The Tulsa Forum by TulsaNow

PHOENIX — Bicyclists in downtown Phoenix can now enjoy a new two-way protected bike lane, the city’s first such bicycle amenity.

The two-way protected bike lane recently opened on Third Avenue between Roosevelt Street and McDowell Road, the city announced in a press release.

The bike lane is physically separated from the street, which is a northbound-only road for vehicle traffic.

It is part of the Third and Fifth Avenues Improvement Project which aims to increase safety, improve corridor circulation and expand bicycle facilities in downtown Phoenix, according to the release.

PHOENIX – City planners are considering making significant changes to traffic flow on a prominent stretch of Central Avenue in Phoenix.

Under the proposal, the 2½ miles of roadway between Bethany Home Road and the Arizona Canal to the north would go from two lanes in each direction to one.

That would allow for the addition of a dedicated center turn lane and bike lanes in each direction.

Ashley Patton of Phoenix’s street transportation department told KTAR News 92.3 FM on Thursday that the addition of a two-way left turn lane is linked to a 47% reduction in collisions.

“However, there could also be an increased delay for people driving, particularly during rush hour,” she said.

If the plan is approved, Central would be striped with the new configuration after scheduled paving treatment is completed.

“When we treat a road, it becomes a blank slate,” Patton said. “So our team uses that as a cost-effective opportunity to identify potential safety improvements by modifying the striping or the lanes that are painted on the street.”

The Bethany Home-Northern section will get paving treatment in this fall, and the stretch between Northern and the Arizona Canal will be done in the spring/summer of 2022.

If the proposal isn’t adopted, the street will be striped in the current manner after the paving treatment.

The city held a virtual public meeting on May 20 to explain the reason behind the plan and take questions from community members.

I know there has been a lot of discussion about making protected bike lanes on Tulsa streets and wanted to share what Phoenix is doing about this topic. I realize that the streets are vastly different between Tulsa and Phoenix, but I wanted to share some info on what is going on here that might be applicable to Tulsa.

Interesting but I thought we were trying to get rid of one-way streets.

I think he's just showing an example of the two way protected bike lane (it just happens to be completed on a one way street there right now) and not that in order to do two way bike lanes requires a one way street. One way streets generally aren't recommended.

I would probably actually prefer this to be what the bike lanes are converted to on 11th and possible on 3rd (there seems to be plenty of right of way on 3rd for it). It'd be nice to see it on say Elgin and then connect it into the Osage Trail. You could then go from the Gathering Place up Midland to 11th, to Elgin then to Osage all on protected bike areas. Then do one more of the north/south like maybe Cheyenne.

Not every bike lane needs to be like this, but it'd be nice to see a handful of strategic ones done that would fully connect all the trails.

Interesting enough with Elgin (https://www.facebook.com/events/600-s-elgin-ave-tulsa-ok-74120-3624-united-states/protected-intersection-demonstration/1101574133699957/)

City of Tulsa is having a protected intersection demonstration at 6th & Elgin Today. So if anyone is downtown go talk to them and see what they're up to.