Poughkeepsie Pop-Up Bike Lane

Who knew that a few hundred traffic cones, several dozen cans of spray-chalk, and a handful of hardworking staff could transform Market Street overnight? As part of a grant funded by the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee, Parks & Trails New York teamed up with the City of Poughkeepsie to set up a temporary two-way bike lane on Market Street and Civic Center Plaza to show how separated bicycle lanes could be incorporated into the roadway design and create opportunities for safer and more accessible cycling for riders of all ages and abilities.

On the evening of August 20, Parks & Trails New York, the City of Poughkeepsie, and Sam Schwartz Engineering (equipped with yellow safety vests) took to Market Street with brooms, spray-chalk, tape-measures, and two Seymour of Sycamore paint-striping machines. From 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. staff diligently measured and chalked the required lane markings, working their way north along Market Street.

By the time the sun was setting and traffic had diminished, the team had settled into an efficiently streamlined process for getting the job done; with one person sweeping the area clear of debris, another determining the measurements, a third marked them with spray-chalk, and a fourth walked the paint-striping machine. The street lights provided some visibility, but the team called it quits by a quarter to nine, with a plan to get an early start the next morning— early as in 5:00 a.m. That morning, Department of Public Works staff peppered traffic cones along the .4-mile stretch from Church Street to Civic Center Plaza, offering a physical buffer between cyclists and motorists, while staff finished up the lane markings and filled in the pavement stencils.

By 7:00 a.m. on August 21, the entire roadway was transformed. Two travel lanes and the eastern-most parking lane were left unaffected but Civic Center Plaza was closed to southbound vehicular traffic from Mansion to Mill Streets and the western parking lane and western-most travel lane were temporarily repurposed as a bicycle lane. Jersey barriers and traffic cones resembled a line of dominoes stretching into the distance.

Throughout the day, cyclists rode in both directions, some having traveled south from the Walkway Over the Hudson (illustrating one option to address gaps in the existing bikeway network) with others headed north crossing over Church Street using the sharrows as their guide. Riders were encouraged to stop at one of two tents set up at the corner of Market and Mill and outside the County Office Building to interact with staff and talk about their experience. While some riders lamented over the quality of the pavement, the majority expressed their appreciation and elation, emphasizing how clearly demarcated space for bicycles on roadways can help avoid dangerous, and sometimes fatal, encounters with vehicles.

Setting up the two-way bike lane was intended to demonstrate, through a temporary installation, how innovative bicycle infrastructure achieves better and safer bicycling for riders of all ages and abilities. Staff surveyed participants to gauge their sense of safety and comfort while using the temporary protected bike lane. When riders were asked how they felt riding on the bike lane, as compared to other roadways, 67% of respondents said they felt more comfortable/safe, and would be more likely than before to travel by bicycle if the bike lane was made permanent. By conducting screenline counts, the process of quantifying bicycling and walking on roads and sidewalks, in the morning and evening at two locations along Market Street, PTNY found that the number of cyclists riding along Market Street during the four hour period in the morning and evening during the demonstration was 57% higher than the number of cyclists riding along Market Street prior to the demonstration.

Overall, there was a general consensus among riders that the temporary bike lane positively impacted their ride by offering additional protection and enhancing access along a primary roadway in the City of Poughkeepsie. Paul Hesse, the Community Development Coordinator for the City of Poughkeepsie said “[The city has] seen a steady increase in bicycle use over the last several years,” and “a bicycle lane along Market Street makes an enormous amount of sense when you consider the connections it would provide, from residential areas on the city’s south side to the commercial center and to the Walkway Over the Hudson and points north. Adding that "[The city is] trying to provide a vision for what a safe, inter-connected transportation system can be here in Poughkeepsie, and bicycle lanes are an important part of a well-functioning transportation network.”

PTNY is grateful for the opportunity to partner with the City as a host for the demonstration, not only for the benefits it offered Poughkeepsie, but also in its ability to serve as a model for cities, towns and villages across the state. Bicycling has become more popular than ever, and with more riders on the road, communities across New York need to take measures to ensure that all riders can enjoy a safe, comfortable experience. Temporary bicycle infrastructure installations are a low-cost, innovative way to demonstrate the potential for a safer bikeway network that allows residents to more easily bike to work, school, or wherever they need to go.

In addition to the temporary demonstration, PTNY used grant funding to create a comprehensive “toolkit” consisting of three case studies from municipalities across the state to demonstrate the statewide applicability of bicycle infrastructure innovations; a traffic calming guide to help advocates and municipal leaders make short term, low-cost enhancements to roadways that will lead to reduced vehicle speeds and safety improvements for all roadway users; and a decision matrix intended to help communities of all sizes identify which bicycle infrastructure treatment is appropriate for a street with certain characteristics based on speed limit, roadway volume, and connectivity to parks, schools, and businesses.

Together, these documents are intended to help communities determine the applicability of new infrastructure, evaluate different designs to help create safer road conditions through traffic calming techniques and bicycle facilities, and readily conceptualize how this infrastructure could work in their communities. The final toolkit components will be available in October.

Future on-road connections are necessary to bring trail users to work, school and businesses and employing some of the new innovative bicycling infrastructure can help provide these connections in a safe and comfortable way.