City Hall, In Attempt to Clear Up 'Confusion' Over Bike Plan, Says: It'll Take 10 Years.

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Mister_Mean

"Far as the higher-ups at City Hall are concerned, the council wasn't paying attention" So what else is new.

AskTheMexican

WTeff! This blows.

ok, 10 year plan cool. that means they're committed to building a LOT?

to me, we should start seeing changes in years 1 through 10. i used lived in a city who installed bike routes, lanes, etc. one day you simply started to see lanes marked off, green stop areas, bike racks just appear out of nowhere.

it's. not. that. hard.

Anon

Robert, you are great at writing headlines! In ten years they will still be confused about the Bike Plan!

sweaty ass

is there money to subsidize shower infrastructure?

primi_timpano

Time to invest in deodorant and handi-wipes?

Richard Wharton

You don't need bike lanes to ride your bike. You just need a bike. If a bike plan is preventing you from riding your bike, then come take a bike ed class (www.cyclingsavvydfw.com), and learn how to drive like everyone else. Hunt uses the word 'comfortable' a lot in her comments about the need for bike lanes, and segregated bike pathways, but the fact of the matter is that this is something we can solve with practice and education. I still fail to understand why the BF groups aren't actively promoting bike ed programs within their organizations, knowing full well that the plan won't be implemented in a day, a week, a month, a year, maybe even a decade. Yet N. Texas still ranks as one of the areas in the country and around the world where bike sales are growing, have grown, for over a decade, at a steady rate. Those bikes are not all sitting in garages, waiting for the day that bike lanes are installed. They're being ridden, somewhere, sometime, for some reason.

Ride your bike, follow the rules of the road, be visible, and if you're anxious about riding, or a road condition, or how to get somewhere, well, contact us. We do it every day.

elbueno

This is about commuting, not recreation. Yes, there are a shit ton of recreational cyclists in Dallas. But not enough people are hopping on their bikes to go run an errand or meet up with friends at a bar.

The most prominent cycling communities worldwide all have bicycle infrastructure. Simple fact. You must provide bicycle infrastructure for the bicycle to become a viable choice of transportation.

The Derelict

i'd rather drive my range rover 1 mile to the douchey bar that I go to

RTGolden

I'm a bit confused. What is our goal as a city? Do we want to be considered World Class? Are we striving for cycling prominence? Are these the same things? When they leave that bar drunk on bicycles, can they still get DWI's?Except for that last one, these are all serious questions. It might be the reason Dallas can't ever progress in any given direction is everybody is trying to make Dallas into their own definition of what a 'cool' city would be.

The Derelict

and we haven't even gotten to the part where white people start fighting about which bike lanes will be named after them. add 5 more years.

RTGolden

Dallas Observer December 16th 2021 Robert Wilonsky.

BIKE LANES OPEN!... for a minute, then shut down again.

Went to ( insert trendy 2021 dallas neighborhood) for the official opening of the last phase of the Dallas Bike Plan. A Mr (insert hipster 2021 dallas resident's name) was allowed to enter the bike lanes, where he promptly was overwhelmed by the professionally engineered 'Colorado Moguls' section of the lane. He lost control and was run over by a trash truck on it's way to McCommas Bluff and killed. The city has closed all bike lanes until a 5-year safety and viability study can be conducted.

Robert Wilonsky

On the plus side, the Dallas Observer will still be around in 10 years. Everything else about this comment, though, just depresses the hell out of me.

RTGolden

On the plus plus side, you'll still be around and writing for DO in 10 yrs and this story is already written for you. Just fill in the blanks.

Oak Cliff Townie

Someone has their fingers crossed in hopes either interest for the Idea fades or the cyclist who want it are long Dead .

Wishing no ill will.

LONG LIVE the 2006 bond Funding !

Scruffygeist

Dallas will get this done about a week before the flying bike is perfected.

Titus Groan

Actually, if we could all get one of those E.T.s, the flying bike would already be perfected. So the real answer to improving bike commuting is SETI.

not a tweed rider

10 years from now, there still won't be enough bike commuters to justify bike lanes.

Anon

yea, but in less than 10 years (the current projection is 2013), the government will run out of money to pay for roads (as if they are in decent shape right now anyways), so bike lanes will seem like a relatively cheap way to move a lot of commuters.

therrick

So they will be able to pay for bike lanes but not roads? Doesn't compute.

Anon

they won't be able to pay for highways (should have clarified), so the reduced wear and tear bikes put on smaller local roads will become much more appealing.

as for where they will get the money, who knows. but you don't have to come up w/ nearly as much per commuter for bike users.

I don't bike, and never will (I'd sooner use the bus) but the financial reality is what it is.

elbueno

right...so all the statistics showing increases in bike ridership after installation of bike lanes are COMPLETELY false...

Fowlerlaw

How long did it take Richardson or Waco to install bike lanes??

Downwithsprawl

Compare Dallas' approach on the bike infrastructure to Chicago's. The fact that they are speeding ahead with such visible progress should prove that Dallas is making this harder than it needs to be.

dallasmay

Really, I kinda think 10 years for the full completion would be pretty good. I figured it would be more like a 50 year project. I mean, we have to redesign a lot of infrastructure, that's hard to do and expensive.

But still. There is no need to rush this. Lets take our time and do it right.