Raleigh City Council Approves TEMPORARY Bike Lanes for Hillsborough Street

August, 03, 2010 , by Jedidiah

There has been a continued heated debate about whether or not bike lanes should have been added to the new Hillsborough Street plan. A grassroots movement supporting the lanes has been going for some time now and the Raleigh City Council has finally approved them, kinda.

The N&O reports that the lanes will cost $40,000 (out of leftovers from the $10 million for the full project). Now get this: the lanes are simply TEMPORARY and will be reevaluated again in a few months.

Wow, we really do have a confidence in the future of alternative transportation around the largest University in the capital city of North Carolina. $40,000 for a “maybe” that will protect our cyclists on a street that is a pain in the ass to cycle down. Oh yeah, and where’s the money for those trees in the middle of that desolate median.

UPDATE: We get word that since Hillsborough Street is a state road, the NCDOT would only allow for it to be temporary. The City Council tried to make it permanent but they wouldn’t do it and wanted to do this trial period of temporary.

Here’s the City of Raleigh’s press release in which they use the word “temporary” no less than six times:

The Raleigh City Council today unanimously approved installing temporary bicycle lanes along Hillsborough Street. The council’s action comes after the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) recently gave the City approval to place the temporary bicycle lanes on Hillsborough Street. Because Hillsborough Street is a State-maintained road, NCDOT needed to approve changes in road striping for the temporary bicycle lanes.

Council members today approved the temporary installation of 11-foot travel lanes, 5-foot bicycle lanes and 7-foot parking lanes along Hillsborough Street from Enterprise Street to Gardner Street. City staff will explore installing temporary bicycle lane designations using signs or painted icons. NCDOT and the City will evaluate the temporary bicycle lanes for several months before determining whether or not to make the bicycle lanes a permanent configuration.

Also today, the council voted unanimously to move forward with the installation of bicycle lanes along Faircloth Street to coincide with the Hillsborough Street Roundabouts Project-Phase I

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