Torpy on Decatur bike lanes (Atlanta, Commerce: 2014, homes, construction)

[bu2]

Decatur is already kind of a black hole that makes it difficult to get north/south or east/west in central DeKalb. And they like it that way. Torpy on their plans to take out lanes on Commerce Drive which was originally built to get cars off Ponce de Leon.

Decatur bike lanes a plan to chase other people's cars off roads

Sometime this fall, construction crews will start tearing up a perfectly good commuter route in Decatur, cutting car capacity in half for the purpose of installing protected bike lanes.
Commerce Drive, which was built decades ago as sort of a mini-I-285 around downtown Decatur, will change from two lanes in each direction to one with turn lanes.

The city is putting Commerce Drive on a “road diet,” which is New Urbanism-speak for choking off a road to frustrate drivers with the hopes they’ll go someplace else.

The $1 million project ($200,000 coming from the PATH Foundation) is part of an ongoing counterinsurgency against*autos, a plan that hopes to nudge motorists into leaving their vehicles at home and pedaling to work.

Granted, more people are already riding bikes to work. In 2014, the U.S. Census reported there had been a 60 percent increase over the past decade in workers commuting by bicycle!

That sounds good — until you realize only 0.6 percent of workers commute by bike. Yes, that’s point-six, or six-tenths of 1 percent.

For the sake of argument, let’s say Decatur is twice that, or even three times that, which would mean 2 percent of its residents pedal to work. And if this plan works, maybe 3 percent will.

Decatur has increasingly become an educated, progressive, bike-friendly oasis, a place where the homes of working-class folks are scraped by bulldozers and replaced by $800,000 old-timey new McMansions. These new residents are carving out their version of Nirvana and*the ability to pedal about town is an important part of that vision.

But an equally important part of that vision is to keep other people from driving through their city....

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by bu2

Decatur is already kind of a black hole that makes it difficult to get north/south or east/west in central DeKalb. And they like it that way. Torpy on their plans to take out lanes on Commerce Drive which was originally built to get cars off Ponce de Leon.

Decatur bike lanes a plan to chase other people's cars off roads

Sometime this fall, construction crews will start tearing up a perfectly good commuter route in Decatur, cutting car capacity in half for the purpose of installing protected bike lanes.
Commerce Drive, which was built decades ago as sort of a mini-I-285 around downtown Decatur, will change from two lanes in each direction to one with turn lanes.

The city is putting Commerce Drive on a “road diet,” which is New Urbanism-speak for choking off a road to frustrate drivers with the hopes they’ll go someplace else.

The $1 million project ($200,000 coming from the PATH Foundation) is part of an ongoing counterinsurgency against*autos, a plan that hopes to nudge motorists into leaving their vehicles at home and pedaling to work.

Granted, more people are already riding bikes to work. In 2014, the U.S. Census reported there had been a 60 percent increase over the past decade in workers commuting by bicycle!

That sounds good — until you realize only 0.6 percent of workers commute by bike. Yes, that’s point-six, or six-tenths of 1 percent.

For the sake of argument, let’s say Decatur is twice that, or even three times that, which would mean 2 percent of its residents pedal to work. And if this plan works, maybe 3 percent will.

Decatur has increasingly become an educated, progressive, bike-friendly oasis, a place where the homes of working-class folks are scraped by bulldozers and replaced by $800,000 old-timey new McMansions. These new residents are carving out their version of Nirvana and*the ability to pedal about town is an important part of that vision.

But an equally important part of that vision is to keep other people from driving through their city....

I find that Decatur has good E-W connection, via the MARTA line that passes thru the square.

[Atlanta Scientist]

Slowing people down and increasing the modes that people can use to travel seems like a good thing. I have never driven to Decatur because have alternative means. Atlanta as a whole has put all it's available resources into roads and congestion has not been solved. Congestion probably won't go away until we invent some form of teleportation. If five or ten minutes is added to an already slow commute with the option of an alternative commute then it will be well worth it. An investment in something different is long overdue. Cars are not evil. Public transit isn't evil. Bicycles are not evil. They are all a means to an end: Moving people. The city is asking itself how it can move more people efficiently. More bicycles lanes may not be the best answer but is a better solution than more lanes for cars.

[magnetar]

Bill Torpy really sees himself as a freedom fighter for the poor and downtrodden automobile drivers of Atlanta.

[arjay57]

I seriously doubt that you'll see a surge in Decatur bike-riding, but let the Millennials have their day.

[Pemgin]

Another hot take from Torpy. Moving along...

[JPD]

Two thoughts:

1. Having just returned from Amsterdam, the idea that adding bike infrastructure means there won't be cars on the road, or that cars will have a difficult time getting around is laughable.

2. Why does this joker insist on using a photo of Arnold Schwartzenegger's lobotmized brother as his head shot?

[Thulsa]

I used to drive Ponce -> Commerce -> Clairemont almost every day on my commute.
I like bike lanes in principle, but I bet the only effect this change will have will be to increase the number of cars on Ponce that would have used Commerce to avoid Ponce.

[AnsleyPark]

Oh, while we're at it, let's take out a lane two on our interstates to add protected bike lanes.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by AnsleyPark

Oh, while we're at it, let's take out a lane two on our interstates to add protected bike lanes.

There is a difference between freeways and surface streets. Freeways are designed and made for high-speed vehicle travel. There are even signs at on ramps that prohibit non-motorized transportation. While surface streets are for more than moving cars. The issue is people view this as a moving cars, when it's about moving people, because people are more than just cars; they are peds, cyclists, transit users, and drivers.