Como Bike Lanes Coming in 2010

From David Kuebler at City of Saint Paul Public Works:

Attached are two plan sheets related to the bike/ped improvement programmed for Como Avenue from Raymond Avenue to the west city limits. The two plans show two typical stretches of Como. There are two panels on each plan sheet. The upper panel, titled "PROPOSED", shows what the new project will look like once built and the lower panel, titled "EXISTING", shows what currently exists on the roadway. The two sheet are not contiguous. Rather, the sheets show two different locations along the corridor as examples.

With respect to the Commonwealth/Como location we discussed, pedestrian safety will be increased primarily by changing the amount of room available for vehicle use. The current lane configurations along Como in the area of Commonwealth provide for two 8 foot parking lanes (one on each side) and two 15 foot vehicle travel lanes (one for each travel direction). The project as proposed provides for the following lane assignments: two 7 foot parking lanes (one on each side), two 5 foot bike lanes (one for each travel direction), and two 11 foot travel lanes (one for each travel direction). These lane assignments will be used throughout the Como corridor.

In addition to decreasing the amount of room for vehicular use along the entire length of Como, other elements that focus on pedestrian safety at other locations include the following:

• installing signs in advance and at crosswalks as deemed necessary. For instance, the crosswalk between Eustis and Brompton needs advance warning signs to inform the driver of an upcoming pedestrian crossing. Those signs would be installed as part of the project.
• installing countdown pedestrian timers at the Raymond, Carter, Doswell and Eustis intersections.
• installing bump-outs on Como at the crossing midway between Eustis and Brompton and also at the Como/Scudder intersection.