Petition to improve bike safety in Ann Arbor - Jackson Road

[dew]

Please sign this petition to MDOT: http://www.change.org/petitions/i-suppo ... conversion

A proposed Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) project to convert the 2.4 mile section of Jackson Avenue between Dexter and Collingwood has meet with recent opposition. The proposed MDOT project would convert this portion of Jackson Avenue from four, ten foot, lanes to three, 11 foot, lanes with a dedicated center turn lane, bike lanes and additional pedestrian crossings. The project was supported by city staff, received 20 favorable comments at a public meeting and received a resolution in support from city council. However, a recent article in annarbor.com about the project generated a wave of negative commentary and letters to MDOT from members of the public concerned the conversion will cause congestion and mayhem by adding bike lanes and reducing travel lanes. MDOT needs to hear that YOU support this complete streets project or uninformed opposition may derail it! Information on the benefits of this project can be found at: http://www.wbwc.org

Thank you!

[Di_bear]

Honestly, where MDOT is concerned, I wouldn't worry about them changing their mind. My parents live in a town where MDOT put in a HORRIBLE light that is more for high-traffic areas than for more rural Corunna traffic. Citizens complained to MDOT. The city complained to MDOT. MDOT basically said they don't care, they're doing things their way. This seems to be MDOT's way. Congratulations on your new bike lanes. You *will* get them.

[Di_bear]

In addition, it may be worthwhile for cycling advocates to ask MDOT to make sure that traffic lights are timed to allow for traffic to make it through them instead of having to stop at every intersection. Of course, I'm making this suggestion without knowing how the road currently is, but I do know that poorly-timed lights are largely responsible for traffic congestion. Well-timed lights may make the fewer-lane conversion more bearable for everyone.

[Bcar]

I'm sorry, but this is a TERRIBLE IDEA!! contact MDOT and tell them to leave Jackson rd as it is, with a new resurface! It is already a mess with traffic during rush hour, taking away a lane in each direction will only make it worse, especially with busses and garbage trucks stopping the only lane of traffic!
I'm all for bike commuting, but NOT on a major city artery. Bikes can and should go one block north (Dexter or miller) or south to liberty to head east/west. I avoid Jackson like the plague on a bike. This will make traffic worse and *beep* off a whole lot of drivers and make them resent bikers.
Jackson already gets more traffic per day than MDOT says is the threshold for lane reduction to work well, and that's not counting event/football game traffic. But our lovely mayor and his band of merry idiots don't like facts and data, they're too smart for pesky things like facts and data.
NO ON REDUCING JACKSON RD!!!

[utabintarbo]

... This will make traffic worse and *beep* off a whole lot of drivers and make them resent bikers.

This. One has to look at the bigger picture when evaluating such proposals. While we might win a battle and get bike lanes, we would lose the war because they would likely be the last bike lanes you'd see for a long time. This would be counterproductive to the stated goal of this call for action.

Face it, in the grand political scheme of things, cars > bikes. There's no use complaining about that, it won't likely change anytime soon. Better to fight within the parameters of reality, as fighting with reality is always a losing proposition in the long run.

[dirt]

In my experience, converting a road from 4 lanes with no left turn late to 3 lanes with left turn results in better traffic flow.

A lack of left turn lane results in too many people stopping in the middle of traffic to turn, and people jumping back and forth between lanes to avoid left/right turning cars.

The majority of people have no idea what helps traffic flow, and that is evident by the way they drive. Why listen to people who have zero knowledge of proper road design.

[BigMike]

I think the largest thing stopping people from commuting to work is the lack of bike lanes. Lansing has a lack of back roads to take across town without weaving around the city. The few that do go across are not very safe to ride with traffic present. Lets face it giving people a option of safely riding a bike to work might help with our obesity epidemic in this state.

[utabintarbo]

... Lets face it giving people a option of safely riding a bike to work might help with our obesity epidemic in this state.

It is unlikely that a person who has gone through the trouble of becoming obese is just waiting for bike lanes to go out and put all that hard work to waste. No, any bike lanes that show up will more likely be populated by those who are already fit until something forces others out of their cars and onto the bike paths. And even then, our communities are too spread out to garner the kind of usage of bikes for transportation that will have any real effect on general obesity rates.

[black2003ss]

I love the fact that certain areas are taking up the initiative to promote cycling. And as for what Dirt said, I see the same issues he addressed on roads like Orchard Lake in Keego Harbor. The left lane will back up dozens of cars deep for one person trying to turn left into a business. Many of those cars will jump out in front of you to the right lane to go around, then jump back to the left lane when someone else slows to turn right into another business. the problem with going from 4 lanes of traffic to two isn't necessarily on the flow of traffic in between lights, it is at the lights. Two lanes of traffic in one direction can either A, let twice the amount of traffic go through in the same time, or B, shorten the green light time significantly and let almost the same amount of traffic go through as one lane with a longer light.

It's a lose lose situation in my opinion. It also frustrates me that you can be cycling through one area that has bike lanes or paths or railtrails, then all of a sudden, you have no where to go because the next municipality has done nothing for bikes. I personally feel that until something is done and mandated on a state wide level, we will have pieced together bike lanes here and there that lead to nowhere. Look how long it took to get just the Clinton River Rail Trail completed...and it's still broken in Pontiac (realizing Pontiac has a set of circumstances, i.e. no funding). I would commute to work now if I could safely get to the CRT at Orchard and Telegraph, but getting through Pontiac is a fairly unsafe (in my eyes anyways) venture.

[Di_bear]

Along with what Nick was saying, Complete Streets has been implemented on Michigan highways in Corunna and Owosso, and the traffic really wasn't any worse. The left turn lane is *incredibly* important.

Also, Complete Streets is the law, so this idea for Jackson Rd isn't going anywhere.

http://www.michigan.gov/mdot/0,1607,7-1 ... --,00.html

[iamkickstand]

i'd commute to work, if it wasn't 52 miles one way and I had a place to shower.