Raise the Hammer

Jason, you make great points and I totally agree with you. If we can’t take a street like Hunter and make it a complete street we are in big trouble. I ride my bike and drive my car depending on the situation, but I don’t think I would ever have myself and my niece/nephew biking along side 2 lanes of racing one way traffic no matter how large the bike lane is, I still wouldn’t feel safe. Using a parking lane to block/protect the bike lane from any traffic and limiting the moving vehilce lane would be ideal.

I think the Spec article actually failed to mention that the total parking loss is actually 27 spots, 16 meters and 11 free spots. They are planning to get rid of all parking on Hunter from Liberty to Catharine. The 16 meters are more for the business area of the street however the 11 free spots down near Liberty are always at capacity. These are used by the residents of the condo and aparment buildings and their guests as they both do not have visitor or guest parking. Additionally, very few of the houses (some being 4-plexes) in the effected area have driveways so if they lose their free/accessible parking, it’s going to implact them tremendously. Not sure about the comment concerning a sea of parking on Walnut. Walnut has very little parking. The few free spots are utilized by residents who again, don’t have driveways and those exact spots are being considered as the ‘alternative’ parking option, thereby making them metered parking.

A bike lane would definitely enhance the area if implemented correctly and not at the cost of how people live everyday. If a bike lane is provided and minimal parking is lost, time will tell if a transition from car centric thinking to other means of transportation will occur. This can’t be forced though. You can’t remove all car accessibility to an area, provide a bike lane and think everyone is going to be happy, sell their cars and ride their bikes everywhere. Give people options instead of hurdles.

A lot of residents of the area have signed an online petition and have left comments which give great insight into how parking loss will affect their lives. http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/hunter-street-bike-lanes-or-street-parking-why/signatures