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Greensboro honored for bike friendliness

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

(Updated 11:16 am)

Staff Reports

GREENSBORO — The city has been honored for its efforts to improve as a bicycle city.

The League of American Bicyclists recognized the city as a bronze level Bicycle Friendly Community. Greensboro is the fourth city in North Carolina to be awarded this distinction; Carrboro, Cary and Charlotte are the others.

The city was recognized for its work in bicycle safety areas, including engineering, education, encouragement, enforcement, evaluation and planning.

Recent cycling highlights include the adoption of the Comprehensive Bicycle, Pedestrian and Greenway Master Plan in December 2006; the incorporation of bicycling facilities into the roadway design guidelines; more than 15 miles of new bike lanes and edgelines; 38 miles of signed bike routes; conversion of a four-lane roadway into a three-lane roadway with bicycle lanes on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive; and wide outside lanes and shared-use paths.

The city also created a Web site dedicated to bicycle safety.

What do you think?

14 comment(s)

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bookish1

October 20, 2009 - 10:53 am EDT

Does anyone else think this is hysterical? I'm terrified to ride my bike in any of our bike lanes as most drivers just think they are for passing on the right while cars wait to turn left.

newtogso

October 20, 2009 - 11:27 am EDT

It is a start and I do believe we are headed in the right direction. How we will measure how bike friendly we are remains to be seen. One measure might be when the City begins to spend as much money on engineering and designing bike and pedestrian facilities as it does designing and constructing new roads. We've had 60 solid years of transportation planning dominated by planning for vehicles...may the next 60 years not be so imbalanced.

spa30

October 20, 2009 - 11:52 am EDT

Congrats to GSO for taking some steps to achieve this recognition. I know Peggy Holland has been a tireless advocate for both cyclists and pedestrians. I appreciate all her hard work in making sure those of us who cycle (andl walk) have their voices heard during planning meetings.

ncbill69

October 20, 2009 - 12:55 pm EDT

There has been much improvement in the last 36 years since I started bicycling. At least the cars do not triple park like it was when a car open the door on me in Philly in 1976 while coming in from Seattle. Would like to see more "Share The Road" Signs on the streets that are used by bicycles. Sometime they just do not believe they should SHARE.

holland4

October 20, 2009 - 1:00 pm EDT

Hey, I'm all for sharing the road and I welcome our two-wheeled friends. But if you want to be respected like a vehicle, please obey the rules of the road and avoid the scofflaw attitude. I hate when I'm about to proceed through a four-way stop when all of a sudden a bicycle zips right in front of me. Happens more than I care for. And don't burn through a red light when the rest of us are required to wait. If you get mowed over, it's your fault.

GSOCycle

October 20, 2009 - 1:31 pm EDT

"Share The Road" signs are a message lost on many motorists. Many seem to think they are telling the cyclist to get out of the way. What we could use more of in this town is an effort from law enforcement to enforce traffic law. In the past month I've been witness to two incidents on Elm St where south bound traffic blew off a red light. In one there was very solid contact that disabled both vehicles. Fortunately no serious injuries. The second one, last night, left lots of rubber on the road but no contact. Add this to all the stop sign running at speed I see on a weekly basis and its no wonder there aren't more fatalities in this town. BTW--Every red light/stop sign runner was in a motor vehicle, not a bicycle.

Edit:I should note, I was not replying to Holland4 when I posted, in fact I hadn't seen that post.

holland4

October 20, 2009 - 3:09 pm EDT

I agree for the most part. Most everyone in Greensboro is an automobile driver and many aren't good at it. However, sharing the road goes both ways. The trail I walk daily is near a four-way stop that is along a very popular cycling route. Several times a month, I witness near collisions between bicycles and automobiles. And these incidents aren't caused by the drivers rolling through the sign. It's the cyclists who apparently feel it's beneath them to wait their turn.

Several weeks ago, I was driving in the southbound righthand lane on Lawndale Dr. There where four cyclists riding abreast with no intention of moving into a single file. Perhaps they're not legally required to allow motorists to pass, but there were about six or eight ticked off drivers who had to wait for a space in the lefthand lane in order to pass. And this doesn't include the dozens of other cars that waited beforehand or afterwards. I'm sure the cyclists had a wonderful conversation, but they didn't generate any lasting endearment with the motorists. It probably wouldn't have impeded nothing more than their conversation if they were to make some effort to accommodate traffic flow, but their cause was more important than civility.

gsostudent

October 20, 2009 - 1:55 pm EDT

this has got to be a joke. this city is INCREDIBLY dangerous for bikers and people are very unfriendly to bicyclists. almost everyone i know who rides their bike in this city has been hit by a car. there are almost ZERO bike lanes. police harass bicyclists alot- they shut down critical mass bike rides, a pig stopped and harassed my friend for biking last week. this city needs some serious changes but if you ask anyone who's ridden a bike in this city they know this is full of crap. not surprising this 'award' is from outsiders.

The FNP

October 20, 2009 - 3:15 pm EDT

Yes, GSO is still an incredibly dangerous place to bike on the roads, but it used to be worse. The award is pointing out that GSO has had progress, but I severely doubt they are considering the progress to be complete. Also, if you think that GSO is bad, there's plenty of places in NC that are MUCH worse.

chapmag

October 25, 2009 - 8:42 am EDT

Read my comment below. I totally agree with you. Motorist are extremely rude to cyclist. You shouldn't have to die because you are a cyclist like our friend did yesterday.

ItsASchwinn

October 20, 2009 - 3:53 pm EDT

This is good for cycling in Greensboro. The League of American Bicyclists requires a city to have well documented evidence of past and current efforts to improve cycling in the community. It is not an easy award to get and it isn’t easy to hold on to. It is a well deserved designation for Greensboro and shows, not only the past commitment, but a commitment to future improvements.
Obviously, the next step is to increase education efforts for motorized and human powered vehicle operators.

buho

October 21, 2009 - 10:57 am EDT

For context, folks should note that Greensboro only received a bronze level award from the League of American Bicyclists (LAB). This is LAB's entry level award. Examples of cities that have earned greater recognition are Davis, CA (platinum); Madison, WI (gold); and Austin, TX (silver). Here is the complete list,

http://www.bikeleague.org/programs/bicyclefriendlyamerica/pdfs/bfc_maste....

I have lived in Greensboro for the past 7.5 years and I have seen marked improvement in our bicycling conditions and I agree that there is much more improvement necessary. Thus I think the Bronze level award is appropriate. I urge those who want to get involved in improving bicycling conditions in GSO to attend the City Council Candidates breakfast and ride this Saturday sponsored by Bicycling in Greensboro (BIG). Here are the details,

http://www.bikegso.org/

Finally, I wish the N&R had provided some more context about GSO's Bronze level bicycle friendly city award.

chapmag

October 25, 2009 - 8:37 am EDT

I am not a cyclist but my husband is. We lost a dear friend yesterday who was cycling on N.Church Street by a hit and run driver. Cycling should not have to cost you your life! I thought it very ironic when I saw this award and on the same day a friend of ours dies while cycling. To think another human being would have no conscience and not stop! What an absolute horrific tragedy.

Big_Boy

October 26, 2009 - 3:24 pm EDT

I am a cyclist. I moved to Greensboro to find one of the worst cities for cycling that I have ever experienced. An award to Greensboro for being a "bicycle friendly" community is a joke. The "...leader of a Greensboro cycling club ...." who said that "...the hit-and-run highlights the need for drivers to be attentive and patient and for cyclists to ride defensively on crowded roads." apparently didn't realize the cyclist was hit from the rear. That is not very "Bicycle Friendly" and riding defensively or not, the rider should not have been hit from the rear.