CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Bicycling will be “a part of every day life” in Charleston, according to a design agency that met with city officials Wednesday to discuss their proposed bike trail network plan.
Alta Planning and Design representative Jack Cebe presented a variety of maps that showed where those trails would be located throughout the city. Cebe said the purpose of the project is to create a better place to live and work in Charleston.
“Not only is bicycling a potential for recreation, but for transportation. One of our biggest opportunities in making that connection is using the existing roadways,” said Cebe.
The company wants to make certain high speed roads more narrow, so they can provide separate bike paths along the shoulder. Cebe said those streets will have about a five foot distance between the trail and the roadway. There will also be a separate path for pedestrians right next to those bike trails.
“It’ll give that buffer to make it more comfortable. Where traffic volumes are high and traffic speeds are high we wanted enough separation from the traffic, but also being segregated from pedestrians. We don’t want to put bikes on the sidewalks mixing in with pedestrians,” he said.
Cebe said certain neighborhood roads with lower speeds won’t have as much separation between the bike trail and roadway.
The public specified they wanted the priority corridors to include Kanawha Blvd., Patrick St., MacCorkle Ave., and Piedmont Rd. They want the priority intersections to be at Virginia and Dickinson, MacCorkle and 35th St., and all of Kanawha Blvd., and that the priority gaps and barriers include the 35th St. Bridge and the South Side Bridge.
City officials and residents agreed that Charleston is a great area to provide the trails because of the gridded street network. Cebe said it offers a lot of opportunities for different routes that could be used for both bicyclists and vehicles.
Cebe said they wanted the trails to be used as a tool for economic development in Charleston. He said it would help “put Charleston on the map” by drawing people into the city through bicycling, by increasing health, and by positively effecting the environment.
One of their goals is to achieve a bronze level status by 2020 through the League of American Bicyclists, a national bicycle support group, specifically in the bicycle friendly community designation program.
Alta plans to look at their implementation plans with the state Division of Highways and sort out the top 10 project ideas based on public input and analysis. They will then refine the recommendations and present an updated plan to the public mid July.
A final plan is expected to be completed by the fall.