Bike lanes on major thoroughfares

Jared

Now that part of Saginaw Street has bike lanes, what other major roads would you like to see bike lanes added to?

There are a few roads in East Lansing that I would like to see converted from four lane (two in each direction) to one lane in each direction with a turn lane in the middle and bike lanes on the sides. These would be:[ulist][li]Abbot Road between Saginaw Rd and Lake Lansing Rd[/li][li]Harrison Road between Saginaw Road and Lake Lansing Rd[/li][li]Hagadorn Road from Grand River Ave to Haslett Rd[/li][/ulist]I'd also like to see markers placed on Grand River showing that the right lane is a shared bike/car lane.

MichMatters

I don't know why I didn't remember this, but the streetscape redesign down in REO Town along Washington Avenue also included the installation in bike lanes. They must have just painted them on this week, because they weren't there a week or two ago. This is probably the best streetscape improvement I've seen the city do. VERY impressive. Wide, huge sidewallks, bike lanes, a grassy median, everything's perfect.

dj1997

Mt Hope Ave, between Aurelius Rd and the Sycamore Creek driving range was reduced to 2 lanes (from 3) with the addition of bike lanes on each side of the road. It was part of the Sycamore Creek bridge rebuild project. It ties in fairly nice with the River Trail.

Jared

Nice! The section of Michigan Ave between Grand River and Frandor Plus now has sizable bike lanes on the sides of the road. This reduced the number of motorized lanes by one in each direction.

dj1997

Good point, I noticed the bike lanes last time I was on Michigan Ave. They end at the Lansing city line. I wonder if Lansing will extend the bike lanes toward US-127. Extending the bike lanes to at least Clippert would almost connect them to the River Trail.

MichMatters

It wouldn't almost, it would connect to the River Trail since I'm pretty sure Clippert south of Michigan already has a bike lane.

Haven't seen the new bike lanes on Mt. Hope yet, but it really doesn't seem that big a deal considering how close Sycamore Creek is to Aurelius. I mean, something is better than nothing, and if only because the sidewalk on the bridge was so small it makes sense. But, realistically, if you're going to stretch bike lanes west from Aurelius, you want to at least get them to Pennsylvania. That, of course, would require the reconfiguration of an already narrow Mt. Hope once you get west past Sycamore Creek.

dj1997

You're right, Clippert has a bike lane and sidewalk that would connect a future Michigan Ave bike lane with the River Trail.

I think Mt Hope was fairly easy to reduce to 2 lanes on the Sycamore Creek to Aurelius stretch, the left turn lane wasn't really necessary. Being fairly wooded with the Cemetery and driving range there, there were not too many opportunities to turn left. West of the Sycamore Creek bridge, the bike lanes are directed toward the existing sidewalk along Mt. Hope.

Jared

I drove down this section of Michigan Ave today. The westbound bike lane ends right near the beginning of Ranney Park (or possibly Frandor Plus, my memory here is foggy). Interestingly enough, the eastbound bike lane begins at the intersection of Clippert and Michigan Ave, so bikers coming from the River Trail and going down Clippert will be able to stay in the road more comfortably as they enter Michigan Ave.