West 7th Street to go on Road Diet, Gain Bike Lanes
September 29, 2010 at 12:45 pm | Transit & Infrastructure | Tags: 7th Street, Bicycling, complete streets, Cultural District, transportation, urban design
The talk we’ve been hearing for some time is true – 7th Street, between the river and University, is going on a diet.
Since they’re re-topping the pavement anyway, the city is going to re-stripe to narrow 7th Street from six lanes + turn to four lanes + turn, and add on-street parking and bike lanes. The intent is to slow down traffic on the over-engineered high-speed street and make it more hospitable to pedestrians and cyclists, as well as safer for all users by slowing traffic. In essence, trying to turn the street from being a “link” to being a “place,” to go hand-in-hand with the new walkable/bikeable mixed-use development that’s occurring along it.
As 7th transitions from being just a high-speed traffic thoroughfare into an actual livable, desirable place to be, this change has been a long time coming (in fact, we wrote about/advocated for this back in January, along with Dallas blog Walkable D/FW). Slowing down the traffic and providing space for bikes and a buffer for pedestrians (in the form of parking) will go a long way toward making 7th a safer and more enjoyable place to be, rather than just a fast way to get from one point to another.
(This plan isn’t too dissimilar from what is planned to happen to Rosedale between 8th & Main in the Near Southside, also planned to go from six lanes to four with bike lanes and parking.)
Look for the newer, calmer 7th Street coming soon.