Tell everybody you know!! If you need your bike fixed up or you need a bike to borrow call us at (941) 726-8800 or email us. If you want to help promote the event, please contact us!!
Just as A.R.T. has begun the work of pushing for improvements to Sarasota’s bicycle facilities, the city has been preparing to take its own step—backwards. A $7 million Fruitville Road reconstruction project would remove bike lanes from one of Sarasota’s most important corridors. To fix this flawed project before it begins, A.R.T. is launching our first major campaign, “Fruitville for Everyone.”
The city plans to remove the Fruitville bike lanes from US 301 to US 41 in order to make room for pedestrian-scale lighting and aesthetic improvements along the sidewalk. The plan is one part of a larger project that would create “pedestrian sleeves,” basically improved pedestrian crosswalks at major intersections along Fruitville. Other changes will include a lowered speed limit on Fruitville between US 41 and 301 and several badly-needed pedestrian crosswalks on US 301.
The project is a great step towards making Sarasota a more livable, walkable city, and A.R.T. is strongly in support of most aspects of the plan. We believe that walking and biking should always be included in Sarasota’s transportation planning, and the planned improvements for pedestrians downtown are a cause for celebration.
However, most of the pedestrian improvements planned for Fruitville can be implemented without removing bike lanes. The only planned change that actually requires the removal of these vital facilities is the inclusion of bollards, used to visually mark the pedestrian sleeves, and other aesthetic enhancements along the sidewalks.
Such a trade-off would be short-sighted, expensive, and dangerous. Removing the bike lanes on Fruitville leaves cyclists with no option but to squeeze in with already-heavy auto traffic, or to negotiate the sidewalks along with pedestrians (negating the benefit of widening the sidewalks in the first place.)
Sarasota cannot afford to take cyclists’ safety lightly. Of the 56 cities in Florida with populations over 40,000, Sarasota ranks as the #5 most dangerous city for bicyclists. 1 Florida ranks #1 in the country in bicycle fatalities. 2 The issue of cyclist safety is too important to be ignored in the redesign of such a major city arterial.
And although Sarasota has a long way to go to ensure cyclists’ safety, Fruitville (though this may be surprising) is actually not an unsafe route. While project planners have claimed that biking in the Fruitville lanes is dangerous, the facts don’t support this. During the past three years, the Sarasota City Police reports include no accidents involving cyclists riding in the correct direction in the bike lanes of this section of Fruitville.
On the other hand, cycling on the sidewalk is much more dangerous. During the past three years, police data shows that three cyclists have been hit while riding on the sidewalks along the same stretch of Fruitville. More generally, studies show that bicyclists are anywhere from two to five times as likely to be involved in a crash when riding on the sidewalk. 3 Because drivers don’t scan for traffic in sidewalks, they frequently hit cyclists when traveling to or from side streets or driveways.
Removing the bike lanes on Fruitville won’t keep cyclists from riding there. The plan will simply make biking more dangerous. Although Sixth Street has been proposed as an alternate route (a “bike boulevard,” though what this means isn’t clear), commuters already have the opportunity to ride Sixth, and many choose Fruitville. Why? For the same reasons that people drive cars there: it’s faster, it connects to other major routes around town, and it’s the only way to reach certain businesses and destinations along the way.
As a smaller, neighborhood road, Sixth Street is not wide enough for bike lanes, nor are they necessary on this lower traffic, lower speed road. It’s fine for recreational riders, but Sixth is not used by all bike commuters and the safety of all cyclists must be ensured.
After meeting with city engineers, bike/ped experts, and transportation consultants, A.R.T. has developed two alternatives that would preserve the valuable aspects of this project without sacrificing the bike lanes:
Option One. In addition to adding pedestrian sleeve crosswalks and lowering the speed limit (as planned), re-stripe the bike lanes on Fruitville from the current three feet to the regulation four feet. The road is wide enough and then Sarasota will have a truly friendly and safe Fruitville Road. Change the zoning code to mandate that new developments on Fruitville dedicate the first three feet of the property to the right of way, which the city can use for sidewalk enhancements.
Option Two. To truly beautify Fruitville and adequately serve all users, implement a “road diet,” shrinking the section between US 41 and US 301 from four lanes to two. With the extra space, the sidewalks can be expanded, the bike lanes can be widened, and Fruitville will be a welcoming gateway into the city.
However the project is developed, we need your help to make sure that bike lanes are part of the plan. Help us convince the Sarasota City Commissioners to authorize a redesign of the project that safely accommodates all users (drivers, pedestrians, AND cyclists) before construction begins.
There are several important ways that we need your help:
Sign A.R.T.’s petition asking the city commissioners halt this project until a bike-friendly Fruitville is designed. Petitions will be available at your local bike shop or online at www.bikewalklive.org/fruitville.
Urge your neighborhood association, community group, environmental club, or other organization to endorse our sign-on letter. A.R.T. volunteers are ready to present at your meeting. Call 726-8800 or email us at art@bikewalklive.org to set up a brief presentation or for more information.
Write a letter to the editor. Let other people know that removing bike lanes on Fruitville Road is a step backwards. With rising gas prices, worsening traffic, and increased awareness of global warming, we can’t afford to eliminate bicycling as a safe and convenient transportation option.
Learn more at A.R.T.’s Fruitville Road community forum on Wednesday, May 9 at 7 p.m. We’ll meet in the Conference Room of the Selby Library downtown to deliver a short presentation about the project. We’ll answer your questions, pass out petitions, and let you know how to get more involved.
Make your voice heard when A.R.T. meets with the city commissioners. We’ll keep you up-to-date about our progress and opportunities for you to speak up as the campaign unfolds.
- Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, 1999-2003 Safety Matrix. ↑
- National Center of Statistics and Analysis of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2006. Traffic Safety Facts: 2005 Data. ↑
- Wachtel, Alan and Diana Lewiston. 1994. Risk Factors for Bicycle-Motor Vehicle Collisions at Intersections. Institute of Transportation Engineers Journal. September. pp. 30-35. ↑