2002 Knoxville Regional Bicycle Plan

Appendix G: Public Comments

Comments sent via e-mail:

1. I have read over the transit section on the bike plan. The transit section outlines several good steps for action. Mainly, I would like to see bike parking at the bus stops, nothing more than a simple metal bike rack concreted into the ground. This past year I lived in an off campus apartment while attending UT. I took the 50C bus from golf range apartments to campus. I lived in a privately owned apartment complex about 1/4 mile from golf range, so I walked to the bus stop every morning and walked back to my apartment every evening. Being able to park and lock my bike to a rack at the bus stop would have reduced the time it took to get to the bus stop from about 10 minutes walking to about 2 minutes biking. There is also a nice stop that KAT renovated at Forest Park and Kingston Pike where I think a bike rack might be of use, especially since the Third Creek Greenway begins there now with the new extension that was added this year.
   
   Also, I would like to see greater promotion of biking in general and biking to transit stops. This might help the transit system increase its ridership. It seems that first you would need to establish that there is a safe route for biking to transit stops (and if there is not a safe route, then create one) and then promote it as much as possible.
   
   Additionally, I liked the idea of a map showing safe biking routes that was suggested in the meeting. It would be nice if such a map was constructed so as to allow a person to pinpoint a location of interest, easily determine what bus stops are nearby, and then determine a safe biking route to reach the bus stop.
   
   
2. Here are a few things that I saw in the Executive Summary that stood out and could be implemented to start the process and make it more visible to the general public. These are mostly educational and safety issues.
   • “Share the Road” signs.
   • Sweeping shoulders and intersections
   • When resurfacing roads, restripe land widths for bicyclists
   • Raise drainage grates and repair pot holes and broken pavement.
   • Issue press release clarifying traffic laws relating to bicyclists and motorists
   • Work to update TN Driver’s Handbooks relating to bicycle issues.
   • Train law enforcement in the investigation of crashes involving bicyclists.
   • Develop a public information campaign to encourage bicycling and improve the behavior of bicyclists and motorists.
     
     
3. Thanks for all you and the TPO are doing to promote and improve bicycling in our area. I attended the public meeting at the Cedar Bluff library yesterday evening. I have included herein a list of Priority 1 action items that I think would be good to work on first.
   • Establish clear roles and responsibilities for all affected agencies.....
   • Utilize Bicycle Compatibility Index analysis to develop a recommended bicycle system......
   • Adopt the US DOT Policy Statement on Integrating Bicycling and Walking.....
   • Issue a press release clarifying the traffic laws..... (also explain the TPO’s bicycle initiative)
   • Increase the use of bike patrols for standard duty......
   • Coordinate the bicycle safety programs being conducted by various agencies.....
   • Increase awareness of the benefits of bicycling....
   • Develop a public information and education campaign to encourage bicycling and improve the behavior......
   • Develop a bicycle map of downtown, UT.....
   • Develop a presentation for interested groups.....
     
     
4. I looked over the plan and found that it was pretty comprehensive. I ride Kingston Pike occasionally and it’s not bad where there is a good shoulder and the road debris is not too dense. I was concerned that the plan might tell me I can’t ride there because there are much more than 5000 cars per day on it? The traffic lights with triggers is a problem. Most bicyclists will normally proceed through these lights once traffic is cleared. Many people have non-ferrous bikes so they wouldn’t ever trigger the light as I understand it works; is that true? My personal approach to such lights is to slow (walking stop) and then proceed when the traffic is clear. Since falling off a bike is a big problem, coming to a complete stop will cause injuries, especially for new cyclists. Also, better bikes have clips that hold your feet in so it is best not to stop completely. For these reasons, bicyclists need some leeway and police need to appreciate these issues. I doubt if police give many tickets to bicyclists but I think they should be limited to instances where the bicyclist is clearly reckless.
   
   
5. I read through the draft and it seems that all the bases are covered for beginning to implement a bicycle transport system for Knoxville. I just wanted to add a few thoughts before they left me. We hope we can help Knoxville advance in this area! I have a few insights from European city plans. It can be overwhelming to any transportation planning office to convert to bicycling. Some physical infrastructure is needed at basic points such as bike lock stands at bus stops, schools or post offices and high bike traffic potential areas such as university and downtown. In Europe, roads are designated as priority and are off limits to bicycles. Priority roads are high traffic, higher speed roads that really are unsafe for bicycles. Lesser roads that parallel these high traffic areas are designated as bikeways. I know the demand has to be there, but if the infrastructure is available, more people will eventually use it. It seems to me the best place to start is at the university area and to combine the bikeways with walking paths. The greenway is an excellent start! I look forward to a bicycle route map for Knoxville!
   
   
6. I was at the meeting the other evening and was pleased to see and hear about how much is being done to promote bike riding in the area.
   
   My thoughts on the topic:
   See to it that as many cycling-related stories appear in the paper, so as to promote interest in the activity. Earlier on the day of the meeting I wrote to the News-Sentinel stating that the Tour de France should be listed in the TV Sports page listing. It now is…
   
   One of the most important steps to take in the Knoxville area is to identify areas most likely to be used by cyclists and then to see to it that those areas can indeed be used. I think that there would be more cycling-realated activities if the already existing areas were safer to use. Cycling cannot be properly promoted if that activity can be life theatening.
   
   Examples based on my experience as a resident of west Knoxville between Lakeshore and the West Town Mall: To get to the 3rd-creek bike trail is a three-mile venture. I can either use Lyon’s view Rd, which takes a certain amount of courage, even on well-paved roads, or I can go along Northshore. To continue to Kingston Pke is a chore: the bike path narrows to one foot; the traffic forces the rider onto the sidewalk which is a disaster area with broken pavement; one then has to ride on sidewalks along K. Pke until one can gain access to the bike trail at Bi-Lo. An alternative is to use side streets beginning at Ham and Goodies. Once the trail is extended along Sutherland to connect with Kingston Pke beyond the Post Office, access will be made simpler. For now, thought, some cleaning up is necessary.
   
   To go to the West Town Mall is a simpler task if one can avoid Westland as much as possible. Morrell has a tiny bike lane, more or less safe if the cars are inclined to go under 40 mph and stay away a bit from the bike lane. Along this road, one can get to the shopping center where Border’s is, an apparently bicycle friendly area. There are no bike racks, however, and one is forced to attach one’s vehicle to benches, garbage cans or trees.
   
   To sum up:
   identify and publicize areas which can be used now, see to it that they are safe, make parking places available to riders who use them.
   
   As for bringing safe paths to the public’s attention, perhaps using the maps found in the telephone directory to highlight safe bicycle paths might help.
   
   
7. On page four of the plan under Outreach & Promotion there’s a mention of promoting cycling as transportation to schools. In Knox County there’s a one mile “parental responsibility” zone around schools in which kids cannot ride a bus to school. The result is large traffic jams and lots of cars sitting in line for a longer period of time than it would take to ride a bike or even walk one mile to school. Why don’t kids walk or ride bikes? Because with few exceptions there’s no safe path to schools for walkers or bike riders. In my neighborhood in Halls the Middle & High School kids cut their own path and built their own bridge thru private property just to be able to walk to and from school. As a matter of fact at the new addition and driveway at the Elementary school there’s no consideration in the design for anything but bus & car riders. A good place to start might be to make it safe for kids to ride a bike or walk within the one mile zone around the schools, especially since the school system mandated that kids can’t ride the bus within that zone.
   
   
8. I regret that I could not attend one of the meetings. However, I would like the opportunity to submit comments. I assume that e-mail is the appropriate venue.
   • I congratulate you and the preparers on a job well done. A plan such as this is a policy document, and I can find few (no?!) holes in the policy. I would truly like to see an aggressive implementation plan to see this put into action. Plans are a tool, not a product. The product is seeing the plan implemented on the ground.
   • In thinking of other bicycle friendly communities, I find that they focus on continutity as you suggest in the plan. However, it moves beyond linking one bike route to another. Also linked are off-road bicycle paths, greenway paths, rural road riding routes, etc. Suggest you incorporate same.
   • Similar to the above, the bicycle plan should consider destination points. Working this in with the downtown re-vitalization seems like a natural. Twice a week or more I go from downtown to the Volunteer Landing area and back. Ever try that? It’s not fun. But it could be with a good bike path extension of the greenway. Seems that businesses such as coffee shops would have a vested interest in this.
   • Implement via the “spoke” concept first. Arteries from outlying areas to downtown which would then link to spokes would at least provide access to other parts of town. Ex. currently there is poor access from the North. I end up going east to get to Magnolia so that I can get downtown.

    

Comments from postcards:

1. Ideas for making region more bike friendly:
   Bike routes with tree buffers from 55 mph hazrds and pollutions. Great signage where no bike space is available. Aerodynamic wind tunnels as shown on biketrans.com. Safe routes from Rutledge Pike to Asheville Hwy (Mascot Bridge and Holston Rd)
   
   Issues added to Bike Plan:
   Implementation and the website discussed as top priority
   
   
2. Ideas:
   Crack down in a draconian fashion on speeders.
   
   Issues:
   Bike racks/locking facilities at commercial establishments.
   
   
3. Ideas:
   Take action to encourage more riders. Add more bike parking, especially at KAT bus stops.
   
   Issues:
   More about connections with KAT transit.
   
   
4. Ideas:
   Pass legislation to require bike lanes on all newly built roads and all roads being repaired. Set up a central contact for reporting problems and empower them to work toward solutions.
   
   
5. Ideas:
   Action action action. Monthly bike events/rides, repair clinics for community encouragement. Safe routes around UT. “Yellow bikes”/community shared klunkers.
   
   Issues:
   Bicycle protection—high theft in “urban” Knoxville.