Council Told City Can't Afford Bike Lanes, Which Is Why BFOC's Looking for Donors

By Robert Wilonsky Mon., Jan. 23 2012 at 2:59 PM

From today's briefing on why the city can't afford bike lanes

So much for that Bike Plan briefing. The council's transpo committee didn't have time to get it today, so it's been backbenched for now. Shame too, since Street Services second-in-command Beth Ramirez's pavement markings briefing was so fascinating, as in: Did you know it costs anywhere between $17,400 to $24,500 for a single mile of bike lane in this town? Which means: The $25,000 the Fort Worth Avenue Development Group is putting toward lanes along Fort Worth Avenue from Colorado Boulevard to Beckley Avenue doesn't even cover a mile, as Ramirez told Pauline Medrano when she asked how far that dough will stretch.

"We are looking for ways to fund that gap," Ramirez told the council. Because right now, she said, "our operating budget does not include money for bike strips."

Which brings me to Bike Friendly Oak Cliff's proposal to privately fund at least some of the Jefferson Avenue Viaduct, at the top of the Bike Plan's to-do list.

I asked Jason Roberts this afternoon if the organization's decided how to proceed in the wake of Israel "Dallas" Torres's accident one week ago. Because, if you'll recall, BFOC met last week to discuss a kick-starter of some kind to help pay for bike lanes or, better still, Jersey barriers to protect cyclists entering the bridge from the Oak Cliff side.

Says Roberts they're actually meeting with city officials tomorrow to see how much City Hall can contribute, after which BFOC will decide how to move forward.

"We're playing catch-up," he says. "So we'll see if there are other opportunities that give us the chance to put some funds out there. Let's see if we get buy-in from the community to shoulder some of the costs and make the numbers work. Like, with the [Margaret Hunt Hill] Bridge, the city puts in X amount and donors put in the rest. Even the [Woodall Rodgers] deck park, it's partially funded by the city and partially funded by donors." (The feds too.) "We just thought: We should follow that model."

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David Worthington

Wrong questions all together. How about how much to build 1 mile of road for cars and how many will it move, now how much for bikes and how many will it move. Then how much money will the city save, how much is congestion reduced, how much less parking space is required, if 1% of car traffic rides bikes. Then the question becomes how can Dallas afford not to build bike lanes.

realistic rider

that 1% is a huge if that isn't happening, ever.

Rangers100

Well put.

Omar Jimenez

Shoot, even here in the Valley theres Bike Lanes.

elbueno

This is infuriating. This city is literally operationally inept!

If it so fucking hard to put in a bike lane, THEN HOW IS EVERY OTHER CITY/TOWN/SUBURB and SHITHOLE in America able to do it???

Wylie H.

I have the same reaction, at times. It seems as if, all too often, when the City of Dallas says something is impossible/can't be done/will cost too much, etc., I can simply trot over to Ft. Worth or up to Oklahoma City to see the very thing being done, and done at a reasonable cost.

Oak Cliff Townie

Because we are striving to be a WORLD CLASS SHIT HOLE

Kergo 1 Spaceship

We were talking about it last night.....Dallas is known as a world class business town-that's it! People don't want to vacation here, there is nothing that sets Dallas apart except for a f+cking bridge, or an antiquated ball. Criminy, we don't even have a major market baseball or football team (the only sports people care about) in our downtown area. People come to Dallas to visit relatives-sir.

Kergo 1 Spaceship

I don't like broken toilets sir.

Kergo 1 Spaceship

lame much?

Rangers100

No bit. Really.

Someone who rejects living in Dallas should quit pretending he actually cares about stuff like Dallas bike lanes.

Scruffygeist

Your bit? Yeah, still sucks.

Rangers100

Stay in Plano, dude. Be very, very afraid of actually living in the city.

Kergo 1 Spaceship

Because most city councils aren't broken, like Dallas. Most cities work in the best interest of the citizens...welcome to Dallas!

bicycles-r-evil

Why don't we just open up the downtown tunnels for bicyclist? That way they want be a nuisance for the auto-drivers and we've been wanting to move the businesses down there up to the street level, anyway...so win win for everyone, HOORAH for Dallas!

EDM

That would be so freakin' cool!!!!

Kergo 1 Spaceship

Makes too much sense; and I love the handle; nothing is closer to the truth! Bikes R Evil.

Francesco Moser

So you can point out to me where the bike trail that crosses the trinity is?

Kergo 1 Spaceship

what?

Rangers100

In other words you have no idea what you are talking about.

Why do you care so much about how Dallas spends its money? You don't even live in Dallas.

Kergo 1 Spaceship

Don't care. These are tough times. Ride a freakin' boat across the Trinity. The bike trail in front of my house does not go to my desired location(s) (Texoma and beyond), but, I'm not bitching! Bi-cyclers are really becoming entitled......used to be ridin' around the neighborhood was fine; now it's, " I need a bike trail on a highway", and, "I need a bunch of fruity git up, so I look like a fat Lance Armstrong", or, "let's see HOW slow I can ride, so people have to wait on my lard filled arse".

Kergie out!

Kergo 1 Spaceship

I hate ranting about this, because it is SO dumb. Dumb. Dallas can't afford good schools or decent roads, how in the hell can they afford to paint streets for some half wit biker(S). Here's an idea....ride your freakin' bike on THE BIKETRAIL! And, while your at it, take off that damn uniform, that is, unless you ride a bike for a living.

mark zero (Jason)

You mean the bike trails that don't go past where people live or work?

Rangers100

So Plano.

Shady

You shouldn't hate ranting, it's the hallmark of growing old.

Tim Covington

I want to know why it costs almost $25,000 to paint a mile of a street? What are the breakdowns as far as those numbers?

Guest

$1,000 for paint & supplies$2,000 for labor (including taxes & benefits)$1,000 machinery$21,000 consulting fee

Kergo 1 Spaceship

it costs nothing to ride on the bike trail

Rangers100

What's amazing is that you seriously appear to think this is a good argument. To the extent that you keep repeating it.

dallasmay

How about this idea...

Lets just get the council to revoke the stupid street painting ordinance that is causing all this trouble. Can anyone tell me why it was instituted in the first place?

Cliff Dweller

What ordinance exactly are you referring to ? And how will revoking it make striping cost less ?

dallasmay

The actual effort of painting stripes is a tiny fraction of that amount. Using the cities own numbers, 3-year Thermoplatic paint costs a whopping $.33 per linear foot. That means that the if we double-solid stripe the entire 840 miles this year, it would cost the city just over $2.7 Million, with a 3 year warrantee. The vast majority of the cost comes from an ordinance -past who knows how long ago- that requires notification of all stakeholders within a given distance from the street, several public meetings, and a public vote to change the striping of a road. (Even still, there is some quiet debate in the city staff that there are some in the management that are misinterpreting the ordinance.)

Cliffie

Time for a little bit of guerrilla street painting. Round up a bunch of taggers. Tell them it's a BYOP project. Who cares what colors of paint they bring? After all, we have multi-colored neon downtown now at the Omni. Wait for a full moon, and go for it! Tell them to paint in straight lines and run like hell.