While biking around downtown yesterday, I was surprised to see a series of “conflict zones” being installed on the existing bike lanes.
According to kevin Heffernan at GObike Buffalo, conflict zones are, “… really expensive. Where it’s used is usually in high traffic and high intersection zones. That’s why it’s on the S-curves. The ‘bike boxes’ on Delaware by Forest and Delavan, and this stuff (conflict zones), is a higher grade paint that will hold a better grip and last longer than the S-curves batch.”
It’s definitely nice to see some more bike-friendly infrastructure downtown, because, to tell you the truth, navigating downtown on bike is no easy task. There are numerous fast-moving, highway-style streets that are very dangerous to traverse. East Tupper, Goodell, Oak, Elm, Michigan… the list goes on. There’s a definite barrier to accessing downtown by bike, whether you’re cycling on these streets, or just trying to cross them. The streets are excessively wide, and cars excessively speed.
Getting new conflict zones on Court Street is nice. It’s another small improvement. But we have a long way to go before our downtown is considered bike friendly. That said, Heffernan told me that we should be looking at some nice “city” bike-friendly projects this year, including on Virginia, Amherst, Utica, Parkdale, and Comstock. You can learn more about all of these projects, by clicking here.
“Main Street is going to ‘diet.’ Delaware did. Niagara did,” added Heffernan. “There’s $1 million more in the annual budget for paint maintenance than there ever was before.”
That’s good news, because so many of the bike lanes (Porter Avenue, for example) have completely disappeared.
Heffernan would also like to remind people that, “… it’s illegal to park or stand in any bike lane as of July 2022.”
To learn more about the City of Buffalo Bicycle Master Plan, click here.
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