13 WTHR - Indianapolis News |Mayor shares vision for city bike lanes

Mayor shares vision for city bike lanes

Mary Milz/Eyewitness News

Marion County - Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard said he wants to see all parts of the city eventually connected by bike lanes. He said he wants to see cycling to work and elsewhere become "more mainstream."

The mayor shared comments during a news conference Friday morning at Michigan and Meridian in front of downtown's first continuous bike lane.

This week the city finished striping new lanes along Michigan and New York Streets. The lanes each run five and a half miles.

"More bicycle traffic on Indy streets means healthier people, cleaner air and less congestion," Ballard said.

Steven Morris, who cycles to work several days a week during the spring and summer months, said Indianapolis is "already a great city. This makes it more progressive."

He said the lanes also "make it a little more comfortable for me knowing there are defined spaces."

Still, not far from the news conference, a couple of people on bicycles cut across the street and rode on the sidewalks. Some drivers also expressed confusion over the new markings.

One woman driver said, "I don't know - it's too small, I'm not sure which way to go."

Andy Lutz, a Project Manager with the Department of Public Works admitted there might be some initial confusion. 

"I expect there will be a learning curve. Bicycles are vehicles also and we put these lanes out here to use so motorists have an idea where bicycles will be," said Lutz.

WTHR photographer John Whalen rigged a camera to his bike and recorded the ride. He found some cars parked in the bike lanes, occasional potholes and rough spots and some drivers cutting in front or getting too close to him.

There are also stretches where the bike lanes are between parked cars and through traffic.

Lutz advised drivers to "use your side or rear-view mirrors and when in a parked car, check the side view and over your shoulder so you don't open the door into them. And when driving be aware of bikers ahead of or beside you before making a sudden turn or merging."

Cyclists too need to keep to their lanes, stop at lights and signal.

Nancy Tibbett, Executive Director of the Indiana Bicycle Coalition, said, "Absolutely bikes are supposed to follow the traffic rules of the road that motorists would."

Allen Galloway, a competitive cyclist, said he's been "hit by a car five times... and it's no fun."

Galloway said cyclists need to practice defensive riding.

"You have to be vigilant at all times because a one-second distraction on the pavement and that's it," he said.

He and the mayor hope within a few years, bike lanes in Indianapolis will no longer be a novelty.

Ballard also announced plans for the Inaugural Mayor's Bike Ride, Saturday May 16th, from 1:00 to 3:00 pm. It includes a three-mile loop and a 10.7-mile loop, both through downtown, incorporating the bike lanes. Ballard said the only requirement for participants was a helmet.

When asked which course he would take, Ballard said, "Well, of course, the 10-mile one."

Register for the mayor's bike ride

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