Phillip Barron
The Herald Sun
Willetha Barnette, of Durham, rode her bike in traffic for the first time on October 4th. Encouraged by her friend Cynthia Ferebee to join the Critical Mass ride, a monthly group bike ride through the streets of Durham, Barnette said that she enjoyed the freedom to ride on the streets in safe numbers, but that she would not feel comfortable riding alone.
As the group made its way down Anderson St, Barnette said, “it’s uncomfortable. Drivers don’t seem to be used to sharing the road. They seem annoyed, frustrated that we (cyclists) aren’t going as fast as they are. That’s the way it feels to me.” Afterwards, she said it felt “dangerous” to ride down Anderson St., even with new traffic calming measures in place.
Barnette is referring to a series of concrete islands that the City of Durham installed along the hills and curves of Anderson St this summer. The islands were installed in an effort to slow speedy traffic. Anderson St is a wide street, but is lined with houses and parks. It connects Duke University’s west campus with the Lakewood community and Chapel Hill St and is a major traffic artery for daily commuters.
However, since the concrete islands, or “neckdowns” as they are often called, were installed they have raised the ire of many cyclists.
The sentiment of a string of emails to the durhambikeandped listserv in July is, “why did the City put concrete barriers in the bike lane?” While Anderson St doesn’t have designated bike lanes, there are stripes marking the outer limit of the lane which are several feet from the curb and narrow the lanes of traffic significantly. Many cyclists interpret the wide space of pavement between that white line and the curb as a bike lane, feeling that riding in that space and out of the flow of automobile traffic is the safest place to ride.
But mix in artificially placed concrete islands every few hundred feet, and Anderson St. now feels like an obstacle course. When approaching one of the islands, cyclists have the choice of either entering the lane of traffic or navigating a 2 ft wide gap between the island and the curb.
Lawrence Trost, in a letter to the Herald Sun editor dated July 25th, said “the problem with the neck-downs is that because of overhanging tree branches, uneven pavement and debris between the barrier and the curb, a cyclist can’t safely ride on the inside of the barrier. Instead, they force a cyclist to weave unpredictably from the shoulder to the center of the lane each time they pass a barrier.”
Riding predictably and in the lane of traffic is the safest way for cyclists to ride on city streets, but Anderson Street’s “steep hills will prevent most cyclists from taking the lane the entire length of Anderson for fear of being rear-ended,” says Trost.
From a driver’s perspective, the islands are equally confusing. Alexis Richardson, a teacher at Hillside High School, encountered the islands for the first time at night.
“I was taken completely by surprise when I turned on to Anderson Street and I saw some obstruction in the road to my right,” Richardson said. “I squinted and it registered that there was something there, but I had no idea what it was.” When she later learned they were designed to be traffic calming devices, Richardson “was appalled because they seem downright dangerous. I have perfect vision, and I could hardly tell what they were.”
Dale McKeel, Durham’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator, says that “a contractor will be planting landscaping in the neckdown islands this fall” to improve their visibility. He also noted that a consultant will be evaluating the neckdowns, after which the City will decide whether the remove them or how to improve their compatibility with bicyclists.
Feel free to share your thoughts on the concrete islands or other cyclist-unfriendly traffic calming measures with Dale McKeel in the City’s Transportation office at dale.mckeel@durhamnc.gov or 560-4366.