Third Season of Middle Street Bike Lanes to See Reduced Number of Bollards and Improved Sight Lines

In September 2018, the City implemented new bike lanes on the Middle Street/Lafayette Road corridor to create a safer, on-road bike route along Route 1 between the High School and Downtown. The design included buffered bike lanes, defined parking spaces and bollards (also known as flex posts) along the marked bike lane. Since the installation of the bike lanes, the City has been monitoring use of the bike lanes and making adjustments to the lanes in response to public feedback and to improve safety and comfort for all travelers along the corridor.

On March 12, 2020, at the encouragement of City Council, staff held a public meeting to provide an opportunity for members of the public to share comments, concerns, and suggestions for improvement.  A follow-up work session with Council was originally scheduled for March 23rd, but due to the COVID-19 emergency, this work session was postponed indefinitely.

After the meeting in March, Public Works Director Peter Rice, Planning Director Juliet Walker, Fire Chief Todd Germain, Police Captain Mark Newport, and Parking and Traffic Engineer Eric Eby met to discuss additional modifications to the bike lanes. In a joint memo to the City Manager, staff indicated that they anticipate there will be increasing demand for bicycle facilities in the City with the need for social distancing and the suspension of organized sports and other activities, and recommended that the City continue to support the ability for residents to partake in passive localized recreation along our city streets and sidewalks safely and comfortably. However, staff also recognized that there are ways that the bike lane design can be improved. Staff advised that, given the current context of the COVID-19 emergency, it would not be wise to undertake costly changes to the design or put the federal funding received for the bike lane design and installation at risk. For the coming season, staff has recommended some low cost modifications to the bike lanes.

• Re-install a limited number of flex post bollards (about 40 along the entire corridor, which is a reduction of 30 from last year). Bollards will be installed at all intersections and at the start of on-street parking areas. The bollards help to delineate the bike lanes and parking areas, which improves safety for bicyclists and motorists.
• Pull back on-street parking from intersections to improve sight lines. Focusing on the intersections of Aldrich Road and Cass Street.
• Reduce speed limit to 25 mph.
• Adjust center line in locations to align with road crown, this will widen travel lanes and straighten out curves and help prevent motor vehicles from crossing the center line.

The City will continue to monitor use and traffic trends along this corridor and will look to hold a follow-up work session in the fall.

The bike lanes were designed and constructed with funding from a Federal Safe Routes to School Grant.  The City’s Safe Routes to School Action Plan (2010) and Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan (2014) both identified a need for safer passage for pedestrians and bicyclists along Route 1. Starting in 2014, design concepts for this project were developed and considered after a number of public input sessions. Since the installation of the bike lanes in 2018, City staff have been gathering data to inform future plans including collecting bicycle counts, monitoring motor vehicle speeds, reviewing crash reports, and receiving input from travelers and residents along the corridor. In 2019, a few modifications were implemented in response to some of the initial input received including reducing the number of flex post bollards installed along the route.