Moving New Orleans Bikes Meetings Showcase
Bikeway Network Blueprint
NEW ORLEANS – The Office of Transportation, working with the Department of Public Works, concluded a series of community meetings this week to update residents on the blueprint for an expanded bikeway network. The blueprint is part of Moving New Orleans Bikes, a part of Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s Moving New Orleans transportation plan for New Orleans.
More than 200 residents attended the three meetings, including more than 130 at Thursday’s city-wide meeting, held at the New Orleans Public Library.
Residents expressed enthusiasm for what will be an increase in protected bike lanes, and broke into applause when shown the recent upgrade to the Broad Street overpass.
“This round of meetings was a great opportunity for City staff to bring the feedback back to the residents, showing them what we’d heard from them earlier this year and how we had incorporated that into the proposed bikeway network,” said Office of Transportation Policy and Program Director Dan Jatres. “We look forward to continuing to engage residents in this manner as we enter the implementation phase of the 75-mile rapid-build projects, starting with a round of preliminary design meetings for projects in Algiers.”
In reviewing plans presented at activity tables, some residents expressed concern over bike lanes being obstructed, and the need for more education for all users of the roadway.
“There were a lot of people who supported low-stress connectors between Gentilly and Uptown neighborhoods to downtown. There were suggestions on simple improvements that can be done, such as adding wheel tracks to stairs at places like Crescent City Park,” said Department of Public Works Senior Project Manager Jennifer Ruley. “People also commented that the planning process was very detailed and addressed major challenges to improving bicycling in the city.”
You can view the presentation here, and view the draft map of the blueprint here. Learn more about Moving New Orleans Bikes here.
Stay tuned for more information about the preliminary design meetings.
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