Bike lanes offer middle ground

Advisory bike lanes are established on Bolivar Street in Jefferson City, as shown in this Sept. 23, 2016 photo.
Advisory bike lanes are established on Bolivar Street in Jefferson City, as shown in this Sept. 23, 2016 photo.

Now that bike lanes on Bolivar Street are in place, an effort is on track to help the public better understand how they work.

At the Public Works and Planning Committee meeting Thursday, City Engineer David Bange said these "advisory bike lanes" are a fairly new concept for Jefferson City.

"Advisory bike lanes, like designated bike lanes, provide a defined place for bikes on the street but allow for cars to use the lanes when necessary after yielding to bicycles," Bange said. "For the cyclist, it allows for the lanes to be striped wider than a typical bike lane, which with adjacent parking, provide the cyclist the opportunity to ride outside the swing of car doors providing a safer environment."

Bange said the advisory lanes allow for a middle ground between residents and businesses that don't want to lose any street parking and cyclists who may be coming into town from the Katy Trail.

While many people may not be aware of this concept here, Bange said it is a method used in other cities across the country. He said the city would make educational efforts such as posting information on the city's website, and they have placed signs on the street itself identifying the bike lanes.

He added the plan for advisory bike lanes is simply better defining the existing law that requires cyclists to obey the rules of the road and vehicles to yield to bicycles in the street when there's oncoming traffic.

Adding bike lanes is part of a regional wayfinding plan, which seeks to help visitors and residents locate districts, landmarks and other venues in town through signs and informational kiosks. Last year, the city was awarded $214,000 in grant funds from the Transportation Alternatives Program to implement a wayfinding plan, "including fabrication and installation of wayfinding signage for downtown Jefferson City and from the Katy Trail leading into Jefferson City."

The total cost of the project is $267,500, and the grant funds cover 80 percent. The majority of the 20 percent local match has been provided by several groups, including Capital Region Medical Center, the Jefferson City Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Discover Jefferson City Foundation, Downtown Jefferson City, the East Side Business Association, the Historic City of Jefferson and the city parking division.

Part of the wayfinding project installed signage from the Katy Trail to the Clay Street bike plaza and along Bolivar Street, where the new bike lanes are located, to the Wears Creek Greenway trail head on Dunklin Street.