Streets for People / Rebuild of United Street With New Bike Lane & Improved Pedestrian Safety Complete. South Street Is Next

Work has just wrapped up on a complete rebuild of United Street between Whitehead and Grinnell Streets downtown that incorporated FKAA water main upgrades and a $4.8 million investment in all new curb and gutter that includes narrower and safer pedestrian crossings, lots of new trees, fresh and smooth asphalt, and a brand spanking new, extra-width bike lane where none had existed before heading out of town that connects up with the Crosstown Greenway bike facility. Let’s repeat that. A brand new, wider is safer, bike lane! But wait, there’s more.

One street over, as FKAA’s utilities work is wrapping up on South Street between Duval and Reynolds Streets, the City is just beginning work on $3.5 million dollars in improvements that include new paving, drainage, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) sidewalks, curb ramps and pavement markings, landscaping, and trees similar to what’s been done on United. And yes, pinch us because it is true, another wider than usual, brand new bike lane for the length of the project going into town where none existed before.

Upon South Street’s completion in about a year, the two new bike lanes will act similarly to the Fleming and Southard Street bike lane pair in getting people on bikes in and out of downtown and will help create more of a connected network of lanes that promote safer and easier riding. Mayor Johnston has been asking for these kinds of improvements and our more progressive Engineering Department under the leadership of Director Gary Volenec and Multi-Modal Coordinator Ryan Stachurski have been delivering the goods. Here are some of the details…

Isn’t It Lovely, Isn’t It Wonderful

Okay we admit maybe using Stevie Wonder’s words to describe a new street is a bit much, but when you look at pictures of United Street before the work, the after pictures are indeed quite nice. And in a town that reveres car-convenience and parking we’re pleased at a genuine complete streets approach that includes more trees, narrower and safer pedestrian crossings and bike lanes and bike racks that have a cumulative effect of helping to slow vehicle traffic down and thus making the street safer for all users.

Here’s how Mr. Stachurski describes the projects:

“With the completion of the United Street road work, the City has an improved roadway that seeks to meet the needs of all users within our constrained right-of-way. Not only do motorists get a good ride, but pedestrians and bicyclists do as well. Pedestrians will notice some safety improvements like big and bright crosswalks, smooth rolling curb ramps, colorful shade trees and palms. Bicyclists, electric bicyclists, and stand-up motorized scooter operators will have a place to ride heading out of town or toward the beach along the Crosstown Greenway bicycle route. Design elements reinforce the 20 MPH speed limit to encourage safe behavior and support our City’s Vision Zero goal. A lot of these design elements have been incorporated in the design for South Street that’s about to begin construction.

South Street, already popular with non-motorized traffic, has been designed to expand the bicycle infrastructure from Reynolds Street all the way down to Duval Street. South Street is the westernmost leg of the Crosstown Greenway bicycle route, and wayfinding signage will help to define it. The bicycle box at South St and Reynolds Street is slated to get upgraded to new Federal standards (MUTCD). (The bike box gives casual riders an opportunity to turn left even when there’s automobile traffic.) Finally, new trees are planned along with similar pedestrian improvements you see installed along United Street.”

This is all good news.

About That Bike Box

The island’s only bike box is on Reynolds at South Street. It is getting repainted and slightly reconfigured as part of this project. A bike box is a designated area at the head of a traffic lane at a signalized intersection that provides bicyclists with a safe and visible way to get ahead of queuing traffic during the red signal phase. This will help people on bikes in the right-side bike lane along Reynolds Street to make a safer left turn onto the soon-to-come bike lane going downtown on South Street.

This is a good idea and believe we could use more of these box boxes around town to make bicycling even safer.

Wider Is Better and Safer

The new United Street bike lane between Whitehead Street and Simonton Street, where it is adjacent to on-street parking, is about to 7’ feet wide to provide some buffer space for bicyclists from car doors. The parking stalls are narrow to encourage motorists to park close to the curb. Compare this to the 5’ feet wide bike lanes along Southard and Fleming Streets next to parked cars. Along the rest of United, the bike lane is 5’ feet wide as there is no parking.

Along South Street the upcoming inbound bike lane is designed to be 4’ wide with 2’ feet of buffer space (for a total of 6’). We’re told this is considered narrow for a door-zone bike lane by State minimum standards, but it’s larger than the 5’ width local bicyclists are familiar with along Southard and Fleming Streets.

So wider is safer and that’s better and it is indeed progress.

New Bike Lanes and Signage Enhance the Network Effect

There are many examples in Key West of pieces of bike trails and lanes that just end, leaving riders with no choice but to mix with cars, Southard Street being our most egregious example, often on our most crowded and busy streets. In surveys across the land, people say that the lack of a connected network of safe bicycle facilities to get them to work, shop and play, is what inhibits many people from riding a bike for transportation. The new United and South Street bike lanes will help better connect with a growing network on this side of town.

Another new feature is a bunch of new Crosstown Greenway signs posted along the new bike lane. We’re told that the City will continue to install these along the entirety of the Greenway so bicyclists will know the path. And if the bond referendum for infrastructure projects passes this fall there will be some money to do more signage and pavement markings around town.

The bike lanes map here shows the new United and South Streets pair connecting to the Reynolds Street bike lanes which take you to Higgs Beach and beyond that on the Atlantic Boulevard Trail to the Bertha Trail and onto the S. Roosevelt Promenade. So, this gets people safely from the beaches into downtown without having to mix with traffic. Similarly, those using the Crosstown Greenway from the top of the island at the Cow Key Channel will now be able to get downtown on a safe bike lane. Mr. Stachurski tells us that new signage (depicted by the red dots in the picture) will help orient people to various points along the safe bike network.

Mayor Johnston Finally Getting Her Wish For New Bike Lanes

If you’ve been following our column for the past few years, you know we’ve quoted Mayor Teri Johnston on numerous occasions consistently asking staff to find ways to put in more bike facilities (here, here, here, here, here, here and numerous others). She was understandably pleased when we asked her last year about this particular project then just getting underway, saying:

“Dedicated bicycle lanes are essential in Key West. It is the solution for taking bikes and e-bikes off of the sidewalk and into a safe, dedicated lane in the street. With some thoughtful planning we can accommodate the same number of on street parking spots, add a bicycle lane and create a better flow of vehicular traffic.”

While we wish it were more, given the recalcitrance of the previously car-centric staff, when the Mayor leaves office later this year, she can rightfully point to at least a few victories in promoting bicycle and pedestrian safety. And she’s set some good forward momentum, that hopefully the next Mayor and Commission will expand upon.

Better, Safer Bicycling = Better Key West

Key West is full of cars AND bikes and that’s different than most places. According to the U.S. Census 15% of Key West residents’ commute to work by bicycle. That’s a lot more than some of the top “bike” cities in the country. Key West bike rental companies continue to do a record business. So, there’s a lot of bikes and now e-bikes and e-scooters mixing with golf carts, scooters, and cars. As so many of these people on the street are visitors from car-centric mainland places, they aren’t used to this jumble of vehicle types and that’s a dangerous mix. And that is why we need a seamless, connected, and safe network of bike facilities. It also helps keeps bikes off our crowded sidewalks.

The United and South Streets project represents progress toward that end. To make our little island a bicycle paradise that will help us fight traffic and parking congestion, improve our environment, and make us healthier, more prosperous, and happier too. Let’s applaud the Mayor and staff for moving the ball forward.

# # #

For more information on bicycling in Key West visit our Getting Around Key West by Bicycle page.

Chris Hamilton is founder of the local advocacy group Friends of Car-Free Key West & Duval Street/Historic Downtown. A native of the District of Columbia, where for a couple decades+ he led nationally renowned efforts promoting transit, bike, walk and smart growth for Arlington County, VA’s DOT. Chris has lived in Key West since 2015. He lives car-free downtown and works and volunteers for a few non-profits. Follow him on Twitter here and his blog here.

[livemarket market_name="KONK Life LiveMarket" limit=3 category=“” show_signup=0 show_more=0]