Lubbock, TX - Bike Lanes? (West, Howe: apartment complexes, home, neighborhoods)

[tammay]

Hi all,
I'll be moving back to Lubbock this summer and staying there for a few years. However, my finances are going to be very tight so I won't be able to afford a car . I know this can be, erm, problematic in Lubbock (I lived there while doing my master's at TTU in 2004 so I know the city pretty well). So I'm looking at apartment complexes around 4th and Slide area (convenient to shops, etc).

Since I won't have a car, I'd like to have a bike to at least have some mobility. I know there were issues with bike lanes and consideration for bikers when I lived there, but that was 8 years ago. Have things changed a bit since then? Hopefully there are more students biking it so the city has accommodated a bit with that? I'm especially wondering about the possibility of biking to TTU. I'm not studying there (been there, done that ) but I'd like to have the option of going to lectures and concerts and such on campus or just taking a walk on some of the trails there. I know that 4th street gets heavy traffic, but is it possible to bike there without the fear of getting knocked down by cars?

Ideas?

Tam

[Westerner92]

I don't know what it is, but drivers in Lubbock have a particularly strong aversion to anything that's not a car. I guess it's Lubbock's roads are wide and relatively light on traffic, so anything that keeps cars from going less than 45 really cramps their style. There are a few bike lanes in Tech Terrace, the Overton neighborhoods, and wide shoulders on the South Loop access roads (I think they were intended to be bike lanes, but you have to be very careful on them), but nothing else really. My best suggestion would be to avoid major arterials as much as possible. That shouldn't be too hard since many of the residential streets are as direct as the arterials themselves.

That said, the northwest part of town seems particularly inconvenient for going carless. Is your work near there?

[tammay]

Hi Westerner,
Thanks for the response. I actually work from home so I am flexible with living areas. I just like the area near Slide and 4th (lived there during grad school) and I know it well and I know it's relatively quiet and safe. But if you have other suggestions, I'd be open to them. I'm trying to avoid areas too close to TTU for obvious reasons.

Tam

[rr2005]

Be very careful if you are going to be cycling. I like Lubbock and appreciate the light traffic, but you could not pay me enough to ride a bicycle or motorcycle through Lubbock. I think there are normally so few bikes/cycles/tiny cars on the roads, that the drivers (myself included) are not accustomed to watching for them. Have you considered living somewhere along the bus route?

[tammay]

Hi rr,
Thank you for the cautious words. I do know that biking is "at your own risk" in Lubbock . I'm just looking at it as an option. I really prefer to walk whenever I can, even in a walkless down like Lubbock where there aren't always sidewalks!

As to your question, I'm actually looking for a place around Slide and 4th and I believe that is on the bus route. So I might make do with that after all. I heard that the bus system has developed quite a bit since I last lived in Lubbock in 2004.

Tam

[rr2005]

Yes, I have heard that the bus route is much improved. Frankly, if the price of gas keeps sky-rocketing, bicycling and crowding onto buses may become much more commonplace! I wish you the best of luck on finding a suitable place.

[wankel7]

http://traffic.ci.lubbock.tx.us/pdf/bikeRoute.pdf

[doctorjef]

Way back in 1972-73, the student council at Coronado HS was lobbying the city government to put bike lanes on the streets of the Hub. Now, 40 years later...

[Prairieparson]

Sorry, but I can't recommend cycling. When we first moved here, it was quite obvious that people in general are not considerate of bicycles. I like to ride bicycles, but its just not safe. Just in the past couple of years we've had two fatalities of people on bicycles. One was a well known judge and the other was a young man like yourself who was run over by a woman in a pick up truck. She got also no penalty from what I remember. If I were you, and finances were that bad, I'd get a motorcycle or a scooter. That way you can take the side streets, and still get around. People around here like their pick-up trucks and SUV's and a lot of them drive like its your obligation to get the H#ll out of their way. I know, I ride motorcycles.

My son rides the buses. You'll spend a lot of time waiting at bus stops if you want to use the bus.

[elan]

Originally Posted by tammay

Hi Westerner,
Thanks for the response. I actually work from home so I am flexible with living areas. I just like the area near Slide and 4th (lived there during grad school) and I know it well and I know it's relatively quiet and safe. But if you have other suggestions, I'd be open to them. I'm trying to avoid areas too close to TTU for obvious reasons.

Tam

One of my kids lived around Slide and 4th before moving to the Terrace area. Their plan was to bike, but if I recall the intersection at the Martha Sharp Freeway was dicey at best. They started taking the bus. Even after moving directly south of the campus they felt more in control on foot.