Dutch Ideas for Making Austin More Accessible for Cyclists

Last month I blogged about a cycling outing that my son and I took on South Lamar, a major transit corridor here in Austin.  "Scary" and "dangerous" are words that hit the mark in describing what it is like to cycle on South Lamar. Last week a team of Dutch bicycle experts visited Austin and, after riding along the same corridor, agreed with this assessment. The experts, who were here courtesy of the Green Lane Project, ended their visit with a workshop that explored ways to make this corridor less scary and dangerous for cyclists.  Here are some great photos from their ride on South Lamar.

Courtesy of © Renee Renteria Photography

The folks I talked to who attended the workshop were very excited about the Dutch delegation's recommendations for transforming South Lamar into a safe, accessible, and attractive corridor for cyclists and pedestrians. An update from Eileen Nehme, a mother of young kids in one of the adjoining neighborhoods who spent two days with the team:

Cycling the length of South Lamar with Andre Botermans, the Dutch Cycling Embassy representative and urban planner working with our team, was eye opening. In The Netherlands, roads with >10k auto trips per day get bike tracks physically separated from motor traffic. South Lamar has >35K. He was aghast that we would create a bike lane with a stripe of paint on a road as dangerous as South Lamar. . . . The full design includes two-way cycle tracks on both sides of Lamar, which would be shared with pedestrians until the 15' pedestrian zone was completed. These tracks would be separated from motor traffic by a 3-5' planted buffer that serves as a rain garden to filter road runoff. This design preserves the current five motor vehicle lanes (two each way, plus center turn) where room exists. . . . This vision is thrilling to those of us who want to address the exploding transportation demands on South Lamar and be able to bike safely to Wheatsville or Target. Making cycling a viable and significant transportation mode is essential to Austin's future.

Ideas from the Think Bike workshop on transforming South Lamar into a cycling-friendly transit corridor