The City of Gainesville is developing new bright green bike boulevards this semester, aiming to reroute bicyclists to lower traffic areas, enhance their mobility and ensure their safety.
The city’s sole bike boulevard currently runs down West 12th Street, stretching from the intersection of Northwest 13th Street and Northwest 19th Lane near Gainesville High School, down to the intersection of Southwest 11th Street and Depot Avenue.
The new boulevards will include a connection between the Waldo Road trail and routes along Northwest Third Avenue, from Northwest 21st Street to Northeast Seventh Street.
Regional Transit System spokesman Chip Skinner said the initiative advances the goals and objectives outlined in the City of Gainesville’s comprehensive plan by adding infrastructure that supports a balanced transportation system for both bicyclists and motorists.
“The system adds alternative routes to busy corridors around the city, such as University Avenue, where it is not feasible to add bike lanes,” he said.
The City Commission allocated $200,000 to the bike boulevard system, which covers the cost of installing bike boxes and a bike-detection mechanism, which will notify traffic lights when a bicyclist is present and allow them to pass through an intersection more quickly.
“The bike detection works the same way as a vehicle detection,” Skinner said.
John Clifford, a 21-year-old UF wildlife ecology and conservation junior and Jimmy John’s bike deliverer, said the bike boxes are a good idea because they give cyclists the right of way when approaching an intersection.
“When I use the 12th Street corridor, I usually will show other cyclists how to use the bike box,” Clifford said. “Definitely not enough people know how to use them.”
Clifford said he was hit by a car in July, landing him in the hospital.
“Drivers don’t pay the best attention,” he said.
Cycling advocate Joseph Floyd founded the group Get Active GNV to raise awareness about local bike safety.
“Gainesville is far more biker-friendly than many other cities in Florida, mostly due to there being a high volume of cyclists,” said Floyd, who also serves as the zero waste coordinator for UF’s Office of Sustainability.
He said the usefulness of the boulevard system is best determined by measuring how well the bike boulevards work together rather than as different individual routes.
“It’s not about one lane here or one lane there; it’s about how the system works as a grid,” Floyd said. “If the initiative decreases accidents and increases convenience for cyclists using the system, it’s a good use of money.”
[A version of this story ran on page 4 on 9/17/2014 under the headline "Gainesville to get more green bike boulevards this semester"]
