Results of Fan District Association Floyd Ave Bike-Walk Street Survey
You might know it better as the Bike Boulevard.
The proposed Floyd Avenue Bike Walk changes have caused quite a bit of discussion as seen by the long comment thread on our original post. Among the criticisms bandied about, lack of input from Floyd Avenue and Fan residents was often repeated.
The Fan District Association collected sent out a survey to members of it’s email list and received 163 responses. Of those surveyed the majority were supportive (66%). When combined with the unsure/neutral vote the percentage jumps up to 76%.
The survey also had room for comments and the opposed residents were most vocal with the most common complaints being cyclists not obeying the rules of the road and the removal of parking. A few example of these comments below.
- Maybe support if residents really included in the planning and police enforced traffic laws (stopping at stop signs, for instance) for bicyclists.
- I would be more supportive if I was sure this would slow traffic, not eliminate parking and make it safer for cyclists.
- zero removal of any legal or illegal parking
- Major concern is bicyclists would take over Floyd. I expect bicyclist to adhere to same traffic laws as motor vehicles
The survey can be found online and includes all the comments submitted.
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Richard Hayes
When Richard isn’t rounding up neighborhood news, he’s likely watching soccer or chasing down the latest and greatest craft beer.
Notice: Comments that are not conducive to an interesting and thoughtful conversation may be removed at the editor’s discretion.
They should have surveyed Museum district residents, and particularly those who’ll absorb the redirected car traffic. Ask Ellwood and Grove residents if they’re excited about the traffic doubling by their homes?
Doubling? Seriously Beth? Have you even looked at the traffic numbers. You couldn’t double the traffic on Ellwood if you took all cars from Floyd and put them on Ellwood. Seriously, stop with the nonsense, lies and obfuscations.
I’m still curious as to why everyone is so adamant about keeping illegal parking spaces. Did they grow up together? Do they have a child together? They’re not yours, people. If you love something enough, let it go.
And as far as obeying stop signs, I implore anyone to sit at a 4-way stop and count the number of cars that fully stop for stop signs versus those that don’t and let us know what you find.
It’s a streetscape improvement project with no teeth folks. It’s been diluted down to the point that vehicular traffic may move even more quickly up and down Floyd with the removal of at least five four-way stop controlled intersections and replacement with traffic circles.
What’s with this nonsensical hysteria about doubling of traffic on Grove? Much less Ellwood with ten times the volume on Floyd on a given weekday. I should go into business selling bridges in the neighborhood because these people will believe just about anything. Given the support for the improvements, particularly among Floyd Ave residents, it will be very interesting if Mr. Samuels kills it due to a handful of misguided and loud killjoys.
For $60 (our minimum wage over 8 hours) plus cost of materials and an orange vest, I will take any Saturday and hand paint the crosswalks and illegal parking zones on the entirety of the proposed Bike-Walk Street. Should the city decide to take me up on this offer or commit their own resources, enforce our laws accordingly and with the same diligence as other areas, and measure both traffic and public opinion, I will gladly support spending the remaining $499,940 minus materials on any permanent means of beautification and or traffic calming that incorporates this data. I invite everyone, despite their opinions on the proposed concept, to consider that we don’t even have a baseline understanding of what Floyd avenue is currently designed to be. I think it’s important that we and the city understand the impact of our past and future decisions beyond graphical renderings, textbook numbers, and hyperbole. Please contact your council rep and ask to authorize this baseline study. http://www.richmondgov.com/CityCouncil/contacts.aspx
I’m pretty sure this won’t be Set In Stone for All Time. If it works, we can keep it. if it doesn’t, we can tweak it. if it blows, we can drop it. Anyone remember that awful forced turn on Grace at the 1100 block? They dropped that like a bad habit after they realized everyone started cutting up the alleys. Let’s give this bike Boulevard thing a try and see what happens. It may have lost some of its teeth, but I still think it’s a good place to start and possibly a model for other streets on the future.
@Dustin. It may not be set in stone, but these things can be surprisingly expensive. I’d look at the projected costs before dismissing it as “something we can fix later”. I have no stake in this argument either way, btw, just getting a laugh out of the bickering…
I’ve asked numerous bicyclists if there is a riding safety problem on Floyd Avenue that has prompted this expenditure of $500,000 and have yet to receive answer that justifies this project. Everyone of them agreed with me that they’d rather see the money spent on the Capital Trail to Williamsburg. This project is not need based; it is city staff based. It is nothing more than a waste of tax money to satisfy someone’s desire to build a resume. Meanwhile, school classroom roofs are leaking and the pupils are breathing moldy air while we plan bicycle roads for the wealthy end of Richmond. Where are the priorities?