As someone who relies heavily on bicycle travel for my daily commutes, I find the lack of protected bike lanes, particularly on 3rd and 5th avenues, extremely inconvenient and unsafe. These modes of transport demand equal respect and provision of infrastructure. Repurposing a car lane for cyclists, akin to the successful implementation witnessed on Hal Greer Boulevard close to Marshall University, would undeniably benefit public safety and increase bike usage. According to data from the National Household Travel Survey, the number of bike trips made in America daily had risen from 1.7 million in 2001 to 4 million in 2009. By providing adequate bike infrastructure, we cater to the growing population of cyclists and encourage more people to adopt this healthier, more eco-friendly means of transport. Let's make 3rd and 5th avenues safe for cyclists. Please show your support for this initiative by signing this petition. Together, we can cause a change.

      This can be achieved in cost-effective manners such as even using planter pots or a buffer with flexposts. We already saw the one on Hal Greer(John Marshall Way) protected by a concrete curb. As it is currently, the streets are designed like urban highways prioritizing car through-traffic and throughput at high speed with disregard for other road users. Perhaps a transit lane could be added to it as well as is done in lots of large cities like San Francisco and New York. The avenues are even considered a part of US Route 60 and the university and the homes and businesses also next to parts of the roadway are merely its median. Cars also consistently travel above the speed limit. The speed limit was lowered to 25 as part of Vision Zero, yet traffic still does 30-40 because of this design and where the priorities are. There is no traffic calming and minimal enforcement. Also, the more lanes there are and the wider they are, the faster people want to go because of the psychological signals that are sent that make the roadway seem wide and highway-like especially because of the forgiving design aspect where drivers have more room to make mistakes which results in careless driving, distracted driving, and speeding. Also, with this roadway technically being a US route/highway, the city council and mayor would not be the ones to be contacted, that is what I learned, so I've tried contacting the WV DOT's Division Of Highways engineer and have not gotten a response or an answer to my phone call. I will continue trying to contact them via phone and email.

       Pedestrians have also been hit and killed multiple times along these corridors. I've heard stories from my family who have witnessed a pedestrian in a crosswalk fatally struck. The details are disturbing to mention. This is why I propose additional measures.

     Additionally, I would recommend placing a bike box(advanced stop line) for bicycles at intersections making turns, if it's a left-side bike lane, so they can make a right turn, if it's on the right side, so they can make a left turn and don't have to merge across three other lanes of traffic and can pass everybody and then get into position at the intersection past the stop line for cars.

     Bicycles require less infrastructure than cars and take up less space, plus bicycling reduces noise pollution making areas more livable and peaceful. Drivers have full, connected networks that don't just end and start randomly, why can't cyclists? 

       Also, emergency vehicles can use bike lanes to bypass traffic if they are wide enough. We could label these as dynamic flex lanes.

Statistics show that protected bike lanes can reduce car-on-bike collisions by between 70 and 90%. In cities like New York and Washington D.C. protected bike lanes have doubled bike ridership and there have been many successful implementations of protected bike lanes within and outside the us. We can even look at the Dutch examples in cities like Amsterdam.

     With the way things presently are, cyclists either need to ride on the sidewalks which are not super wide with a whole bunch of people who walk around campus or ride in the busy one-way avenue in which there are 4 lanes of traffic, that section going one direction and in some, there are 5 lanes going one direction and 3 in other sections. This is unnecessary and unsafe. Riding on the sidewalks isn't just dangerous and annoying for pedestrians and for the cyclists who have to weave around pedestrians, it poses an increased danger of being hit by cars pulling out of driveways or side streets who aren't looking for rapidly moving vehicles in the crosswalks. Sidewalks are also designed to be spaces for pedestrians, not bicycles and with the way they are designed visibility is low for drivers pulling out and drivers like to block crosswalks and pull ahead anyway risking a cyclist hitting them or having to go around. All I ask is one single lane to be removed and repurposed, as was done on Hal Greer. I believe few problems will arise from it and there will be a lot of benefits to safety. Lots of major cities are doing protected and parking-protected bike lanes, like the one on Hal Greer and they have seen many benefits in safety and ridership.

     People try to argue against bike lanes on main roads but main thoroughfares like these are the most straight and direct routes. 4th Avenue has bike lanes along it, but it ends where the Marshall campus starts. Cyclists have to turn right and then onto 5th Avenue if they want to continue going eastward or they have to climb the hill near the library and cycle on the multi-use paths which despite being safer, can slow down a commuting cyclist due to pedestrians being present. We need to make it so that 5th Avenue has a bike lane on it so that cyclists can safely and quickly commute on it. The majority of people want to cycle but draw safety concerns. If we had a safe and complete bike lane network, more people would cycle. Most people(~60% according to institutions and organizations such as Portland State University) fall into the "interested but concerned" category where they are interested in cycling but are usually concerned in regards to safety and convenience. Bike lanes are shown to improve both of these aspects, especially protected bike lanes where there is no need to worry about parked cars in the way, be that legal or illegal in bike lanes depending on the locality. Having to weave between parked cars is itself very dangerous and unpredictable. Unpredictable behaviour on roadways is known as erratic and increases the chance of a collision. 4th Avenue after the campus also becomes an alleyway for a long stretch and it is still labelled as 4th Avenue in these stretches.  Additionally, on 4th Avenue the bike lanes are faded, unbuffered door-zone bike lanes which in some ways put cyclists in increased danger due to the risk of people opening doors into the bike lane and hitting a cyclist or a cyclist hitting the door due to being unable to stop or turn, especially with the presence of vehicles in the adjacent lane. 

      I believe that bike lanes will also help the local businesses more than hurt as it will allow people to easily and safely bicycle to them, especially if we put bicycle parking and bike racks on these corridors to facilitate that in an easy, convenient, and cost-effective manner. According to the New York Department Of Transportation, sales in bike-friendly areas increased by 84%. In addition, bike racks can hold more vehicles than a parking space, whereas quite apparently a parking space can only hold one car. Bicycle parking is more space-efficient and allows more people to access a business.

     Bike lanes will also help people on skateboards and scooters and other similar forms of micro-mobility and vulnerable road users to get around.

     This will speed up the commute of bicyclists by making it so they don't have to worry about pedestrians on sidewalks, especially those with wheelchairs, strollers, or those who are visually impaired, people walking can be kept safe and people cycling can pedal to their heart's content. This will also keep cyclists out of traffic. 

     We need safe alternative means to travel. We can't force people to use one means of travel or even solely prioritize one. We should leave people with options and freedom to choose and be safe in their choice. Cities should strive to be inclusive of all people. Constructing safe cycling infrastructure is essential for a developing and improving city in the modern era. Lots of cities are improving their cycling infrastructure and Huntington is one of the cities attempting to improve. Please consider these ideas.

     Bike lanes do not increase traffic and often decrease it by encouraging people to use alternate means of transportation like cycling. Streets are not just for motor vehicles. Other forms of transportation are entitled to the same rights and responsibilities as motorists and to use this space and are entitled to safety from preventable death and long-term injury. The first paved roads in America were paved with cyclists in mind. Cycling used to be a major form of transportation and is becoming that way again. 

      Bikes also put less wear and tear on the roads and ultimately in the long run save the DOT money. Additionally, creating safe bike lanes gets cyclists out of the way of drivers, thus reducing delays, anger, and hazards.

     For some reason, the implementation of safe facilities for people to ride bikes and have an alternative means of transport is controversial as somebody vandalized one of the flyers I put up on a bulletin board of the university. People are entitled to disagree, but not to deface other's belongings.

     These avenues are even bad for drivers. The people who choose to obey the limit are tailgated and honked at by people who want to treat it like a highway. People have gotten into collisions and a cyclist was struck and injured on 5th Avenue.

     It will be a lot of work to get them to implement this and even for the city itself to implement it, but I believe the benefits will be significant in safety and in increasing ridership.