizens, persons with disabilities, seniors and youth, we will continue to be a less humane city an never able to capitalize on our full potential for rebirth..
Several National polls have indicated that more than half of Americans would like to bicycle more, walk more and drive less. However, a major contributing factor to low pedestrian and bicyclist utilization of community streets is the lack of infrastructure in place to accommodate their safe travel. Complete Street polices are being passed to ensure the routine inclusion and accommodation for all travelers, not just cars, and the benefits speak for themselves; improved safety, enhanced opportunities for physical activity, improved air quality, enhanced economic vitality and overall better quality of life.
In cities in New York State, across the country and throughout the world we are seeing a shift to create a balanced transportation system. This shift is changing the emphasis away from moving automobiles to moving people. The same philosophy goes for people as it does for automobiles, if you design streets that invite people to walk, bicycle or take public transit they take you up on the invitation.
To learn more about complete streets visit www.completestreets.org. The City of Buffalo’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board has recently filed a policy brief on complete streets with the city council with a proposed draft resolution for our city. If you believe Buffalo should complete its streets let your council member know.
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Biniszkiewicz
Hear, hear!
Far too often transportation engineers concern themselves only with efficiently moving vehicular traffic with no consideration whatsoever given to local residents and pedestrians. Make the pedestrian king in any number of neighborhoods (lower west side, for example) and watch as the improved vibe of the area attracts newer residents of greater means. Traffic needn't bisect residential areas (as is the case with, say, Virginia St., Carolina, Linwood, etc.). The point of traffic engineering ought be in large part directed toward improving the quality of life for those living WITHIN the neighborhood, rather than (as is currently the case) creating traffic patterns for the benefit of those simply commuting through the neighborhood to get somewhere else.
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NorPark
Yea, our streets are certainly not very safe at this point for a blind person riding their bike down the street at night, so we should do something about that. On a serious note though I like the idea, I love tooling around on the bike, going to the shops, and bars and what not, we just need more bike racks. I guess if we get the streets better situated for the biker, wheel chairer, and walker, we may see a spike in BWI arrests and such.
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al-alo
two things, first, and somewhat on the periphery, street lamps. the overhead lights on Delaware, Colvin, and everywhere are just monstrosities reminiscent of the Jersey Turnpike and not a city of Olmsted.
Secondly, for me, id love to see Colvin reduce to two auto lanes in each direction, and the elimination of parking on one side of the street for a bike lane to connect with Delaware Park, and eventually the bike lane down Delaware to Richmond.
The current alignment is unattractive, and reduces property values.
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Hoss
I want this so badly for Buffalo. When I hear they are reconstructing the next phase of Main Street without consideration for cyclists, I am deeply saddened. Though maybe/hopefully this has changed. This artery alone could & should be a connecting portal for all the students of UB south, Canisius, and Medaille colleges to get to downtown. This is tens of thousands of potential student cyclists. It would be nice to see more younger folks downtown at night and weekends, no?
Not only are the impacts of a healthier population and environment catamount to the success of any city. But in quality of life terms, things like bike lanes are a huge draw when it comes to the desirability of a particular city.
Of course, not all cities in good economic status with high cultural standings have expanded infrastructure for cyclists and pedestrians, but show me a metropolis that does have this kind of infrastructure that is failing. This is the type of infrastructure that brings people. Educated and motivated people. Young, just out of college types. These are the kind of people that generally possess a strong entrepreneurial spirit. A sprit that tends to bring and create jobs.
To all those that will surely complain that taxes are already too high for this type of expenditure, they need to understand, that our taxes are high because of the lack of population density. Improve the quality of life, make this place a desirable place to live, and the population will surely increase. Then, your taxes will lower.
I also am worried where one is going to be able to lock up their bikes after they pull down all the traditional parking meters in coming months. Any word on the city putting up some bike racks on the key retail strips?
I will write Mike LoCurto today in strong support of this initiative.
Keep up the good work Justin.
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peripatetic
Phase II of Main Street between Hertel and I-198 will be making same mistakes as Phase I. Unfortunately this section could readily accommodate bike lanes and street narrowing. City and DOT should go back and look at Phase I and see how well (or not) it works. For the most part they have made Main Street worse, particularly for pedestrians and bicyclists. Perhaps the BR readers could contact Council members Russel, Smith, and LoCurto about their desire for Main Street as a"complete street" . Colvin is in city bikeway plan. However, most city officials don't know or care judging by their handling of recent land use issues there.
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peripatetic
Al, The street lights are abysmal. Instead of selecting something that looks like a fake vintage light fixture, the city should be selecting light designs that are efficient and forward looking. The lights should emit light to the street and sidewalk and not the sky. Cities such as Montreal know how to design street lighting. The new lights on Main Street are higher than the previous ones and out of scale. Who cares. We'll put them in Phase II also. Should we discuss trees and landscaping?
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Hoss
Fillmore District - David Franczyk dfranczyk@city-buffalo.com
Niagara District - David Rivera darivera@city-buffalo.com
Delaware District - Michael LoCurto mlocurto@city-buffalo.com
Ellicott District - Brian Davis brdavis@city-buffalo.com
Lovejoy District - Richard Fontana rfontana@city-buffalo.com
Masten District - Demone Smith 716-851-5145 (no posted email)
North District - Joseph Golombeck Jr. jgolombek@ch.ci.buffalo.ny.us
University District - Bonnie Russell brussell@city-buffalo.com
South District - Michael Kearns mkearns@city-buffalo.com
I think I got these right.
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sbrof
Well Main Street phase one hasn't made things worse for the pedestrian actually they really have improved a lot since the 1999 when I used the street often for college while living on campus. I 100% agree that bike lanes should have been added but one of the main hindrances to introducing bike lanes in NY is the NYSDOT won't consider bike lanes if they can't fit one for each direction.
That concept to be in flawed because they try to put in such wide lanes in two directions that they essentially have designed themselves an excuse to never put in lanes. MANY MANY MANY places have one single bike lane that serves both directions on one side of the street. They don't need to be very wide. 4-5 feet usually gives enough room for people to get by. Sure more room would be nice but at the same time getting the most basic system in place first is the most important and monumental task. After that I do believe you would seen hundred or thousands of people taking advantage of the system.
Germany is a good place to think about infrastructure / use issue. After WWII Germany developed very similarly to the US, the first highways were constructed there prior to the War and it is hard pressed to say that German's don't love their cars. What happened in the late 70's 7 80's though was a large public push to increase use of different modes of transportation. The infrastructure they built was the major impetuous to bike usage (which was very low even by European standards) prior to these developments.
Climate is also another non-issue because with proper amenities many places use their bikes for transit year round. There are many people here in the US that do it many Scandinavian Countries the year round bike usage is impressive.
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chris69
I wish the movement would name as their first charter issue the reconstruction of all these blocked off streets
None of the original streets connect to the water anymore except for Michican
Streets are blocked off by Main Place Mall, the convention center and even Roswell park and Buffalo General
We need a movement to put back our street grid too!
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RaChaCha
Justin, this is interesting to hear about - I worked with our own local regional transportation planning agency based in RaChaCha to update our regional bike/ped plan and several related projects - so I'm wondering if you might be able to provide a link to your advisory board's policy brief--? Folks in Your Fair City who might want to put in a word with their councilmember as you suggest might find some specifics in the brief to tailor their appeal, and as for myself I'd be interested in reading it - I'm always interested in keeping apprised of what other cities are doing along these lines. Thanks, and may the wind always be at your back!
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STEEL
I remember Elmwood merchants fighting widening of taht street . I think they won.
In America we are bent on GETTING everyplace fast but uninterested in BEING anyplace. Our enviornments are no longer designed for being in, just for getting to.
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BuffaloSoldier
What's interesting is the width of many of Buffalo's streets is such that they could support 36" bike lanes on either side. NYSDOT seems to think that if a bike lane is put in they need to be around 5' in width. That's greater than the width of a sidewalk. Rather excessive.
Even the mere appearance of bike lanes greatly alter vehicular driving habits toward slowing down and moving left slightly.
I greatly agree with al-alo. Replacing highway style cobra lamps in Buffalo's residential (and even commercial) neighborhoods with more human scale lanterns goes a long way toward altering the psyche of drivers. Its also much more aesthetically appealing.
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SLEEPL8
Roads are for automobiles not idiots wearing spandex and blinking lights on a bicycles. If you want ot ride a bike go out to Amherst or Clarence and ride the bike path. You hippies on bicycles think you own the roads...as far as I am concerned you are a danger to yourselves and drivers. Stay home or take the bus to Virgil Ave to get your pipes and hemp.
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peripatetic
Hey Late and sidewalks are for pedestrians. Just returned from bank at Hertel - Parkside. Customer's car parked on sidewalk outside entrance. Could see tire tracks in snow. He drove up curb cut ramp at corner. Disabled man came out of bank and had difficulty walking by the car. Cars dring and parking on sidewalks is common occurance. BTW State motor vehicle law allows bicycles to use streets same as autos. We all pay for streets.
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IamMe
Those darn spandex wearing hippies. They just ruin it for everyone. Next it will be the yuppies with dreadlocks taking over the road with there AWD Vespas.
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RisingDamp666
What is the sense in funneling everything on wheels onto the streets? If there are to be all these alternatives to the car, they need alternatives to the street. Bike paths free of car wreck detritus, wider sidewalks for fatties in motorized wheelchairs, and other dedicated routes should be what's pursued here. Junking up the streets with all these competing users just takes us back to the turn of the last century and its trolley/ horse and buggy/ motor car/ pushcart free-for-alls. Isn't modern life stressful enough? Do we need to find ourselves in a Harold Lloyd reel everytime we go out to the Wilson Farms for a Labatt twelve?
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FunGuy
Wanna know the real truth of it all? Ya gotta finish one thing before starting another. The author has Blue Bikes that hasn't really launched very well as of yet and has yet to get the Bicycle Board rolling so there is a firm foundation to base this activity on here in the B-Lo. If everything were in place, we would have a chance at this program. But we still, as another poster mentioned, don't even have places to lock up our bikes. Something that simple, bike racks, helps to make a statement that there is something going on to help the riders. But, nothing. Please finish your plate, Mr. Booth. Then take another bite.
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Charger
I don't know FunGuy, what have you done for us lately? The poster has a lot of oars in the water because he's got a lot of ideas and is willing to push to see them implemented. Will every idea take off immediately? Maybe not. Will they get to the point where others will grab on and help push them forward? Will anonymous complaining from the sidelines help? No.
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sbrof
it is also worth noting that withe the city's newly enforced parking Lot/Rack codes anyone building a parking lot must accommodate a certain number of Bike spaces. Hence The large number of new bike racks popping up all over the city.
The Blue bike thing still new But unnecessary to push for better designed streets. there are a lot of people who would benefit from this hind of charge.
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IamMe
I would have to disagree on Blue bikes not taking off. Last year they hade over 50 bikes out being used at UB , Buff State... Demand for the program has out stripped the capacity to build, maintain, and storage for all the bikes. it’s a 100% volunteer origination. So instead of whining about what other people are not doing. So FunGuy, what have you done for us lately?
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DumpsterKid
Maybe i'm just jaded because of this site,but i think that if you polled Americans they would say they would take beauty on the road than speed. Ever notice how you get more pissed driving slow on Kenmore ave than driving slow on Elmwood, thats what i'm talking about.
Also potholes are lame for cars and bicyclists alike.
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