District holds a firm stance on bicycle commuting — we’re for it, and we haven’t ever lacked pro-bike articles to prove it. This time, we’re talking bike lanes.
Pavement marked lanes for cyclist use only are intended to improve the safety of bicycle commuters by providing a specific area designated for bikes, and reduce commuter confusion by providing a visual cue to motorists that cyclists will likely be present on the street. These intrinsic values of bike lanes also support cycling itself.
The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia states “San Francisco showed and increase in cyclists of up to 144 percent after [bike] lanes were installed.” Peter Jacobsen, a California engineer, found through injury prevention research that “doubling the number of cyclists on the road [brings] a one-third drop in the per-cyclist frequency of a crash with a motor vehicle. [Tripling] the rate of cycling cuts the crash rate in half.” Bike lanes support cycling and cyclists.
However, downtown Savannah faces a bike lane predicament — there isn’t one designated for southbound traffic. The marked Lincoln Street lane runs north from Victory Street to Liberty Street. This lane is intended for northbound traffic only — but many cyclists don’t know this, or seem to care. The Georgia Bicycle Law Enforcement Pocket Guide states that a cyclist who rides facing oncoming traffic increases their risk of being hit by a motorist by 200-400 percent.
It’s a major hazard for cyclists to travel south in the Lincoln Street lane. Although Habersham Street is the designated route for cyclists to travel out of the downtown area, a marked downtown southbound lane would be choice. Perhaps it’s time to “Lincoln-ize” Price Street?
