KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – Winchell Avenue west of Rambling Road is set to be repaved this summer before a one-year pilot introduces a new type of street to create space for drivers, bicyclists, and parking.
According to Kalamazoo City Officials, the design is called an Edge Lane Road, and they say it will create space for parking on the south side of the street with a center vehicle lane and additional space for drivers and people on bikes to share.
In this pilot design there would be one shared vehicle lane in the middle of the street, dashed prioritized bike lanes on the outside, and on-street parking on the south side of the street.
When a vehicle comes across another vehicle, both vehicles should pause and move into the prioritized bike lane area to pass each other. If a bicyclist is actively in the prioritized bike lane, the vehicle on the occupied bike side should yield behind the bike and let the other vehicle pass before continuing in the shared center lane.
Residents are invited to learn more about this pilot road design at a demonstration on Tuesday, July 25.
The event will be held on Winchell Ave near Rambling Rd from 6 to 7 p.m. Demonstrations will take place at 6:15, 6:35, and 6:55 p.m. and City staff will be available to answer questions. If the weather is bad, the event will be moved to Thursday, July 27.
“Although this road design is new to Kalamazoo, the concept of how it works is familiar,” explained Dennis Randolph, Traffic Engineer for the City of Kalamazoo. “An Edge Lane Road design formalizes with signs and pavement markings how many low‐volume urban streets have been operating since the beginning of the automotive era. When cars are parked on both sides of a narrow street, cars share the vehicle space between and take turns yielding and moving through. The Edge Lane Road design works in the same way.”
The street design will be installed later this summer or early fall following the repaving of the street section.
The pilot design will be in place for a year, after which the design will be evaluated based on speed data, crash data, and community feedback.
“We know this is a new concept in our community, but we think this design can be a great option to make our streets work better for everyone. It’s worked well in other communities, even in busier areas with more development, and we will be evaluating it closely over the next year.”
Full details on this project and other traffic calming initiatives in the Oakland/Winchell neighborhood can be found at www.imaginekalamazoo.com/
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