Hilliard Boulevard A Bike Only, Pedestrian Only Boulevard?

[Bill Call]

From the Scientific American:

http://www.scientificamerican.com/artic ... ee-streets

[Bryan Schwegler]

If you were going to shut down a main E-W route to auto traffic, why not choose Detroit or Madison? Hilliard is so much residential, at least the slower bike and foot traffic would make more sense on a commercial corridor?

[Tim Liston]

Here are my suggestions for bicycling infrastructure (and such) improvements in Lakewood, in more or less my suggested order….

1) Make Madison the main east-west bicycling corridor. Right now, it’s the best “busy” (commercial) street to cycle on. Why? Because the rightmost lane (in both directions) is somewhat impinged, being close to parked cars. Ever notice that motorists often take the left lane? Put some sharrows in the right lane and some “Bikes May Use Full Lane” signs along the whole length. And when it eventually gets repaved, leave the markings just the way they are now (plus the sharrows). Plus the sorts of businesses there (now and in the future) may lend themselves to cyclists and their demographic. And loads of folks live near Madison.

2) Bike Parking - Tom Bullock and others have recently presented some options to Lakewood administration. Three levels of parking, (1) curbside parking next to suitable establishments on Detroit and Madison, (2) destination parking at places like City Hall, Beck, Winterhurst, etc. and (3) regional bike parking downtown and at the West End. The West End in particular could become a great bike destination, insofar as it is at the terminus of the Metropark trail, and there are great places to visit there.

3) Initiate what I call the “CLASP”, the Cleveland Lakewood Area Shared Pedalway. It would run (west to east) from the Metropark entrances, then Madison to Hillard to Franklin and through Cleveland all the way to 25th and also the Cleveland Lakefront Bikeway that follows the lake. There is some momentum for this on the Cleveland side with Matt Zone and those folks. I would connect (clasp) cycling assets from our west to cycling assets to our east. Sharrows, signs and promotion is really all it takes.

4) It would be kind of fun to block off “downtown” but because the motorist detour involved is so long, I would only do it from maybe 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM weekdays. Put holes for those upright blocking things in the streets and block it off during weekday lunch hours. Use that little parking lot next to the former (!) Sinagra park for bike parking.

5) Block off Lake Road in a couple places to motorist traffic, 24/7. Make it possible for cyclists and (obviously) pedestrians to bypass the blockades. Force motorist traffic onto Clifton and I-90. Clifton is six lanes. Lake Road is two. The way Lake Road is now during rush hour, it is difficult and dangerous to cycle. No reason for that. "F..." Rocky River commuters….

While we’re at it, implement pedicab legislation so that a couple (city licensed) pedicab operators can ply Lakewood streets at least on weekend nights in the summer. If not much more....

Those are my thoughts, as someone who cycles about as much as possible….

[Bill Call]

5) Block off Lake Road in a couple places to motorist traffic, 24/7. Make it possible for cyclists and (obviously) pedestrians to bypass the blockades. Force motorist traffic onto Clifton and I-90. Clifton is six lanes. Lake Road is two. The way Lake Road is now during rush hour, it is difficult and dangerous to cycle. No reason for that. "F..." Rocky River commuters….

I usually ride my bike after work. I take Lake to Webb to West Clifton to the Valley.

There are a lot of cars racing along Lake to Webb and then on to Rocky River. When Downtown was the center of employment I suppose it made sense to treat convert Lakewood streets into freeways. The death of downtown may offer an opportunity to change that.

Why not dead end Webb at Clifton and allow no turning during rush hours? There is rush hour parking on Lake in Rocky River and Cleveland why not Lakewood?

The current plans to restore Clifton make a lot of sense but are probably too timid.

State, Federal and County governments and institutions like Tri-C are signed on to development along the freeways rather in city centers. We can't change that reality. We can, however, take advantage of that new paradigm.

Why not Lakewood as a residential oasis rather than a series of freeways dedicated to shorter commutes for the people of Rocky River?

[J Hrlec]

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2010/06 ... _lane.html