FLAT is seeking 4 changes to the proposed Lawrence and Douglas County Bike Plan Update that we believe will improve safety and increase ridership within our area bikeway system. All of these are changes to the proposed Priority and Secondary Funding Network that are on page 40 of the draft plan:

1. Indicate a proposed tunnel or other grade-separated crossing for the Lawrence Loop across the South Lawrence Trafficway near 27th Street/Wakarusa Drive to improve rider safety.
2. Add more connections to increase easy access to/from the Lawrence Loop in east Lawrence between 15th and 31st Streets (routes going both east and west off of the Burroughs Creek Trail).
3. Include the proposed trail along the western bank of the Kansas River, running north from Burcham Park to connect to Lakeview Road, in the priority or secondary funding network.
4. Include a protected bikeway on Naismith Drive from 19th to 23rd Street to provide a safe connection between the KU campus and the Naismith Valley Trail (an important connection to the Loop).

Here is the complete text of our letter to the Lawrence-Douglas County Metropolitan Planning Organization:

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the proposed “Lawrence Bikes” plan. Bicycling infrastructure benefits individuals and the community in many ways, including improving personal and population health, protecting the environment, enhancing personal mobility, and promoting economic vitality. This plan is a positive step in promoting the continued development of cycling infrastructure and encouraging cycling as an important form of transportation (as well as recreation) in Lawrence. We agree with the premise of this report that, as more “high quality” bicycle facilities are built, more people will choose to use bikes for recreation and transportation to priority destinations.

We are particularly interested in a robust network of bicycle and/or shared trails separated as much as possible from the roadway system, since these facilities are generally the safest/most comfortable of all bicycling infrastructure. We recognize that trails are but one piece of the system (that — by necessity — will need to link with other segments of the bike network), but we do believe they are essential to the network as a whole. We appreciate the attention provided to the trail network in this plan. In particular, we recognize and support the inclusion of the Lawrence Loop (both existing and proposed sections), and connections to the Loop, in the priority bike network.

While supporting the overall proposed plan, we do offer the following comments for consideration:

1. Add an additional grade-separated crossing for the Lawrence Loop across K-10 in the 27thStreet/Wakarusa Drive area to the priority bike network. This plan proposes three “high priority” grade-separated crossings for the future bikeway network. We believe these are very important projects, but a grade-separated crossing for the Lawrence Loop in the area of the Wakarusa/27th intersection with K-10 highway is equally (or more) so. A grade-separated crossing at that location (being considered as part of K-10 future reconstruction) should be included in the plan.
2. Enhance connections to the Lawrence Loop in east Lawrence. Given the high latent demand for cycling in the eastern part of Lawrence identified in the plan, we believe there should be:

• A segment included in the priority bike network between Massachusetts Street and the Burroughs Creek section of the Lawrence Loop between 13th and 23rd Streets. Currently the only identified cycling connections between Massachusetts and the eastern Lawrence Loop are 15th and 19th Streets. These streets have discontinuous bike lanes that do not represent the type of continuous “high comfort” facilities we believe should link the Loop to our city center. There is also a proposed “secondary” connection near 23rd Street. This very large gap needs a priority bikeway segment to enhance access to the Burroughs Creek Trail and Haskell Rail Trails, some of the most heavily used sections of the Loop.

• A bikeway segment going east from the Loop (towards Venture Park and East Hills Business Park) somewhere between 15th and 31st Streets. This segment should be included on the priority network – or at least the secondary network — to create access to employment opportunities in the eastern part of Lawrence. There are existing plans to develop bike infrastructure along both 19th and 23rd Street east of the Burroughs Creek Trail, so one or both could be included in the secondary or priority network.

3. Add the proposed trail along the western bank of Kansas River to the secondary and/or priority network. The bikeway system map has a proposed bikeway (we assume a paved trail) running north from Burcham Park and ultimately connecting to Lakeview Road. We propose this bikeway be included in the secondary, if not the primary, bike network. We envision this trail would be highly utilized as a transportation corridor as well as a recreational amenity. There are several large business concentrated north of town that currently are connected to the bikeway network only by the bike lanes on Michigan Avenue, Riverridge Road, and N. Iowa Street. These are high-speed roadways that that are not comfortable for many cyclists. This trail would be a present a great opportunity for people who work in that area north of town to commute by bike on a “high comfort” bike facility, and would draw even more residents and tourists to the Kansas River for recreational purposes.

4. Include “protected” bike infrastructure on Naismith Drive from 23rd to 19th Street. The Naismith Trail is an extremely important connector to the Loop. In order for that trail to be part of a “high comfort” corridor all the way to the University of Kansas, it is important that there is a protected bike lane, shared use path, or other bike infrastructure on the 23rd to 19th Street segment that is separated from the roadway.

Thank you once again for the opportunity to provide comment. Should you want any clarification regarding our comments, please feel free to contact me.

Sincerely,
Chris Tilden, on behalf of Friends of Lawrence Area Trails