The Raleigh City Council has approved plans for the implementation of bicycle lanes on Hillsborough Street to go along with the current construction.
Alan Lovett, owner of Melvin’s Hamburgers and a member of the Hillsborough Street Partnership, said business owners are divided as to whether bike lanes will hurt or help business.
“Some business owners believe it will hurt their business; however, others believe that it will not only help business, it will slow traffic down an additional 8-10 miles per hour so that people in the vehicles can look around and see what’s in the area,” Lovett said. “Studies on the internet show in New York and Washington, D.C. traffic will slow down with bike lanes. It makes the lanes more narrow and makes the drivers slow down.”
Erin Lineberger, a sophomore in natural resources, said bike lanes are an awesome idea because she does not always feel comfortable riding on the road.
“I really don’t like biking with cars,” Lineberger said. “I usually bike on the sidewalks but that’s a problem because they’re usually people on the sidewalks so this makes you have to go slower and you can run into them – which is dangerous.”
According to Lovett, the project is ahead of schedule and should be completed this summer.
“I’m being told they’ll finish by June and I was told they would be done in September. Therefore, because they’re finishing early, it looks like there’s a good possibility for three festival-type events on Hillsborough this fall, depending on how much funds are raised,” Lovett said.
Lineberger said she does not think the current construction project on Hillsborough Street will affect the construction of bike lanes too negatively.
“I don’t think it would delay [construction] that much longer. If you’re going to put bike lanes in, it’s a really good time to do it because they’re already doing construction,” Lineberger said. She also said the lanes may help businesses on Hillsborough Street because they would make businesses more accessible to bikers.
Brett Morris, a freshman in psychology, said he would not advocate the implementation of bike lanes on Hillsborough Street. Morris said he has biked on Hillsborough Street in the past and has many friends who currently use bikes on the road.
“The traffic there is already bad enough and bike lanes would make things even more chaotic,” Morris said. On the other hand, Morris said they could be helpful for other riders. “I think it would be appropriate to give them space to ride – I wouldn’t want to see them hurt.”
Lovett said he wanted the bike lanes to be used for purposes other than biking.
“The complaint that I had was that we were told if bike lanes were implemented they would be used only as bike lanes. We were hoping emergency vehicles, delivery vehicles, and rickshaws [bicycle-driven passenger carts] could be used in the bike lanes too,” Lovett said. “There was discussion about whether they would be just for bicycles or for other purposes.”
