Bike lanes that were placed on the University’s section of Hillsborough Street last August may see an extension, improving the biking environment around the campus area.

” [bike lanes] give some sort of indication as to where [bikers] should be,” Michael Rosenberg, junior in mechanical engineering and member of the Cycling Club, said.

Rosenberg said that while the bike lanes currently on Hillsborough Street were unnecessary to advanced bikers such as himself, he explained that the main advantage to having lanes there was to prevent bikers from using the sidewalks.

“I’m comfortable with traffic,” Rosenberg said. “I do think it would prevent people from riding on the sidewalks, though.”

Steven Boehm, junior in electrical engineering and also a member of the Cycling Club, encourages the city to add more bike lanes.

“I would appreciate more bike lanes; that would be nice” Boehm said.

Boehm said that while he would like to see more bike lanes in the campus area, he said the ones on Hillsborough Street do not serve a huge purpose.

“I don’t really use the ones on Hillsborough much. I don’t think it is ideal, you’re still so close to traffic,” Boehm said.

Both Boehm and Rosenberg said that the bike lanes on Hillsborough street protected bikers from cars more than anything else.

“[Bike lanes] would give riders a safe place to ride where drivers won’t harass them,” Boehm said.

Luca Harrell, sophomore in industrial design, bikes around campus regularly, but said that he wasn’t even aware that the bike lanes on Hillsborough existed.

“I’ve always biked on the brick sidewalk,” Harrell said, “I would definitely use [bike lanes], because the sidewalks are pretty populated with pedestrian traffic.”

Harrell explained that the sidewalks posed difficulty for several reasons, including foot traffic, shrubbery and street lamps. However, he believes that the bike lanes will not solve the problem indefinitely.

“I always see cars parked along Hillsborough so I could definitely see that being a problem.” Harrell said.

Harrell said the greatest problems with the campus biking environment are due to the recent construction around campus.

“Gravel is the problem.” Harrell said.

Harrell explained that one day he nearly crashed on his bike due to the loose pavement, and that it is very dangerous around the Talley construction area.

Currently, Harrell, Boehm and Rosenberg are pleased with the biking environment on campus. They would simply like to see more bike lanes on major roadways.

In a report on the city of Raleigh’s website, the city said that the Hillsborough Street bike lanes, which were originally a “pilot” or test program, will be extended, adding with it lanes in other parts of Southwest Raleigh.

“By a vote of 7-1, the commission recommended to extend the pilot period to allow the City to complete several bicycle marking projects in the surrounding area, such as Oberlin Road, Clark Avenue and Faircloth Street.” The city posted in a statement regarding bike lanes.