The Challenge of Balancing Cars and People

Koski talks about Ft. Worth's new plans to develop a significant new infrastructure for bicycles, and the challenges of balancing the needs of cars and people.

"The most difficulty is when trying to retrofit bicycle facilities into existing streets. On streets in downtown and in other areas where traffic speeds and volumes are relatively low, dedicated cycling space isn't a high priority as most cyclists feel comfortable sharing the travel lanes in that environment. Elsewhere, in some cases, we may need to identify a parallel street as the preferred cycling route, or we may need to just sign the street as a bike route and install shared lane marking symbols. However, there are a number of streets that are oversized for the level of vehicular traffic that they experience today or are likely to have in the future. In some of those cases, a "road diet" may be possible that could provide dedicated space for cyclists."

Thanks to George Osner, AICP