Bike lanes offer a measure of safety, but aren't always maintained, riders say
A man bikes in the road on the corner of State Street and Liberty in downtown Ann Arbor.
Angela J. Cesere | AnnArbor.com
Many Ann Arbor area bikers say they feel safest riding in bike lanes, but even in places where they exist, using them is not always an option.
“The city doesn’t maintain them that much and they don’t get patched very often,” said Christina Jovanovic, a graduate student at the University of Michigan’s Aquatic Science program.
Jovanovic doesn’t own a car and uses her bike as her main mode of transportation. She said that bike lanes are often full of debris.
“Home owners dump leaves in the bike lane during the fall. I haven’t seen too much garbage, but a lot of broken glass ends up there,” Jovanovic said.
Don Broadway, chairman of the Ann Arbor Bicycle Touring Society board of directors, said bike lanes full of debris force riders out into traffic, compromising safety. “They just need to be more maintained in general,” he said.
Ann Arbor’s mayor, John Hieftje, a bike rider himself, agrees, and says the maintenance issue comes down to a lack of money.
“It’s a constant problem. The same funding streams that are used to repair the streets are also used to clean the bike lanes,” Hieftje said.
“I’m bicycle commuter. I’m on the bike path and I know exactly what people are talking about.”
Hieftje also said that the money from Michigan Act 51, which is used to maintain roads, has gone down. The state has also cut the funding in half for winter road maintenance on state roads, Hieftje said.
“So when the state did that, the city had to step up, and so what’s happened is that’s also taken money out of the road maintenance fund. But we’ll do our best to catch up and that season is starting right now,” Hieftje said.
John Garcia is a freelance reporter for AnnArbor.com. Reach the news desk at news@annarbor.com or 734-623-2530.
Comments
Lokalisierung
Fri, Apr 9, 2010 : 12:15 p.m.
"If you were to base it on attitudes on AnnArbor.com, we would rank in the bottom 50." If you were to base any attitude of this town from these boards it would be a sad sad thing.
Bababooey
Fri, Apr 9, 2010 : 7:23 a.m.
Why stop at skateboarding, rollerblading and unicycles...let's outlaw anything that might be fun, healthy, environmental and cost saving. The gripes that people have about bikes and cycling is on this message board are mind boggling. Ann Arbor just made bicycling.com's top 50 cities for cyclists. If you were to base it on attitudes on AnnArbor.com, we would rank in the bottom 50.
scooter dog
Thu, Apr 8, 2010 : 2:31 p.m.
Good job there Ignatz I totally agree
Lokalisierung
Thu, Apr 8, 2010 : 12:45 p.m.
"What do we do about those horrible people on rollerblades and unicycles?" Hmmm...how about making them illegal like skateboarding?
KJMClark
Thu, Apr 8, 2010 : 12:14 p.m.
Ignatz & Burgandy - In Ann Arbor, at least, there is a bicycle license required, and cyclists do pay a fee. Ann Arbor also has a road repair millage, which everyone here pays whether or not they drive a motor vehicle. Also, Michigan law requires every jurisdiction receiving state weight and gas tax money (Act 51) to spend at least 1% of that money on non-motorized transportation facilities, primarily things like bike lanes. Note that Act 51 money is distributed on the bases of street miles and population in a jurisdiction, not how much the people there use motor vehicles. Since over 15% of the trips in Ann Arbor are non-motorized transportation trips, AA decided to spend 5% of our Act 51 money on non-motorized transportation facilities. So, Ann Arbor bicyclists pay a license fee already, Ann Arbor bicyclists pay a road repair millage already, and the State of Michigan requires, by law, that we spend at least 1% of the money we get from the state for things like bike lanes. And did I mention that the federal government is more likely to match funds for things like bike lanes?
DaveQ
Thu, Apr 8, 2010 : 12:14 p.m.
If bikers should have to pay for the bike lanes, what's next? Pedestrians pay for sidewalks? What do we do about those horrible people on rollerblades and unicycles? This is really quite out of hand.
DaveQ
Thu, Apr 8, 2010 : 12:12 p.m.
If bikers should have to pay for the bike lanes, what's next? Pedesttians pay for sidewalks? What do we do about those horrible people on rollerblades and unicycles? This is really quite out of hand.
Ignatz
Thu, Apr 8, 2010 : 11:38 a.m.
Ahhhhhhhhhh. I'm so glad there are those who can sense the sum of all my knowledge just from what I write in a few lines. All I'm saying is that if those in a specific group want something extra, they should pay for it. BTW, I ride a bicycle and am will to cough up the extra $$$. As far as I'm concerned, those on bicycles to not have equal access to the road unless they pay for the privledge.
Patricia Lesko
Thu, Apr 8, 2010 : 10:18 a.m.
"Ann Arbors mayor, John Hieftje, a bike rider himself, agrees, and says the maintenance issue comes down to a lack of money." The city's Street Millage generates $8 million in additional tax dollars per year above and beyond what is generated by the city's operating millage. At the moment, there is over $22 million dollars sitting in the Street Fund. Lack of money is not the issue. Having a city that is "bike friendly" is different than having a city that supports cycling. Support requires making the upkeep of facilities and paths for walkers and bikers a priority, even when it's not an election year. Our roads have been neglected for a decade and are the third worst out of Michigan's 1,800 municipalities. Why? Neglect. Our 42 miles of on-road bike paths, right along with the roads, have been neglected, as well. Allowing roads to crumble to the point at which the state declares they are in "poor" condition requires that taxpayers shell out, on average, 7 times more money to fix them. The Road Fund was allowed to build up by one simple means, not spending the money on repairs. There's money. What's missing is oversight of city staff who should have been asked years ago why on they weren't including extensive road repair in the Capital Improvements Planand spending the millage money to get our roads (and bike paths) back in shape commensurate with what our community should expect for the taxes we pay.
Moose
Thu, Apr 8, 2010 : 9:30 a.m.
I drive a car and pay property and gas taxes to build and maintain our streets and roads. I also ride a bicycle on the city streets. Why should I pay twice, not only to drive on them but to bike on them as well?
theodynus
Thu, Apr 8, 2010 : 9:17 a.m.
Ron and Ignatz: If you'd like to have a conversation about transportation funding, I'd be happy to break it down. You clearly have no clue how roads are paid for. Do you think the gas tax and licensing fees cover our roads? Do drivers pay for the externalities associated with driving, including incremental congestion, health effects of the air pollution they generate, the military costs associated with securing access to oil and the poor cardiovascular health associated with spending all your time in a car? Do you pay for your street parking in neighborhoods without meters? Please. Cyclists are spending more of their tax dollars supporting your driving than you are spending to support their riding bikes. Spending on non-motorized transportation infrastructure is good policy and it offers great bang-for-the-buck compared to the money we spend on cars.
Kelly
Thu, Apr 8, 2010 : 8:57 a.m.
How about a small group of concerned citizens getting together to fix the problem? Those truly concerned will get it done much more quickly and efficientsly than any council or budget committee ever could.
I'm Ron Burgandy
Thu, Apr 8, 2010 : 7:52 a.m.
I agree with Ignatz. Bikers should have to pay for improvements for the bikes lanes. If bikes want to use the street, then they should have to get a license and pay fees for using the street too.
KJMClark
Thu, Apr 8, 2010 : 7:37 a.m.
The last study I saw on the safety effects of bike lanes pointed out that most of their value is in encouraging people to use the road, instead of the much more dangerous sidewalks. Bike lanes are a real mixed bag for cyclists, but they're probably a little better for encouraging bicycle use and getting cyclists off of sidewalks and onto the safer roadways. It would really help if Ann Arbor would pass the state recommended ordinance that would make it illegal for motorists to drive in bike lanes. Most of the other communities in the County have already passed it. Motorists are pretty good about staying out of bike lanes in most places in town, but some roads like Plymouth have a rampant problem of motorists ignoring the bike lanes. That makes the bike lane more expensive to maintain, and discourages cyclists from using them. If council made it an ordinance violation, they could help cyclists, make it easier to maintain the bike lanes, and get some revenue from ticketing motorists for breaking the law.
Ignatz
Thu, Apr 8, 2010 : 7:36 a.m.
If you want bike lanes to be maintained or even to have them at all, bicyclists should pay for them. A license fee for bike, as they have for cars, would go a long way for this. I don't think that four wheeled vehicles should lose a lane to bicycles, either. The road shold be widened and bicycle fees should pay for that, too. Fees and taxes made off of motorized vehicles should go totally to maintain the surfaces made for them. I'm all for sharing the road with a bicyclist, but they should pay their way like the rest of us.
Moose
Thu, Apr 8, 2010 : 7:26 a.m.
City Hall shell game finances. Plenty of money for a fountain in front or a public building (that too a lot of thought, eh?) nothing for a bridge or even to sweep or patch a bike lane. I guess that bucket has a hole in it.
a2grateful
Thu, Apr 8, 2010 : 7:19 a.m.
So much for maintaining existing infrastructure for existing, viable alternative transportation... Did anyone notice how cool the City website is?