The Gainesville Public Works Department has begun modifying some intersections to make navigating roads easier for local bikers.
A bike box was painted at the intersection of Southwest Second Avenue and Southwest 13th Street due to the high volume of cyclists. City public works planning manager Debbie Leistner wrote in an email that a bike box — a space between the crosswalk and where traffic stops — gives bikers a safe space to wait for the light to change and a chance to turn before cars.
Leistner said a total of $29,000 was spent on materials and supplies for the project, which includes the box and a bike boulevard along West 12th Street from Southwest 8th Avenue to Northwest 19th Lane. The boulevard will include green markings, reduced speed limits and street signs.
Other bike boulevards are planned along North Third Avenue and North Fifth Avenue as well as East Seventh Street.
“The bike box makes cyclists more visible, increasing driver awareness and providing a staging area for cyclists to have a head start at the intersection, especially when turning,” Leistner said.
The bike box and boulevard feature bike detection systems that can help traffic lights change to reduce delays for cyclists.
Zack Carter, a 19-year-old UF health science freshman, said he is looking forward to the convenience.
“The biggest advantage will be the light change,” he said. “Normally if a biker gets to the light, the light won’t detect that it needs to turn.”
[A version of this story ran on page 3 on 2/12/2014 under the headline "City paints, adds detection system to high-traffic bike areas"]
