Better Bike Network
building the missing middle
Like our roadway network for motor vehicles, our network for bikes should have a hierarchical system. Trails, like highways, can rapidly carry people over long distances with few interruptions. Quiet neighborhood streets can calmly channel people on bikes and cars together to their final destinations. However, as our main roads—the arterial streets— carry cars between neighborhoods, highways, and everyday destinations, there is a lack of similar “main roads” for people to travel safely and comfortably on bikes.
Let’s build these essential main routes—the Better Bike Network—and make biking a safe, enjoyable, and achievable solution for everyday transportation needs.
Where the Better Bike Network Fits
Tompkins County Trails Network
Like highways, trails are great for long-distance (3+ mile) biking, connecting people on bikes from Ithaca to Dryden and Trumansburg and Brooktondale, and providing a venue for outdoor recreation. These are primarily off-road shared-use trails that can safely keep both bicycle commuters and recreational riders away from busy highways with high speed vehicle traffic.
Development of the county’s trails network is guided by the Tompkins Priority Trails Strategy.
Better Bike Network
Like arterial streets, the Better Bike Network carries bike riders1-2 miles within Ithaca, providing a safe way to move between neighborhoods and meet everyday transportation needs. Streets on the Better Bike Network are designed with safety and comfort of all kinds of people in mind.
The Better Bike Network is more than just bike lanes. Read on to learn about the guidelines that make a safe, connected, and well-maintained bike network.
Traffic-Calmed Local Streets
Quiet neighborhood streets allow only short-distance bicycle travel, usually less than 1 mile, in mixed traffic. They are best for travel within neighborhoods, and their slow, sparse traffic promotes safe biking with minimal bike-specific design.
To ensure our neighborhood streets remain calm and livable, municipalities should implement Complete Streets Policies.
standards for a better bike network
The Better Bike Network should be designed and built with the following guidelines in mind to provide
a higher standard of connectivity, safety, and maintenance.
connectivity
Our bike network needs to be built for people to live life. The Better Bike Network should provide safe and convenient routes between neighborhoods and to everyday destinations like grocery stores, shopping areas, parks, schools, and community centers.
safety
Infrastructure must be designed to prioritize the comfort and safety of all kinds of people bicycling. This will empower a wide range of people to start bicycling, including women, seniors, children, and people with disabilities.
maintenance
Road hazards can make otherwise suitable bicycle infrastructure dangerous to ride on, so the Better Bike Network needs proper inspection and upkeep. This helps prevent people from swerving while riding their bikes or choosing alternative routes where there may be less bike infrastructure in place.
connectivity
The Better Bike Network should be built for people to live life — to grab a meal, go to work, school, the park, get groceries, and visit friends and family across town.
connectivity between neighborhoods
Ithaca and its surrounding areas are made up of various neighborhoods, each with its own character and charm. The Better Bike Network must link neighborhoods in and around Ithaca in intuitive ways so that family and friends can bike to see each other across town.
Guideline #1
In neighborhoods on flat areas, Better Bike Network routes should be established on arterial streets or on neighborhood streets parallel to the main arterials to support network effectiveness.
Guideline #2
In neighborhoods on hilly areas, Better Bike Network routes should be established along streets with the shallowest grades and include infrastructure that allows both uphill and downhill riding .
Neighborhoods in Ithaca’s Flats are connected to each other by just a handful arterial streets. The Better Bike Network should mimic this network of arterial streets with a select number of Better Bike Routes.
connectivity to destinations
People want to bike to everyday destinations and the Better Bike Network should primarily cater to this. Bikeshare data from Ithaca shows that shopping areas and grocery stores are the most frequented destinations for people bicycling. Schools, libraries, community centers, major employers, transit hubs, and parks are also popular. All of them should be directly connected to the Better Bike Network.
Guideline #3
The Better Bike Network should be directly connected to grocery stores and markets, shopping areas, schools, libraries, community centers, transit hubs, and parks.
Guideline #4
In areas with a dense concentration of destinations and services, Better Bike Network routes should be established on the area’s main thoroughfare or on a parallel thoroughfare with multiple entry points for bicycles.
Guideline #5
New developments that are expected to become community destinations should present plans for how they will connect to existing or future bicycle routes nearby and execute the plans during construction.
Within each neighborhood exist important destinations that have broad appeal, such as grocery stores, schools, and other centers of community life. These everyday destinations should be directly connected to the Better Bike Network.
building a well-connected bike network
We built a simple Better Bike Network of only six routes connecting neighborhoods and everyday destinations within the flats of Ithaca based on these connectivity guidelines and the on insights gained from stakeholder working groups. Learn more about each proposed bike route in the Routes & Projects page. We are also currently developing the Better Bike Network that will link neighborhoods and destinations on East Hill.
Stakeholder working groups made up of municipal staff, elected officials, and others provided their input for the Better Bike Network on Ithaca’s Flats and East Hill in the fall of 2019. (Photo: Bike Walk Tompkins)
By connecting neighborhoods and destinations together and prioritizing certain routes based on current bicycling usage statistics, we created a Better Bike Network for Ithaca’s flats that’s composed of six key routes.
safety for all
The Better Bike Network should feel safe to people of all ages, whether they’ve biked their whole life or you’re just getting started.
reducing exposure to moving vehicles
To ensure that everyone can make use of the Better Bike Network, infrastructure must be designed to prioritize the comfort and safety of all kinds of people bicycling. This can be achieved primarily by reducing exposure to high-speed and high-volume vehicle traffic, which addresses a barrier to bicycling that affects a majority of residents in and around Ithaca. A majority of people find both separated bike infrastructure and certain types of shared bike infrastructure, such as off-street bike paths and bike boulevards respectively, comfortable to bike on. What matters most is that the type of bike infrastructure built should fully mitigate the impact of vehicle traffic on bicycling safety. That is, a painted bike lane (a type of shared bike infrastructure) will not work on a busy street but could work on a calmer residential street.
The following guidance was created to clearly explain what kind of safe and comfortable bike infrastructure should be built based on a street’s characteristics. The guidance is adapted from the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) Urban Bikeways Design Guide, with a focus on its two supplementary publications: “Designing for All Ages & Abilities” and “Don’t Give Up at the Intersection.”
Guideline #6
Better Bike Routes built on streets with fast vehicle speeds or high traffic volumes should only consist of bicycle infrastructure separated from vehicles such as protected bike lanes and shared-use (bicycles and pedestrians) paths with protected or dedicated intersection crossings.
Guideline #7A
Better Bike Routes built on streets with slow vehicle speed or light traffic volume
may consist of bicycle infrastructure shared with vehicles, such as living/play streets (“woonerfs”), bicycle boulevards, and painted bike lanes, with dedicated intersection crossings where necessary.
Guideline #7B
If a street meets some but not all three criteria, traffic calming measures should be implemented to meet them so that people can comfortably bicycle infrastructure shared with vehicles.
putting our streets to the test
Based on the safety guidelines that reduce exposure to moving vehicles and the route map that was developed from the connectivity principles, we began charting the likeliest streets in which each of the six Better Bike Network routes should use and the bike infrastructure that should be built on them. Criteria that we considered when making bike infrastructure proposals include:
Directness: To support Guideline #1, more direct paths were taken to improve bike network effectiveness.
Destinations: To support Guidelines #3 & 4, streets that are directly connected to or have more destinations on them were selected over less active streets.
Vehicular Traffic Stress: To support Guidelines #6 & 7, streets that have multiple lanes or a lot of curbside activity were less likely to be selected, or were selected with a recommendation to build separated bike infrastructure.
Vehicular Traffic Speed: To support Guidelines #6 & 7, streets where traffic is known to be slower were selected over streets with fast moving vehicles. However, municipalities should confirm average vehicle speeds are within the guidelines when developing a project.
Vehicular Traffic Volume: To support Guidelines #6 & 7, we made decisions on whether a bike infrastructure project should be shared with vehicles or separated from them based on traffic volume and bike suitability data provided by the Ithaca-Tompkins County Transportation Council (ITCTC). Check out the maps they produced!
By comparing traffic volume data to NACTO guidance for designing urban bikeways for all ages and abilities, we can begin recommending Better Bike Network-compliant projects based on this map. As long as vehicle speeds are under 25 mph, green streets may need bicycle boulevards, blue streets need painted bike lanes, yellow streets need buffered bike lanes, and red streets need protected bike lanes. (Map created by ITCTC)
developing the project list
The result of our street-by-street analysis is a streamlined list of projects that, when realized, will create a complete Better Bike Network that works for everyone. A phased approach will ensure that the Better Bike Network is useful before it’s complete. Check out the list of projects by route, or visit the Routes & Projects page.
Proposed Routes on Ithaca’s Flats
Proposed project map for the Better Bike Network on Ithaca’s Flats, labeled with type of bicycle infrastructure needed. Click to expand.
maintenance
The Better Bike Network, comprised of the main arterials for people on bikes, should be held to a high standard of maintenance so people can rely on it every day.
prioritizing the better bike network
Potholes, broken glass, snow, and debris can pose a serious hazard to people on bicycles, even more so than to motor vehicles. After construction, shoddy backfilling can also be hazardous by creating bumps where they are not expected. Road hazards can make otherwise suitable bicycle infrastructure dangerous to ride on. Since the Better Bike Network is expected to attract a wider range of people bicycling, maintenance of the network is key to its continued success.
Guideline #8
Better Bike Routes should be smooth, free of potholes, and legibly marked.
Guideline #9
Better Bike Routes should be prioritized for regular maintenance at all times of the year and free of broken glass, debris, and snow.
Guideline #10
If construction must disrupt an existing bicycle route, an alternative route of equivalent comfort and safety must be provided whenever possible.
prioritizing the project list
With over 40 separate infrastructure projects being proposed, the Better Bike Network is an ambitious plan. However, existing bike infrastructure in and around Ithaca has good “bones,” such as Bike Boulevards network. Some minor infrastructure and maintenance improvements could help fully realize the the potential of what is already in place. Other projects can be achieved with inexpensive alterations or additions to the streetscape, or involve a pilot project phase to test out an idea using non-permanent installations. We call the collection of these “Key Projects,” and we should act on them now!
List of Key Projects
