New bike lanes: Item #5 on the public’s top 10 alternatives list.
Exciting news! NDOT responded to our cries for cycling safety and they are BUILDING A BIKE LANE FOR RED ROCK the entire length of the road from Summerlin to 160! No more do cyclists and vehicles have to navigate around each other as cyclists try to figure out how to stay upright in a tiny 4-12 inch shoulder that is not even designated for bikes and vehicles try to avoid oncoming traffic. This new bike lane will be 6-8 feet wide, and comfortably accommodate cyclists and drivers in their own separate lanes!
- to more comfortably fit bikers in the bike lane: they are extending the bike lane from the visitor’s center to the 160 junction.
- They will match width from Summerlin to the visitor’s center by adding to the shoulders the rest of the way.
- to increase driver and cyclist awareness and hopefully slow speeds: they are darkening the bike lanes to provide the optical illusion of a narrower roadway. This is done with slurry seal, a finer texture of pavement which makes the surface of the side lanes smoother, darker, and reflect differently. A smaller appearing road could also feel more like a scenic drive.
- to increase driver and cyclist awareness: make the white lines brighter and wider (8″ with more optical beads)
- to increase driver and cyclist awareness and to address the problem of 94 vehicle run-offs: install a type of rumble strip (in the white stripe and possibly the yellow stripe, not in the bike lane which will have 6 feet clear from edge of pavement to edge of stripe).
- designate the shoulders as actual bike lanes (not just vehicle recovery lanes as they are now) by placing symbols on the ground and signage along the road
- complete all of the above this summer (2006)
- conduct a speed study once this is completed to determine the best speed for Red Rock
THANK YOU NDOT!
