Can We Remove The Bike Lane In Lincoln Park For Winter?
I'm not trying to bash bike lanes. I know it's the new earth-friendly thing to do, have more people bike for a greener environment. It keeps bicyclists safer in their own lanes. I understand all of that. But Lincoln Park's bike lane is a bit too much, especially in the winter.
I recently joined an indoor golf league at Caddy Shack on Superior Street in Duluth's West End. It's a lot of fun, but parking is not the easiest. Their lot usually fills up, and I'm forced to park on the street. In case you didn't know, Superior Street had a makeover and redesign a couple of years ago. There is now a two-way bike lane on the Lake Superior side of the road. It's right next to the sidewalk, and then parking spaces have been added between the bike lane and traffic.
Part of this design is to use cars to shield the bike lane from traffic. I get that, and I'll even say it makes sense in the summer months.
Here's the problem with parking on Superior Street. Look at how tight this gets.
There have been times when I've had to wait a few minutes before I could even open my door to get out. I realize that Superior street is experiencing some more traffic with the I-35 Interchange project, but big buses will always use this route, and seeing a semi and a bus meet in this busy business area is quite the sight.
Then, when you add the snow piling up and plows coming through, it's a bit much. I don't see a lot of people using the bike lane in the snow. I know it's possible with fat tire bikes these days, but I sure wish we could have a couple more feet of space on Superior Street in that part of town.