ARTS - Alliance for Reasonable Traffic Solutions is a loose coalition of neighbors and business owners who endorse, embrace, own and use bicycles, but believe there are better options for bike lanes than on roads classified as major thoroughfares.
Let us know your thoughts! Talk with us!
Website: ARTS Alliance for Reasonable Traffic Solutions
Nextdoor: https://nextdoor.com/g/vkak5h8id/
Email: arts.Heights@yahoo.com
USPS: Alliance for Reasonable Traffic Solutions, P.O. Box 30415, Houston, Tx 77249
Deliveries: Alliance for Reasonable Traffic Solutions, 634 W. Cavalcade Street, Houston, Tx 77009-9998
ARTS objects to the misguided and POORLY DESIGNED changes to 11th Street in the Heights and other Houston neighborhoods (N. Main, Blodgett, Hardy and Elysian Streets among many others). These changes are being made by politicians and bureaucrats by fiat, without the input of those who live or work near or use these streets. We are now left with hazardous travel and visual pollution.
We oppose road diets as an excuse to take away travel lanes on major thoroughfares to make bike lanes for a number of reasons:
>> The NUMBER OF USERS does not justify the cost of converting travel lanes for exclusive bike use. Far fewer cyclists use those lanes for commuting, utility or recreational purposes than could be used by motor vehicles. There is no justification for the increase in time wasted for other users. The American Community Survey covering the years 2013-2017 noted that about 0.6% of all workers in the U.S. bike to work.1
In 2021, that percentage decreased to about 0.4%. More people walked (2.2%) or used motor transportation (79.5%) to get to work than biked. During the pandemic, 17.9% worked from home. 2
In Texas, the state-wide number of commuters using bicycles was 29,249 (0.2%). 3 One can imagine fewer commuters going to work in Houston and Harris County on a bicycle.
Even in Oregon, which leads in bike commuters among all 50 states, 1.90% of total worker population bike to work. 4 Houston is not a city in Oregon.
>> FINANCIAL COST is another concern. The City’s Chief Transportation Planner, David Fields, wrote that $1,650,000 was spent to convert 1.5 miles of 11th Street from a four lane major thoroughfare to a two lane road diet / two bike lane street and other improvements. (A copy of his email is included in a separate update issued today.) Never mind the fiasco of building and later removing “floating bus stops.” More of your tax dollars at work.
>> As you know, only East 11th Street has a center turn lane. West 11th Street does not, and therein lies a problem for the free movement of EMERGENCY VEHICLES to reach a heart attack, house fire or crash. Oh yes, there have been crashes since the bike lanes went in. If the road diet were all about SAFETY, then the center turn lane would have taken priority over bike lanes, but they did not.
We were told that road diets are part of working toward “Vision Zero which is the city’s program to eliminate crashes and fatalities. We will not discuss the philosophy behind eliminating crashes and fatalities when humans are involved (either driving or even designing driverless autonomous vehicles). We are of the opinion that while the goal is a laudable utopian ideal, it is not one that is attainable. And while we would never say it would be fruitless to try, we do believe there are other proven methods to achieve a reduction in speed and thus crashes and fatalities.
$1.65 million would have been better used toward hiring more police officers who could issue tickets and whose presence on streets would influence drivers to slow down. There is also the issue of the pedestrian beacon or HAWK light that the community originally asked to be installed at the Nicholson hike and bike trail. There is a renewed call for a beacon after all the road diet "improvements" and bike lanes have been installed. Wouldn’t it have been more cost effective to install the beacon first?
>> As has been noted on nextdoor.com, why spend LIMITED TAX DOLLARS on a few users as opposed to other needed infrastructure such as the city’s ailing and dilapidated water and storm sewer system? Especially when there are better and less expensive options for bikeways?
>> Finally, we would mention how DANGEROUS protected bike lanes are to cyclists. Many cyclists complain about debris, garbage cans, parked cars and other hazards in the bike lanes. If a cyclist needs to exit a protected bike lane for any of that or a front wheel just wobbles, the wheel may hit the curb and cause the cyclist to crash, risking a concussion. That was a reason given by one cyclist for riding in the motor vehicle lane instead of the protected bike lane. For those that don’t know, bicycles are allowed in all travel lanes. So go figure why we have “protected” bike lanes with curbs.
Further, there is the proven risk of the deadly RIGHT HOOK 5 maneuver which happens when a car or truck makes a right turn into a street or parking lot, does not see a cyclist approaching on the right and crashes into the cyclist. This kind of accident happened on Main Street near Rice University not long ago, and more recently in Washington D.C. There is a valid reason why road users are supposed to pass on the left. Somehow this was forgotten in the design.
Don't forget there is an election for mayor, controller and district council on Tuesday, November 7, 2023. These are the people we will elect to spend taxpayer money on projects such as bike lanes, water and sewer systems, etc. REMEMBER TO VOTE!
Website: ARTS Alliance for Reasonable Traffic Solutions
Nextdoor: https://nextdoor.com/g/vkak5h8id/
Email: arts.Heights@yahoo.com
USPS: Alliance for Reasonable Traffic Solutions, P.O. Box 30415, Houston, Tx 77249
Deliveries: Alliance for Reasonable Traffic Solutions, 634 W. Cavalcade Street, Houston, Tx 77009-9998
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Notes:
1 Michael Burrows, “Younger Workers in Cities More Likely to Bike to Work,” United States Census Bureau, 5/14/2019: https://tinyurl.com/3rvfcdzz
2 Press Release Number CB23-SFS.62, “National Bike Month: May 2023,” United States Census Bureau, May 2023: https://tinyurl.com/4jn325tw
3 2021 American Community Survey B08406, Sex of Workers By Means of Transportation to Work for Workplace Geography: https://tinyurl.com/yckca64u
4 Brain Staff, “Bike commuting almost doubles over past two decades, according to report,” Bicycle Retailer and Industry News, published 5/20/2021: https://tinyurl.com/yp554jf3
5 Principled Bicycling, “Review of Cycle Track Studies (PDF Download),” By Paul Schimek in 2014: http://tinyurl.com/3dyhs8pv