Welcome back to Brightside your time now 611.
You know what Tampa and Saint Pete
getting recognition for being bikeable.
Zillow got involved grading communities
on bike lanes, trails, Hills, Rd,
connectivity, and of course the
number of cyclists in the area.
And it's growing here in Florida.
Tampa ranked 5th St Pete at 2nd,
so I rented a bike in downtown
Tampa and Grant he jumped on his
own bike in downtown Saint Pete.
So we're going to pick up our story
from last hour at the end of our rides.
Whoo. It's definitely a great
ride around downtown, Grant,
but I did see some room for improvement.
Yeah, so
let's put this right into reverse and
take a look at what we found. Riding
with Peter Ray and John Bird of
the Saint Petersburg Bicycle Club,
they didn't have to think long
about how Saint Pete could be more
bike and pedestrian friendly.
Personal bike lanes need to be
maintained and a lot of areas that's
it's not a priority to maintain them.
So you, you paint a stripe
down the road, you know,
10 or 15 years ago it's almost gone.
Trouble spots.
You have a lot of them downtown,
maybe the central area,
a lot of tourist activity.
There's a lot of intersections.
People are not paying attention.
They're on their cell phone. But
recognizing these trouble spots can be the
first step to making cities more bikeable.
There are a lot of places
also where they've learned.
Give hints to drivers and to cyclists
about what you're supposed to do,
and a lot of towns and even other
countries paint a very clear
green path or red path where
you're supposed to go, which
we found Saint Pete is
already starting to do.
However, there are still several
streets that need attention.
We have streets like 4th that
are really are are tough,
there's no bike lane,
there's no instructions,
a lot of cars parked on the sides.
Yeah, but it's, but there's
lots of retail there.
We're out there.
You have to make the decision
you're going to go slow and real
careful or you're going to go
fast and just try to get through
some of the the dangerous areas.
And making our streets less dangerous
for everyone is the ultimate goal.
The City of Saint Pete is already
planning to implement additional
infrastructure for bicyclists
and is expected to have several
projects under construction in 2023
to add bike lanes on Central Ave,
a separate bikeway in the
Innovation district and more.
All to make the area more
bikeable than it already is.
Now let's rewind my ride. Karen
Kress is the director of Transportation and
planning for Tampa's downtown partnership.
Tampa's kind of playing catch up with a
lot of other bigger cities. But, you know,
we are becoming a bigger city,
so we have to start thinking
and acting like a bigger city.
She pointed out what she calls
pinch points for cyclists,
like when the barrier protected
lanes end into a single bike
lane with a white stripe,
or when bike lanes just
end with no place to go but the sidewalk.
She says in the future,
she'd like to see more.
Neighborhoods connected by bike lanes
and trails and sometimes that change can
be made when they resurface the roads.
Can we narrow the lanes?
We have a lot of travel lanes where
cars drive that are like 12 feet wide
but they could probably be 10 feet
and then you can get an extra 4 feet,
you know, to put in some bike at some
safe protected bike infrastructures.
Another thing she would like to see
more of paint planters and posts
like all along Ashley Dr where you
see murals and plants and posts.
At intersections.
So it's sending those visual cues to
drivers that something's happening here,
and then it's giving the pedestrians
more space.
You know, and there are two big
takeaways here I think for both
Tampa and Saint Pete, the developers
need to start getting involved.
We've got a lot of new construction
in downtown Tampa and Saint Pete.
They need to start designing
more cycle friendly areas,
covered parking, secure bike racks,
even those little fixit stations that
you see all around that anybody can use.
I'm seeing some more of those pop up as well.
Money is the big issue here when you go
to retrofit some of these city roads,
even when you do resurfacing.
It takes more money.
It does take more money, yeah.
And if you need to build those protected
bike lanes, it costs even more.
And right now, you know,
that's just not there,
especially in,
we know all the issues Hillsborough
County and Tampa has had with
the transportation budget.
So they're just continuing to
incorporate those into the plans,
but they really need everybody
to work together. It's a group lift,
and all the more reason to
keep your head on a swivel as
you're out there on your bike.
I learned a lot from that.
What I don't know is how
I can ride backwards like.
Of you seemingly have mastered that,
so it's a fancy trick it is.