Mount Royal Ave Cycle Track Update

Last night, the engineering firm tasked with developing the Midtown / Mount Royal Streetscape project revealed 95% design plans at a community meeting hosted by Baltimore City Department of Transportation. 

This project has been in the works for four years, and the last project meeting was hosted in 2014. In fact, Bikemore's first major advocacy push as an organization was back in 2012, for inclusion of bike facilities in this project.

In January 2016, we provided a detailed overview of this project, and stated that "red-lined" design changes (changes added once construction has begun) are critical to making this a safe and worthwhile project.

None of these major recommendations have made it into the project, nor have the recommendations of other key stakeholders and community members.

We need to reconfigure the I-83 off-ramp.

A reconfiguration of the I-83 offramp onto Mount Royal Avenue must be considered. Currently, the design asks bicyclists and pedestrians to cross a highway offramp that will only be signaled with a flashing yellow warning beacon. This highway offramp was never intended to be permanent, and it should be closed as a part of this project. At minimum, the offramp needs to be reconfigured where it interacts with the cycle track. 

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1) Present 2) Ramp Closure 3) Reconfigure Ramp

We need to extend the project up to North and down to Guilford.

The protected bike lane currently ends several blocks short of North Avenue. This will provide an incomplete connection to the lanes we are advocating for in North Avenue Rising. The protected lane also currently ends just before Saint Paul Street, and should be extended fully to connect to the protected facility and lanes at Guilford and Fallsway. Federal dollars cannot easily be used to fund an adjacent facility to the Jones Falls Trail, so the city should step in with the red lined extra work funds to extend the facility here.

Connections to Maryland and Cathedral are not well defined.

The connection to the Maryland Avenue cycle track is not well defined. We have had instances in Baltimore where two separate engineering firms have worked on two separate projects, and failed to plan for overlap, leading to bump-outs being installed into bicycle facilities. No clear answers have been provided by the engineers about coordination between these projects. 

A bump out installed over a bike lane near Druid Hill Park

The intersection of the project with Cathedral Street is also concerning. Early project renderings installed a traffic circle that allowed for bicyclists and drivers to better navigate the intersection, but that has since been removed. Bicyclists in the current plans must dismount and cross the street from the protected facility on Mount Royal over a crosswalk to Cathedral.

Confusing intersection at Cathedral and Mount Royal requiring multiple dismounts

There's no reason to have two travel lanes on Mount Royal.

The project is cutting down median width, removing parking, and taking sidewalk space to try and accomodate two lanes of travel alongside a protected bicycle facility. This is one of the largest sources of discontent with community members. Removing a vehicular travel lane would allow for parking to be restored where it is currently lost throughout the project, while still retaining a protected bike lane and wider medians. These are wins for everyone.

These fixes are necessary before this project begins construction.

Bikemore will work with neighborhood organizations, Councilman Costello, and stakeholder institutions to advocate for these changes to be red-lined into this project so construction is not significantly delayed.

It is frustrating to see a flawed project brought to the table when feedback that could have made this project great was submitted over the past four years.

This is the challenge with projects in Baltimore taking so long to come to fruition--design standards for livable cities are constantly changing. We have a far more progressive DOT than we did four years ago. See the pop-up cycle track announced today on East Pratt as an example. However, when projects like the Midtown / Mount Royal streetscape take half a decade to plan, they are unable to meet the demands of an evolving city.

We will keep you posted on ways to vocalize improvements to this facility, and your support of Bikemore enables us to continue to advocate on your behalf.

Pop-Up Cycle Track on East Pratt Street

DOT is installing a "Pop-Up" cycle track this Thursday!

This Thursday, August 4th, Baltimore City Department of Transportation will be installing a pop-up cycle track on East Pratt Street between South Central Avenue and South Broadway Street. This two-way protected bike lane will remain in place through Friday, August 26th. 

Baltimore City Department of Transportation welcomes community members to join them from 8:00-9:00am and from 5:00-6:00pm on Friday, August 5th at the corner of Caroline Street and East Pratt Street to try out the facility and learn more about bicycle projects in Baltimore.

What are pop-up bike facilities?

Pilot projects, such as pop-up protected bike lanes, are becoming increasingly popular in cities. These projects allow agencies to engage with the public--testing what works and what doesn't in an affordable manner before substantial capital investments are made. The conventional project development process proceeds from plan to capital construction over a number of years, while pilot projects only take a few weeks to organize and construct. These projects help communities try new treatments, re-envisioning what their streets and communities can look like without the commitment of a capital project.

Ride it, show support!

Definitely try to stop by in the morning or evening on Friday and check out the installation, and make it a part of your commute if you live in the area. Showing support for this kind of creative testing means we will see it more frequently. And, if you want to ensure that more projects like this turn into full-time bike facilities, donate to Bikemore.

North Avenue Rising: Let's Make it Better!

Baltimore Plans to Improve West North Avenue

This post has been updated to reflect additional information received by Bikemore after publishing.

Earlier this week, Senator Mikulski’s office announced Baltimore’s receipt of a $10,000,000 TIGER Grant for roadway improvements to North Avenue.

The project application, entitled “North Avenue Rising,” was submitted by the Baltimore City Department of Transportation and Maryland Department of Transportation including the Maryland Transit Administration. 

The $10 million in federal funding is being matched by $14.7 million of state funding, $1.6 million in already-committed FHWA funding, and $1 million of Baltimore City funding.

The bulk of the $27.3 million project, $8.9 million, will focus on sidewalk and crosswalk improvements. Investments in transit infrastructure including bus stop shelters, transit signal priority at intersections, investments in the Penn/North Metro Station, and dedicated lanes amount to about $7.5 million. Funding for bicycle infrastructure makes up less than $1 million.

Current Plans Have Flaws

While early in design, the project as currently scoped has major shortcomings. Dedicated bus lanes stop and start through parts of the project, because Baltimore City Department of Transportation does not want to fully prioritize bus service over private automobiles along the corridor. There are bike share stations planned for key intersections, but there are no dedicated bicycle facilities planned for North Avenue in the project. While the dedicated bus lanes will be signed as shared with bikes, other infrastructure is relegated to stretches of parallel facilities that are sometimes several blocks away.

This contradicts the 2015 bicycle master plan, which calls for North Avenue to be a “main route” for bicycles, requiring dedicated, protected bike lanes. It also contradicts a multi-year collaborative community design process undertaken by the Neighborhood Design Center, which culminated in 2015. That plan also calls for protected bicycle facilities along much of West North Avenue.

These improvements alongside dedicated transit lanes would further reduce personal vehicle travel lanes or parking, and Baltimore City Department of Transportation was unwilling at the time of project submission to sacrifice convenience of personal automobile users to accomodate safe, protected lanes for people who bike alongside fully-dedicated transit lanes throughout the corridor.

Through Advocacy, We Can Fix the Flaws

Luckily, it is not too late to improve the North Avenue Rising plan. North Avenue has significant right-of-way, and advocacy for expanded funding of this project and true prioritization of transit and bicycles as required by our complete streets policy, and as outlined in our master plans, could allow for fully-dedicated bus lanes along the corridor adjacent to dedicated bicycle facilities. 

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An offset bus lane street (NACTO)

Additional personal vehicle lane reduction or reduction of some parking along North Avenue would allow for design of an Offset Bus Lane Street with dedicated, parking or flex-post protected bicycle lanes. This treatment is endorsed by the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO), of which Baltimore is a founding member.

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A median rapid transit corridor (NACTO)

Additional personal vehicle lane reduction or reduction of some parking along with additional funding would allow for a true dedicated Median Rapid Transit Corridor for the widest portions of North Avenue. This treatment would include protected bicycle facilities and a curb-separated right-of-way for transit operations, improving bus speed and reliability while allowing for a future upgrade to rail transit on the North Avenue corridor.

Additional funding should should be leveraged by this grant award to make it a truly great project for Baltimore. The TIGER grant money should not be used for routine resurfacing, instead it should be used to bolster this project's innovation in biking, walking, and transit design. Governor Hogan can pay for the overdue resurfacing of a state marked highway, like he is doing in every other county in Maryland.

Bikemore wants to see North Avenue rising.

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>33% of households are zero car in pink areas. >66% of households are zero car in red areas.

Neighborhoods along the project corridor have some of the highest rates of households that lack access to a car in Baltimore City. Dedicated transit lanes will make buses faster, more convenient, and more on-time on this critical transportation corridor. Protected bike lanes will allow people to safely use bike share while calming traffic and making the street safer for people who walk. There is no reason to prioritize personal automobile throughput over the safety and convenience of neighbors and people who walk, bike, and take transit on this corridor.

Agencies involved in this project are open to our recommendations, and we look forward to working with them to advance a vision for North Avenue that truly promotes biking, walking, and taking transit. But more advocacy around complete streets is clearly needed, because a project that does not completely consider and include all modes should not be constructed, and we should not accept a political climate unwilling to include adequate design for biking in project submission.

This is a great opportunity to make one of the only wide roads in Baltimore functional for all users, and a mistake in infrastructure here will have to be endured for years to come. We must get to a place where our city prioritizes people over personal cars by default, not as an afterthought.

As this project continues to develop, we will notify you of ways to get involved and ensure we get the best possible design for people who bike, walk, and ride transit. 

Maryland Avenue Cycle Track Breaks Ground

Construction on the Maryland Avenue cycle track began this morning.

We've been as weary of delays as you, so when the notice to proceed was issued early last week, we kept our fingers crossed and our lips sealed. But it's happening, right now.

You may not see much at first, because preliminary work will focus on ADA compliant sidewalk ramps, roadway patching, and grate replacement. But crews will be working block by block to install the cycle track from 29th Street to Pratt Street for the rest of the summer. 

The city has chosen a reputable contractor with has a strong record of completing projects on time, so we hope to be able to ride a completed cycle track when bike share launches this fall. 

Construction will then continue on the Madison and Monument Street cycle tracks and the Preston and Biddle Street standard bicycle lanes, all of which are a part of this Downtown Bicycle Network project.

The city will be hosting an open house on the project at the Baltimore School for the Arts in August. We will announce that date as soon as it is available. In addition to this public meeting, DOT will be hosting pop-up events to explain the project over the next month. The first pop-up is next Tuesday, July 26th, from 8:00 to 9:00am in front of the Bikemore offices at 2209 Maryland Avenue.

One of the reasons we’ve developed Bikemore’s advocacy arm is to ensure projects like this, that have sat shovel ready for years, are no longer held up by bureaucracy or a minority of noisy NIMBYs. 

Thank you for your patience and faith in our advocacy, and please continue to give generously so that we see more victories like this one, and that we see them faster.

Statement on Charm City Circulator Cuts

Credit: m01229 on Flickr

Today the Baltimore City Department of Transportation announced proposed changes to the Charm City Circulator, including elimination of the Banner Route, elimination of the Green Route, and elimination of the Purple Route Northern Extension from Penn Station to 33rd Street.

There is insufficient revenue to fund current operations, partially because the Banner Route was continued after its funding source—a grant tied to the Star Spangled 200—ran dry.

The Charm City Circulator is incredibly popular, with ridership in excess of many streetcars in other cities. It is a testament to the fact that Baltimoreans overwhelmingly desire access to high quality, frequent transit services. The challenge is getting our residents and elected officials to understand the costs of running these transit services, and the options to pay those costs.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake proposed in this year’s budget a 4% increase in the parking tax at public garages to fund the Circulator, but the City Council balked at this idea. Instead, some on Council proposed an ill-advised $1 fare for the service, which when factoring in purchase, installation, and operation of fare equipment, would net no profit while likely reducing the ridership of those most desperately in need of this transit service.

Funding mechanisms such as the proposed parking tax increase recognize that parking lots downtown promote car travel to downtown, causing a negative impact to congestion and to quality of life in our city. Paying a fee to fund alternatives to personal car travel is a common mechanism used in cities across the country and world to offset that negative impact.

Instead of scrapping routes that provide important mobility along corridors that are not well served by the MTA and have some of our highest rates of houses unable to afford cars, Baltimore City Department of Transportation should look at how to best improve efficiencies of existing routes while elected officials aggressively work to pass parking tax increases and investigate new parking revenue sources, such as monthly fees for Residential Permit Parking, that could allow us to further expand city funded transit service to other underserved neighborhoods.

As seen by the State’s cancellation of the Red Line, a sustainable funding source for public transit under local Baltimore City control is much needed, and will allow the City to address specific mobility needs as identified by city residents, instead of by political winds in Annapolis.

$ Monthly Parking Costs $

Baltimore's parking rates are already significantly less than neighboring cities. We cannot continue to subsidize the true cost of single occupancy vehicle use at the expense of congestion reduction, improved air quality, and transportation options for our residents. 

We believe the Circulator fills a critical transportation gap, and strategies should be employed to increase and improve service--not eliminate it. That will require all of us and our elected officials to get real about what it truly costs to park cars. The time has come to bring our revenue from downtown parking in line with neighboring cities, and ensure that revenue is used to improve active and public transportation options for all Baltimore residents.

Simply put, we cut transit to keep parking cheap.

You can help support Bikemore's efforts to demand our city put people before cars: