OKC’s first parking-protected bike lanes under construction in NE OKC
11/21/2023
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Link to webpage of Lottie parking-protected bike lane
Construction began this week on the City’s first parking-protected bike lane. The lane will be built on Lottie Avenue from NE 13th Street to NE 23rd Street.
The parking-protected bike lane is a part of a larger bike lane project that will soon be under construction. The 1.8-mile bike lane begins at NE 4th Street and runs north to Madison Street then turns west to N Kelley Avenue. It will connect Page Woodson, Booker T Washington Park, OU Health Science Center, the Innovation District, Pitts Park, East Point and the JFK, Culberson and East Highland neighborhoods. The project is expected to open in spring 2024.
The Lottie bike lane will connect to the Springlake Bike Project, which is under design.
The $800,000 pilot project is funded through the voter-approved Better Streets Safer City and ACOG Air Quality Small Grants programs.
“Parking-protected bike lanes are a relatively new type of design that have been quickly gaining popularity nationally,” Transportation Program Planning Justin Henry said. “We believe they will improve the safety of the street for cyclists, but also pedestrians who will see more separation between traffic and the sidewalks. Lottie will be an important bike corridor for NE Oklahoma City because it will tie together several neighborhoods and connect to bike routes along NE 4th, NE 8th, NE 13th and NE 16th Streets as well as future facility along Kelley Avenue.”
The City’s transportation planners first met with businesses and property owners along the route in 2021 to discuss the concept and get their input. In 2022, a meeting was held at Amos Memorial CME Church to engage the community and collect additional public input on the project.
How to Drive or Park Next to Protected Bike Lanes
- Parking-protected bike lanes use parked cars to separate people riding bikes from people driving cars. They increase safety for drivers, walkers and cyclists by shortening the crossing distance for pedestrians, increasing visibility and providing a buffer between cyclists and vehicles.
- Do not drive in a protected bike lane.
- Watch for cyclists and pedestrians when visibility is reduced by parked cars.
- Before turning, drivers must yield to cyclists and pedestrians.
- Only park in the striped spaces between the travel lane and the bike lane.
Tips for Biking in Parking-Protected Lanes
- Yield to pedestrians at intersections.
- Watch for pedestrians crossing the bike lane to access a parked vehicle.
- Watch for turning vehicles when approaching intersections.
- Follow the bike lane markings as the lane may weave in the approach to an intersection to make cyclists more visible to drivers.
Tips for Walking Across Parking-Protected Bike Lanes
- Watch and listen for people cycling.
- Cross parking-protected bike lanes at intersections unless accessing a parked vehicle.
About bikewalkokc
The bike lane is included in the City’s comprehensive cycling and pedestrian masterplan, bikewalkokc. Since its adoption in 2018, bikewalkokc has been used as a tool to direct the City’s capital investment programs such as Better Street, Safer City, MAPS 3 and MAPS 4.
About Better Streets, Safer City
On Sept. 12, 2017, Oklahoma City voters approved 13 bond propositions and two sales tax initiatives known as the Better Streets, Safer City projects. The 10-year, $967 million bond package invests in streets, police and fire facilities, parks and other basic needs.
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Media Contact: Kristy Yager, (405) 297-2550, kristy.yager@okc.gov
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