How Atlanta is gradually becoming a bona fide bike-friendly city (Decatur: 2015, neighborhood)

[AnUnidentifiedMale]

Who’d have thunk that an Atlanta neighborhood would ever log a Bike Score above “very bikeable” 80? Probably not many Atlantans, including the Lycra-wearing variety.

With the Atlanta Beltline’s Eastside Trail on one flank, now joined by Edgewood and Moreland avenue bikes lanes, Inman Park is practically covered in bicycling infrastructure and just might have set the local bar with a score of 81.

(snip)

Overall, the city’s Bike Score jumped from 43 to “somewhat bikeable” 50 between 2013 and 2015, where it currently remains, although curiously so.

Anecdotally, evidence that Atlanta is warming to—or at least becoming tolerant of, in the case of pro-driving-lanes crowds—its status as a growing bike hub is becoming unavoidable.

https://atlanta.curbed.com/2017/9/18...-city-beltline

Opinions? How bike-friendly does Atlanta seem compared to other cities in the US?

[fourthwarden]

Originally Posted by AnUnidentifiedMale

https://atlanta.curbed.com/2017/9/18...-city-beltline

Opinions? How bike-friendly does Atlanta seem compared to other cities in the US?

It's got a long way to go, but we're certainly going. Relay has grown incredibly from when it started, and I see plenty of people using it whenever I'm in town. The bike lanes are much better than where they were, but need more range, more cohesion, and better enforcement. The PATHs are coming along nicely, and the BeltLine is growing slowly, but now steadily with a large section about to open and a shorter section soon to follow with another expansion in the pipe and designs underway.

[CCATL]

I'm not sure I'd call it a bike-friendly city, meaning the city as a whole. But there have definitely been huge improvements in bike infrastructure and general feeling of safety in certain parts of the city. Personally, I stick to the older areas of the city with more street grid - cars tend to go slower, there are more stop signs/red lights, and more alternatives to main streets. This also happens to be where the city seems to be focusing most of its resources on, and where a lot more people are out on the streets on bikes. Basically this keeps me locked in the area the is midtown on the north, all of the east side (Virginia Highland, L5P, Inman Park, O4W), south to Grant Park/Ormewood Park. I've only ever biked West End/Castleberry Hill on the west side, and those are pretty friendly too. I will not risk my life in Buckhead on a bike, and the West Midtown area still worries me, but I know they're working to improve that area now.

I have biked everyday for 5 years now for my commute, and in that time, there have been some massive changes. I went from entirely on road, to almost entirely bike lane/cycle track. Also in that time, I think drivers in the areas I bike have gotten a lot more used to seeing bikes on the road, and for the most part, are much more accepting of it. I never let my guard down, I take the lane when necessary, and I'm paying attention to what everybody is doing, but I feel much safer than I used to.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by CCATL

I'm not sure I'd call it a bike-friendly city, meaning the city as a whole. But there have definitely been huge improvements in bike infrastructure and general feeling of safety in certain parts of the city. Personally, I stick to the older areas of the city with more street grid - cars tend to go slower, there are more stop signs/red lights, and more alternatives to main streets. This also happens to be where the city seems to be focusing most of its resources on, and where a lot more people are out on the streets on bikes. Basically this keeps me locked in the area the is midtown on the north, all of the east side (Virginia Highland, L5P, Inman Park, O4W), south to Grant Park/Ormewood Park. I've only ever biked West End/Castleberry Hill on the west side, and those are pretty friendly too. I will not risk my life in Buckhead on a bike, and the West Midtown area still worries me, but I know they're working to improve that area now.

I have biked everyday for 5 years now for my commute, and in that time, there have been some massive changes. I went from entirely on road, to almost entirely bike lane/cycle track. Also in that time, I think drivers in the areas I bike have gotten a lot more used to seeing bikes on the road, and for the most part, are much more accepting of it. I never let my guard down, I take the lane when necessary, and I'm paying attention to what everybody is doing, but I feel much safer than I used to.

Don't forget Kirkwood, ABC's 2016 Bicycle Friendly Neighborhood of the Year!
I'd say the bicycle friendly areas stretch from Northside Dr, east to city limits and then includes Decatur, south to Glenwood Dr; East Atlanta, Ormewood Park, Southside BeltLine to West End.

[krogerDisco]

I remember riding my bikes in Atlanta. Any bike trail, quickly ran out. And I've had my share of very close passes on my left by MARTA buses. I've even been driven off the road by cars. My experiences have led me to believe Atlanta is bike hostile.

[testa50]

I've started biking around pretty regularly. The trails are better than you'd think, once you start to build a mental map of where bike lanes and tracks run and which ones it makes sense to use. There are still a bunch of spots where a high traffic main road is unavoidable for a few blocks.

The beltline desperately needs a bike track. imo they should build an 8' wide bike track and just punt on the future streetcar for now. I actively avoid riding on the beltline anytime out of working hours. It's just painfully slow and dangerous; I feel better on the roads honestly.

[CCATL]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Don't forget Kirkwood, ABC's 2016 Bicycle Friendly Neighborhood of the Year!
I'd say the bicycle friendly areas stretch from Northside Dr, east to city limits and then includes Decatur, south to Glenwood Dr; East Atlanta, Ormewood Park, Southside BeltLine to West End.

Yes, you're right. I don't head over that way very often, but the times I have it is an easy ride.

[Gulch]

Originally Posted by testa50

I've started biking around pretty regularly. The trails are better than you'd think, once you start to build a mental map of where bike lanes and tracks run and which ones it makes sense to use. There are still a bunch of spots where a high traffic main road is unavoidable for a few blocks.

The beltline desperately needs a bike track. imo they should build an 8' wide bike track and just punt on the future streetcar for now. I actively avoid riding on the beltline anytime out of working hours. It's just painfully slow and dangerous; I feel better on the roads honestly.

That would be terrible, especially since if you were to widen the existing trail "for now" would mean "never" regarding the implementation of transit.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by testa50

I've started biking around pretty regularly. The trails are better than you'd think, once you start to build a mental map of where bike lanes and tracks run and which ones it makes sense to use. There are still a bunch of spots where a high traffic main road is unavoidable for a few blocks.

The beltline desperately needs a bike track. imo they should build an 8' wide bike track and just punt on the future streetcar for now. I actively avoid riding on the beltline anytime out of working hours. It's just painfully slow and dangerous; I feel better on the roads honestly.

The BeltLine is a victim of it's own success, but it is a multiuse trail not bicycle track. Transit ROW should be preserved because w/o transit the project is not it's full potential as not everyone can walk or ride a bicycle that distance. We are concentrating density around the corridor because of the transit.

[cqholt]

Midtown Alliance’s data show that ridership on the 10th Street two-way bike lanes had ballooned by 225 percent between installation in September 2013 and April this year.

In other words, the 851 cyclists who previously used the lanes connecting Midtown’s core to the Beltline has grown to an average of 2,770 daily, per the study.

Elsewhere, daily use of dedicated bike lanes on 5th Street through Tech Square went up by 95 percent. Even Peachtree Street, with no protected lanes for two-wheel pedalers, has seen a 30-percent increase

https://www.midtownatl.com/about/new...idtown-atlanta