Monday, May 19, 2008
The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Bike lanes on table for Division, Fifth
Mayor hopes to
quadruple city's bike
lanes over five years
By SARA LYNNE THELEN
Daily News Editor
Residential College senior Rob
Linn and his bicycle - a 1971 Fuji
Special Road Racer - have a love-
hate relationship. Since coming to
the University, Linn, an avid cyclist,
has been involved in two serious
accidents with cars while riding his
bike, first on Washington Street and
then on Division Street.
"I broke two ribs in one, and dis-
located my shoulder in the other,"
he said. "Neither would have hap-
pened if we had bike lanes."
The city may soon become a little
safer for cyclists like Linn. The Ann
Arbor City Council will vote Mon-
day on a plan to add bicycle paths
to Fifth Avenue and Division Street,
the main roads running north and
south downtown.
The bike paths are part of the
2007 Non-Motorized Transporta-
tion Plan, which aims to make Ann
Arbor safer and more practical for
cyclists and pedestrians.
"We hope to become one of
the premier bicycle communi-
ties in the U.S.," said Ann Arbor
Mayor John Hieftje, who rides
his bike down Fifth Avenue on
his way to work every day. The
H He H
o r
p Positron
city has 21.1 miles of bike lanes, and
aims to have 38 miles by the end of
the year. Hieftje said that a plan to
quadruple the amount of bicycle
paths in the cityin five years is "well
underway."
Designers of the project, rep-
resentatives from the Ann Arbor
Downtown Development Author-
ity and about 30 city residents met
at City Council chambers Wednes-
day to discuss the plan. There, City
Councilmember Ronald Suarez
(D-Ward 1) said he was confi-
dent it would be approved.
Suarez said he enjoys riding
his bike to work every day, espe-
cially since having his car stolen
last month in Detroit. He said he
supports bike lanes in general,
but especially on Fifth Avenue
and Division Street. Residents
at the meeting repeatedly called
those two streets "freeways"
because of heavy traffic.
To make room for the bike
lanes, the stretch of Division
Street between Madison Street
and William Street will be
reduced from three lanes of traf-
fic to two. Fifth Avenue between
William Street and Kingsley
Street will also change from
three to two lanes.
Residents at Wednesday's meet-
ing said they were mostly interested
in how the plan would improve traf-
fic safety. Ann Arbor resident Brad
Battey said crossing some streets
meant "taking your life into your
own hands."
Representatives from the Ann
Arbor Hands-On Museumwere also
concerned about safety. They urged
developers to accommodate the
school buses that frequently bring
elementary school children to the
museum, which is located on Ann
Street off of Fifth Avenue. Buses
usually park where the bike paths
would be added. Many said chang-
ing the bus parking might force chil-
dren to walk across the busy street.
Susan Pollay, the executive chair
of AADDA, said she wasn't worried
about passing the plan with provi-
sions for the buses at the museum.
Christy Summers, a landscape
architect at the firm that designed
the plans, agreed. Declining to go
into detail, she said the firm has
"a few" ideas that will address the
museums' concerns while keeping
the premise of the project intact.
"I'm hearing tonight a lot of sup-
port for alternative plans of trans-
port for downtown, and that's
definitely a high priority on the
plan," she said.
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