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Campus Bike Plan
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to Improve Cycling
Conditions at UGJL
With a little white paint, the intersection
of Baldwin Street and Sanford Drive recently
became a little more bicycle-friendly.
The repainting gave bicyclists on the
University of Georgia campus a lane that runs
opposite vehicle traffic on Sanford Drive. It's
the first step in a much larger master plan
suggesting ways to integrate bicycle lanes
and other bike-friendly improvements across
campus, a collaboration between UGA's Office
of Sustainability, the Office of University
Architects, Koons Environmental Design and
various bike advocacy groups in the area.
Kevin Kirsche, director of the Office of
Sustainability, expects to see finalized plans,
within a week. 'Then,' he says, "we'U take it
up the levels at UGA to get it officiary recog
nized. The next phases
are a more formal
acknowledgment of the
plan and figuring out
the next steps and the
logical order."
If and when it's put
in place, the bike mas
ter plan will provide
an overall look at how
bicycles can connect
across campus, installing bike lanes, racks or
other amenities to increase the ease of cycling
and encourage alternative transportation,
Kirsche says. But these changes won't be set
into specific construction phases. Instead,
according to Kirsche and Scott Simpson with
the UGA architects, changes will come in
conjunction with planned 'road improvement
projects. For example, if a road identified on
the master plan for a bike lane is due to be
repaved, the lane will be added as part of the
scheduled construction. Simpson says UGA
architects can work closely with the Physical
Plant and Environmental Safety departments
to determine upcoming road work where bike
lanes could be implemented.
"Re-striping [to accommodate a bike lane]
is inexpensive, but not free," adds Simpson,
the project manager for campus planning and
design. "So, while it would affect the cost of
a project it is less expensive than something
more invasive, such as grading and pouring
new curbs and gutters."
The bike master plan became a project of
the Office of Sustainability following requests
from students to help the campus become
more bike-friendly, Kirsche says.- But, the proj
ect also looked at traffic flow for cars, buses
and pedestrians coming through campus, as
well as the effect that more bike education
and safety can have on overall bike usage.
Erik Ladd, an associate landscape designer
at Koons Environmental Design, which drew
up the plans, says it was also important to
get input from other groups, like BikeAthens,
because Athens residents who bike to work,
whether affiliated with the university or not,
can come into contact with the UGA campus
along their routes. Even he bikes through
campus on his way to work, from South
MiUedge to his office on Pulaski Street, Ladd
says.
"We felt that it was really appropriate to
look at what had been going on, on the city's
side of this, because
they have their own
bicycle master plan .
going on," Ladd says.
"We were trying to
bridge the gap between
what the school wants
to do and what the city
wants to do, because
it's a really small com
munity, ano people
who are biking through campus or through
town, they are really the same people."
At this point Lumpkin Street and East
Campus Road already have bike lanes. During
the winter break, the lane and arrows were
added to Sanford Drive to allow cyclists to
travel opposite vehicles driving north on the
one-way street. But many other places—
specifically intersections—are considered
"conflict areas," where bicycles, vehicles and
pedestrians collide, so to speak. Some of the
campus plan's next steps may include bike
lanes on Baldwin, Carlton and Cedar streets,
Kirsche says, and also connecting them with
Sanford. That would allow greater ease of
movement across major corridors on campus.
"Intersections are always a challenge
because you have a number of people and
cars and bikes going in different directions,"
he explains. "We looked at a number of plans
to give bikes more prominence and safer
conditions."
Bicycle education is also an important
aspect of the plan. When students and com
munity members were surveyed, it became
clear that few knew all the rules of the road.
UGA Police Chief Jimmy Williamson says offi
cers could be found last semester on Sanford
Drive, handing out
information about safe
cycling—not tickets—
to cyclists riding the
wrong way down the
street.
"They were in con
flict with vehicular
traffic, and we had a number of complaints.
\ So, we put some officers there," he recalls.
"Since that time, that section has been
repainted and relabeled."
Williamson says the number-one complaint
he receives about bicyclists is that they are
not following the rules of traffic. Some weave
between cars in traffic while others switch
from riding on the road to the sidewalk, cut
ting through an intersection at a red light by
using crosswalks.
T constantly try to remind everyone that
we all have got to interact in a closed, con
gested area, so we all need to slow down,"
he says. "But the campus is fairly open with
bicyclists, and we try to work with bicyclists
on sidewalks because of their size... but if you
are using a sidewalk, you need to be mindful
of pedestrians."
Kirsche says the
Office of Sustainability
helped pay for the
study because it fell
under the guidelines of
UGA's long-term sus
tainability plan. And
hopefully, he says, the
study will be well received by the university,
offering an overall plan that welcomes more
alternative transportation.
"This is something that will be imple
mented over time," Kirsche says. "It provides
a road map and will help identify the key next
steps in implementation, so when there is a
road improvement project, we'll know this is
the right direction."
Kristen Morales
“It’s a really small community,
and people who are biking
through campus or through
town, they are really the
same people ”
“We all have got to interact
in a closed, congested area,
so we all need to slow down.”
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