Market-to-Midtown Bikeway

[TitosBuritoBarn]

Having car, rail, pedestrian, and bike infrastructure all on one street is precisely what complete streets policies strive for. Again, there's nothing wrong with overlapping. It's about providing options so people have choices that can fulfill their needs.

[ita]

Mayor Stothert: Omaha’s protected bike lane to remain thanks to anonymous donor

Hours after a group gathered Thursday to protest the removal of Omaha’s only protected bike lane, the mayor announced the lane will remain in place until construction begins on the city’s streetcar route.

In a statement issued Thursday evening, Mayor Jean Stothert credited a private donor for preventing the lane’s removal and said she remained “100% committed to dedicated protected bikelanes.”

Her full statement:

“The bikeway will remain in place until construction of the streetcar begins on Harney Street.

Since our decision to end the Market to Midtown bikeway pilot, we have considered numerous options to keep and pay for the dedicated protected bikeway.

A private donor has agreed to completely fund and maintain the current bikeway, study alternate routes in the urban core, and recommend a conceptual design for a permanent protected bikeway.

The streetcar will run on the south side of Harney, so the bike lane will eventually be moved, possibly to the north side, or to another downtown location.

In the short term, the Harney bikeway will be restriped and new bollards and delineators will be bolted into the street.

The pilot however is over tomorrow, the data collected will be used in an analysis.

I remain 100% committed to dedicated protected bikeways, and I am grateful to the donor making this possible.”

So, without the private donor, the lane would have been dead. Thank you, whoever you are. I am not going to harp on the Mayor's position on this project and other multimodal efforts in the City, but I will give kudos to the mobilization of locals to protest the closure and someone with means to step up and pay for its continuation. That makes me happy!

[omahahawk]

I echo the sentiments of Titos and Ita completely and also want to thank whoever made this possible. One thing of particular interest is the statement about the donor funding a study for alternate routes in the urban core and recommendation of a conceptual design for a permanent protected bikeway. Could this possibly mean full length east/west protected lanes that meet with the already well established north/south paths?

[Coyote]

Sherwood Foundation donation to help maintain Omaha's bikeway

The pilot program for the Market to Midtown bike path is over, but the lane will remain in place for now. KETV spoke with Mayor Jean Stothert Friday night about the future for this bike lane on Harney Street. She said the Sherwood Foundation will donate $600,000 to maintain the bikeway for about three years. "We felt like if there's no cost to the city, we will be able to restripe, we'll be able to put new bollards up and make them more sturdy so they're not knocked down. We would be able to leave it up for the commuters, for the recreation, until construction on the street car started," Stothert said. After that streetcar project begins, Stothert said they'll work with stakeholders and the biking community on a permanent protected bike lane in a different location.

[mistergutierrez]

Having car, rail, pedestrian, and bike infrastructure all on one street is precisely what complete streets policies strive for. Again, there's nothing wrong with overlapping. It's about providing options so people have choices that can fulfill their needs.

[GenX]

Why don’t they West Dodge Expressway most of it. Halfway sarcastic idea, but also somewhat curious about the feasibility

[Athomsfere]

Why don’t they West Dodge Expressway most of it. Halfway sarcastic idea, but also somewhat curious about the feasibility

Besides being the worst possible idea, even where what it was already done?

[TransitOriented]

Why don’t they West Dodge Expressway most of it. Halfway sarcastic idea, but also somewhat curious about the feasibility

I've thought about this for years. It would have to be bike only, no pedestrians, due to collisions. Elevating the path would also help to even out hills. No clue how ADA laws work in this scenario.

[TitosBuritoBarn]

Why don’t they West Dodge Expressway most of it. Halfway sarcastic idea, but also somewhat curious about the feasibility

I've thought about this for years. It would have to be bike only, no pedestrians, due to collisions. Elevating the path would also help to even out hills. No clue how ADA laws work in this scenario.

The 606/Bloomingdale Trail in Chicago is essentially what you're describing here, Eric. They took advantage of an abandoned elevated rail though, instead of building new. For the Harney Street Bikeway, building new is probably outside the realm of feasibility as far as cost goes. I'm also not sure how well it could fit onto the existing street.



TransitOriented: ADA conformity is widely accomlished through the application of ramps like these. Other, spots use switchbacks.

[BRoss]

Sounds like Susie Buffett-backed Sherwood Foundation is who saved the bike lane.

https://omaha.com/news/local/susie-buff ... e23da.html

[Athomsfere]

Sounds like Susie Buffett-backed Sherwood Foundation is who saved the bike lane.

https://omaha.com/news/local/susie-buff ... e23da.html

Great update

[TransitOriented]

TransitOriented: ADA conformity is widely accomlished through the application of ramps like these. Other, spots use switchbacks.

Do they allow pedestrians on those paths and people walking dogs? Or is it more of a quiet understanding that it is geared more towards transport? Thanks

[ita]

Why don’t they West Dodge Expressway most of it. Halfway sarcastic idea, but also somewhat curious about the feasibility

I've thought about this for years. It would have to be bike only, no pedestrians, due to collisions. Elevating the path would also help to even out hills. No clue how ADA laws work in this scenario.

The 606/Bloomingdale Trail in Chicago is essentially what you're describing here, Eric. They took advantage of an abandoned elevated rail though, instead of building new. For the Harney Street Bikeway, building new is probably outside the realm of feasibility as far as cost goes. I'm also not sure how well it could fit onto the existing street.

TransitOriented: ADA conformity is widely accomlished through the application of ramps like these. Other, spots use switchbacks.

Here is an older, but still relevant study performed by a Portland transit entity on bike and streetcar interactions and design practices. It's a good read for those interested in the current conversation:

https://altago.com/wp-content/uploads/B ... o_ALTA.pdf

[TitosBuritoBarn]

TransitOriented: ADA conformity is widely accomlished through the application of ramps like these. Other, spots use switchbacks.

Do they allow pedestrians on those paths and people walking dogs? Or is it more of a quiet understanding that it is geared more towards transport? Thanks

It's for everyone. There are probably more walkers and joggers than cyclists typically. The blue sections on the outside of the trail are made of a cushy rubber specifically for running or walking.

[ita]

Sounds like Susie Buffett-backed Sherwood Foundation is who saved the bike lane.

https://omaha.com/news/local/susie-buff ... e23da.html

Great update

Stothert said last week that the cost of maintaining the bike lane over a three-year period could exceed $250,000.

The foundation agreed to fund maintenance costs and the cost for the study and conceptual design, according to the Mayor’s Office.

Metro Smart Cities created a maintenance cost estimate for the rest of 2022 through 2025, plus study and design. They concluded that about $600,000 would be needed.

[Coyote]

The Bike Lane Drama in Omaha


The Omaha News
After a protest on Thursday evening, Mayor Jean Stothert released a statement explaining that the protected bikeway on Harney Street will remain in place for the time being. Learn more about how Omaha residents are taking to the streets here.

[Uffda]

I am in a FB group for Tampa Bay bicyclist - haven’t personally rode with any of them as they are most ride road bikes at speeds 18mph on up.

I posted about this discussion and a photo of the Harley Street bike way. It stirred up a good discussion. There are very few bike pathways in the Tampa area. Lots of multi-use paths in the area that connect. One biker viewed the Harney bike way as accidents waiting to happen. Hi is view was because of all the intersections it crosses and that majority of bike-car accidents happen at intersections because if a driver is turning right they usually look to the left but not the right when they pull out. Also drivers tend to ignore the white painted bar at the stop and edge their cars front end into the crosswalk.

Doing a little digging and it looks like some places are promoting painting the bike lane or at least part of it a different color like green to distinguish it from regular street paint colors.

[Athomsfere]

I am in a FB group for Tampa Bay bicyclist - haven’t personally rode with any of them as they are most ride road bikes at speeds 18mph on up.

I posted about this discussion and a photo of the Harley Street bike way. It stirred up a good discussion. There are very few bike pathways in the Tampa area. Lots of multi-use paths in the area that connect. One biker viewed the Harney bike way as accidents waiting to happen. Hi is view was because of all the intersections it crosses and that majority of bike-car accidents happen at intersections because if a driver is turning right they usually look to the left but not the right when they pull out. Also drivers tend to ignore the white painted bar at the stop and edge their cars front end into the crosswalk.

Doing a little digging and it looks like some places are promoting painting the bike lane or at least part of it a different color like green to distinguish it from regular street paint colors.

I mean, I hate to borrow the term. But I think that user has a bit of the carbrain.

These are signalized intersections with crosswalks too. So to some extent what he said certainly applies, but it would also apply to pedestrians. Of course there are differences in speed, which matters a lot on a sidewalk in suburbia where sidewalks are dangerous for people backing out of driveways.

These lanes also have the giant bollards, that to me serve a few purposes: Higher visibility to the lane, and separation from traffic.

They practically eliminate one of the most dangerous things for cyclists too: Getting doored.


"An accident waiting to happen", is to me a worthless expression in all this. Inevitably there will be an accident. And that's with any infrastructure anywhere. The Shinkansen will eventually have an accident if it runs long enough. But protected bike lanes are about the best we can do.

https://www.pasadenacsc.org/blog/protec ... r-everyone

I do think there might be a benefit to green sections across the intersections though.

[ita]

Bike Walk Nebraska looks to the future of Omaha bikeways after bumpy month

Jessica Wade
...
In a letter to City Council members sent after the Metro Smart Cities meeting, the mayor said data from the pilot program would inform “future decisions about protected bikeways in our urban core.” That evaluation would include consideration of Harney Street and other east-west streets for locating a permanent protected bikeway.

“I remain 100% committed to dedicated protected bikeways, and I am grateful to the donor making this possible,” Stothert said in a statement last month after reversing her previous decision.

In coming months, the city planning department will begin work on a bike and pedestrian master plan.

Harris said the city can further demonstrate its commitment to cycling infrastructure by outlining projects in the capital improvement program and city budget.

“Cities that compete with us are building these without any philanthropic support,” Harris said. “It’s the city’s responsibility, and at the same time we’re grateful for the unique relationship Omaha has with our philanthropic community.”

I just pulled a small portion that points to what's wrong with our City's handling of the Harney Bike Way. It costs a small fraction we spend on widening streets, fixing potholes, etc., but the City is not willing to pay for good bike infrastructure. It takes philanthropy to fund the project, when this falls in the City's court. For all the perceived 'good' stuff the Mayor has done in her 3 terms, you really have to pull teeth to get alternative, multi-modal modes projects off the ground. She refuses to really support them.

[Athomsfere]

I just pulled a small portion that points to what's wrong with our City's handling of the Harney Bike Way. It costs a small fraction we spend on widening streets, fixing potholes, etc., but the City is not willing to pay for good bike infrastructure. It takes philanthropy to fund the project, when this falls in the City's court. For all the perceived 'good' stuff the Mayor has done in her 3 terms, you really have to pull teeth to get alternative, multi-modal modes projects off the ground. She refuses to really support them.

And this is precisely my issue with it. And the street car too. These are projects a good mayor pushes through and makes work, not waits for someone else to do the heavy lifting.

I have no good feelings from Jean. I think any one else could have done just as well, or better. Given Omaha was basically going to do everything she did anyway.

[BRoss]

Came across something interesting in the draft CIP:

2024T-146 – Market to Midtown Bikeway

Council District: 3
Estimated Completion Year: 2026
Project Status: Preliminary Design
Estimated Total Cost: $6,000,000

Project Description: This project will construct one-way protected bike lanes along Farnam Street and Harney Street between 10th Street and Turner Boulevard. The bike lane will be located on the opposite side of the street from the streetcar tracks and be physically separated from the traffic lanes via curbs or other vertical separators. The project is likely to involve curb installations/relocations and traffic signal coordination and installation.

[skip]

THATS HUGE!!!! I ride this about every day to and from work and I love it! I was just talking about if this bike lane would go away or not with my wife in the near future. Glad to see it will be permanent once the streetcar goes in.

[Athomsfere]

Nice, I guess this is the source for the post on reddit:

[BRoss]

Nice, I guess this is the source for the post on reddit:

lol I saw that. They had to have seen my post here. Hi u/Erod890!

[Jins123]

Nice, I guess this is the source for the post on reddit:

lol I saw that. They had to have seen my post here. Hi u/Erod890!

What do we think gets more eyes this site or the Omaha Reddit, genuinely curious

[Garrett]

Nice, I guess this is the source for the post on reddit:

lol I saw that. They had to have seen my post here. Hi u/Erod890!

What do we think gets more eyes this site or the Omaha Reddit, genuinely curious

The Omaha reddit has 70,000 members. This board has 1,951.

[Athomsfere]

Nice, I guess this is the source for the post on reddit:

lol I saw that. They had to have seen my post here. Hi u/Erod890!

What do we think gets more eyes this site or the Omaha Reddit, genuinely curious

For the stuff that matters to us, probably about the same.

If you post something development related there, it get's glossed over or ranted about instead of actually looked at

[NEDodger]

Nice, I guess this is the source for the post on reddit:

lol I saw that. They had to have seen my post here. Hi u/Erod890!

What do we think gets more eyes this site or the Omaha Reddit, genuinely curious

For the stuff that matters to us, probably about the same.

If you post something development related there, it get's glossed over or ranted about instead of actually looked at

“But….but….but New York City has MORE development!”

[Dusty]

I'm not a fan of calling it a bikeway. It makes me think of a recreational trail name. I don't want the city to treat this as a one and done bike attraction. it's important we are building a strong network of protected lanes. But It's a good start.

What's more annoying for me is seeing all the street widening projects in that list. Most are listed as rural street widening and way out West Omaha. Not much developed in these areas, but we need to widen the roads in case a few cars show up. If we can't fill the pot holes in the city, we shouldn't be approving widening more areas. Dropping 20, 25, 30 million on those projects might seem appealing to residents in that area, but it's a poor investment for the city.

Imagine if we spent that same 50-60 million on a protected bike network in the urban core. It would spur tons of development of dense infill projects.

[BRoss]

What's more annoying for me is seeing all the street widening projects in that list.

You'll notice most of those are beyond 2029 and are more of pipe dreams at the moment. I actually was noticing a bit of a hiatus on widening projects for a few years. We normally see one to two (sometimes more) active four-lane expansion projects at a time. I'm not seeing anything new out west starting until 2028.

I had seen this about a month ago but forgot to post about it but went back last night because I was thinking I didn't see anything starting in the next few years. Even 180th from Dodge to Center was pushed back from 2025 to beyond 2029.

I know this may be an unpopular opinion, but I'm a bit disappointed at the lack of widening projects.

[Renovator2559]

I'm not a fan of calling it a bikeway. It makes me think of a recreational trail name. I don't want the city to treat this as a one and done bike attraction. it's important we are building a strong network of protected lanes. But It's a good start.

What's more annoying for me is seeing all the street widening projects in that list. Most are listed as rural street widening and way out West Omaha. Not much developed in these areas, but we need to widen the roads in case a few cars show up. If we can't fill the pot holes in the city, we shouldn't be approving widening more areas. Dropping 20, 25, 30 million on those projects might seem appealing to residents in that area, but it's a poor investment for the city.

Imagine if we spent that same 50-60 million on a protected bike network in the urban core. It would spur tons of development of dense infill projects.

I agree 100 percent, though I think Omaha has been doing good filling those potholes, I've reported several and they fill them in the next day or two.

Still that extra saved money should be used towards improving transit, walkways, where there are more tax payers, and not on those neighborhoods in the west that are subsidized and are unable to cover their infrastructure.

I'm glad Omaha has reduced the frequency of widening, so that west omaha can take steps to improve how they build neighborhoods in other means so that they don't use the bandaid approach of street widening, which only makes our city poor in the long term.

One of the reasons why Omaha is a desirable city that I love, is its urban core; in preserving its narrower streets, walkable connected neighborhoods and not becoming another Tulsa clone.

The only benefit I see of those wide streets, is that they could be converted easily to multimodal complete streets in the future.

[Louie]

What's more annoying for me is seeing all the street widening projects in that list.

I know this may be an unpopular opinion, but I'm a bit disappointed at the lack of widening projects.

Whats the end goal with widening projects in your mind? Time and time again all these widening projects do is encourage developers to keep pushing subdivisions further from the core and therefore increasing traffic and congestion on the widened roads to the same levels as before.

[Dusty]

My point was to show spending transparency. People act like bike infrastructure is breaking the bank, but is pretty affordable compared to other projects. Bike infrastructure makes good bang for your buck projects. I understand these widening projects are projected way in the future and may get nixed before we get there. It's the point of showing that one street widening project of 25 million could be 4-5 protected bike lanes. Keep that momentum over a 5 year period and you could have a nice network started in the Urban Core.

I said this before, but I would love to see the next protected bike lane/bikeway down NW Radial HWY. The area needs a road diet. So reduce the car lanes, give one to transit, and create another bikeway with nice landscaping.

[Athomsfere]

My point was to show spending transparency. People act like bike infrastructure is breaking the bank, but is pretty affordable compared to other projects. Bike infrastructure makes good bang for your buck projects. I understand these widening projects are projected way in the future and may get nixed before we get there. It's the point of showing that one street widening project of 25 million could be 4-5 protected bike lanes. Keep that momentum over a 5 year period and you could have a nice network started in the Urban Core.

I said this before, but I would love to see the next protected bike lane/bikeway down NW Radial HWY. The area needs a road diet. So reduce the car lanes, give one to transit, and create another bikeway with nice landscaping.

I'd love a East - West greenway. Just steel a lane from Dodge, or something. It's insane that to get to say Hy-Vee on Cass from UNO safely you'd be better off riding through Elmwood, to Aksarben, hop on the trail, double back NW for a couple miles...

Also, the trail there is closed now.

[almighty_tuna]

I'd love a East - West greenway.

It's a sh1tshow trying to get anywhere in Omaha by bike that doesn't follow a creek, let alone E/W. A couple dedicated bikeways like CB's First Ave project would be very welcome additions. For starters:

- L Street/Industrial/Center from about 60th west to 204th has plenty of room in its ROW.
- Fork southwest at 132nd to connect to West Papio South and the 144th St trail that eventually connects to the Mopac

- NW Radial to Benson then forked:
- West on Maple to Elkhorn/Waterloo
- NW on Blair High to connect w/the Keystone and westward along Military to Standing Bear

- Straight down Dodge from Downtown to the Elkhorn River

[Athomsfere]

I'd love a East - West greenway.

It's a sh1tshow trying to get anywhere in Omaha by bike that doesn't follow a creek, let alone E/W. A couple dedicated bikeways like CB's First Ave project would be very welcome additions. For starters:

- L Street/Industrial/Center from about 60th west to 204th has plenty of room in its ROW.
- Fork southwest at 132nd to connect to West Papio South and the 144th St trail that eventually connects to the Mopac

- NW Radial to Benson then forked:
- West on Maple to Elkhorn/Waterloo
- NW on Blair High to connect w/the Keystone and westward along Military to Standing Bear

- Straight down Dodge from Downtown to the Elkhorn River

The Dodge one would be my first choice. And not just for selfish reasons. It just makes sense to mirror the development we have been doing for 100 years and add to it.

But any / all proposals would be great by me.

[Dusty]

If the city is going to rip up medians and curbs, then we need to be installing protected bikes lanes as part of the street mix. My focus is the projects we are already looking at for road diets.
For example: 16th street in North Omaha, 24th Street along BRT line, NW Radial HWY, etc

As I said before, reducing a car lane to make a "gutter lane" for bikes is not acceptable. I rode down the one on Park Ave by Hanscom Park. After 5 blocks, I was almost hit by 3 cars. A fourth car drove by so fast the wind drag nearly knocked me off my bike. I will NOT ride in skinny gutter lanes ever again. That's not counting all the other issues like: being doored, cars blocking the lane, drainage grates, broken glass from bottles thrown in bike lane. I feel safer in the street than these lanes. This is why we need a network of protected lanes. It should be for elders, children, and anyone wanting to commute from A to B. A network for everyone!

[Dusty]

Going forward, we don't need to waste time and money on bike lane studies and pilot programs. We know protected lanes work. We don't need to keep testing this. The Netherlands leads the World in bike infrastructure. 50+ years of trying different techniques and making it better every year. They share all their knowledge for anyone to read called the CROW Manual. Many European countries are following the Dutch design as an industry standard. Paris just made a commitment to extensive network of protected lanes in 5 years. How are they doing so fast? They are skipping the studies and just installing them. They are using the CROW Manual as their playbook. Omaha should follow suit.

https://crowplatform.com/product/design ... e-traffic/

[BRoss]

Just saw a new item on Keep Omaha Moving:

Market-to-Midtown Bikeway 2.0

https://metrosmartcities.org/project/ma ... bikeway-2/

Metro Smart Cities LLC, in coordination with the City of Omaha, is currently in the planning and preliminary design phase with the intent to fully design and construct a permanent bikeway alongside the Omaha Streetcar.

When the Omaha Streetcar construction begins, the current bikeway on Harney St. will be removed. Market-to-Midtown 2.0 will be a permanent replacement for the current bikeway. We are in the process of reviewing and evaluating a comprehensive array of bikeway design options for this second iteration and will share our progress on this website soon. In the meantime, feel free to submit a comment though our feedback page and take a look at some FAQs below!

[Renovator2559]

For people like me who enjoy biking in the Fall, Winter, Spring and Summer, throughout the year in the urban core and the Council bluffs area. This is exciting news!

The more our bike networks grow the better!

The convenient Heartland Bike share stations all over the urban core, have done wonders in accelerating interest in biking as another mode of transportation.