The city of Atlanta received one of six grants totaling $100,000 from outdoor retailer REI to install a protected bike lane on Westview Drive. A year later the bike lane has been removed and the experience has inspired a lot of soul searching.
"The city of Atlanta recently removed a bike lane on the westside of town, and it's left the community and cycling advocates with questions," reports Stephannie Stokes.
The lane had been installed a year earlier using grant funding from outdoor retailer REI and the nonprofit PeopleForBikes, but tension over the new bike lane began early, originating in part from Shiloh Baptist Church.
The article by Stokes focuses on the lessons that are emerging from the failed experiment, including lessons about community engagement and the kinds of infrastructure that have come to symbolize gentrification. Jonathan Whitfield, a minister at Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church, is quoted in the article, saying "[m]ost people feel like these bikes lanes are not for the people here. It's for the people to come."
Stokes's coverage of the controversy follows on earlier work on the subject by Darin Givens for ThreadATL, which was later picked up by Angie Schmitt at Streetsblog USA. Among the facets of this story reported by Givens: the bike lane was removed without authorization from the Atlanta City Council.
Read the full story: Atlanta Removes A Bike Lane And Raises A Lot Of Questions
Atlanta could add dedicated bike lane to Beltline
A city councilmember says a dedicated lane would prevent conflicts between cyclists and pedestrians, but others worry it would impede efforts to build transit along the Beltline.
Midtown Atlanta Bike Lane 16 Years in the Making Now Open
The protected lane spans a roughly one-mile segment of Juniper Street.
Two Midtown Atlanta Complete Streets Projects to Break Ground in 2024
The projects include new bike lanes, expanded sidewalks, and other Complete Streets infrastructure.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Chicago breaks ground on $3 billion megadevelopment
The new neighborhood, titled Foundry Park, will one day host 3,700 residences.
Satanic place names
From streams and lakes to valleys and canyons, I mapped more than 1,000 places named after the Devil.
California High-Speed Rail Authority CEO resigns after $600,000 scandal
Under Ian Choudri, the authority used taxpayer dollars to fund first class flights and trips to nightclubs.
Want to study the Missouri River? Soon, you may need unanimous approval from 10 states
Legislation would require 10 governors’ permission to study or build projects moving water outside the basin.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority