Last night was the final public meeting for input on the proposed 3rd Street streetscape project in Downtown. The crowd gathered in the Downtown Central Library’s Chappel meeting room as representatives from Downtown Fort Worth, Inc. and HOK presented the final preferred option.
Combining elements of two earlier designs and redesigned a bit for cost savings, the new plan would completely re-work 3rd Street from Henderson on the west to the railroad tracks on the east. The street would feature wider sidewalks, narrower/fewer car lanes, redesigned parking setups, new street furniture, and an Art Deco chevron brick & concrete paving design. Read the rest of this entry »
We’re planning a major update to our old Urban Living guide, with a complete redesign and update of the list. We need new photos for some developments, so we’ve been snapping some – here’s a sampling of photos of the Hillside Apartments development on the east edge of Downtown.
And here are some of Hillside’s neighbor up the hill, the Depot Lofts.
Last night at the Central Library in Downtown Fort Worth, the city showcased a draft of a radically altered and improved bicycle transportation plan called “Bike Fort Worth.” Aiming to replace the rather lacking 1999 bike route plan with a more robust and elaborate system, the city has been working for a year and a half on “Bike Fort Worth,” and the results look impressive.
With “Bike Fort Worth,” the city has laid out ambitious goals: to triple the level of bicycle transportation in the city, to reduce the number of bicycle-related accidents by 1/4, and to attain official designation as a “Bicycle Friendly Community” from the League of American Bicyclists – all by 2015.
With “Bike Fort Worth,” it is clear that the city is making a huge new commitment to the “Complete Streets” movement and that the attitude of planning and transportation at City Hall has truly radically shifted. Now, let’s dive into some of the details of “Bike Fort Worth.”
(Apologies for the weird photos – seating was limited and we were at an angle.)
Some of the challenges identified in “Bike Fort Worth” are our high-speed arterials with no bike provisions, unsafe behavior by both motorists and bicyclists, street design features that are unfriendly to bicycles, missing connections between bike facilities and neighborhoods, and a lack of convenient and safe bike parking & storage at destinations. “Bike Fort Worth” aims to address all of these issues – and let’s start by taking a look at the subject most near and dear to our hearts here at Fort Worthology: bike lanes, routes, and trails.
In the 2007 bicycle survey, the message from respondents was strong: when asked what would encourage residents to bicycle more often, 86% said “bike lanes,” 84% said “new trails,” and 68% said “signed bike routes.” “Bike Fort Worth” addresses all three forms of infrastructure.
The new bicycle transportation system aims to provide links to existing and planned bike facilities in neighboring cities, provide safe bicycle routes along major corridors, identify alternative parallel routes to major arterials too large for safe bicycle accommodation (think six-lane plus designs), fill gaps in bicycle routing and linkages, overcome barriers to bike travel between neighborhoods and destinations, and provide connections to major destinations. Links to transit centers, existing and planned rail stations, the Urban Villages, Downtown Fort Worth, schools, colleges, universities, major employers, the Trinity Trails, and parks and recreation areas are all part of “Bike Fort Worth.”
“Bike Fort Worth” identifies three categories of bike infrastructure and uses them all: on-street striped bicycle-only lanes, on-street bike routes marked with “sharrows,” and off-street trails. Related are several other pieces of bike-friendly infrastructure, including intersections with sensors properly tuned to detect bicycles, bicycle-only traffic signals where trails and on-street facilities cross, and new crossings of barriers such as the Trinity River.
“Bike Fort Worth” proposes a huge increase in the scope and quality of bike infrastructure in the city of Fort Worth. At present, there are approximately 39.6 miles of “sharrow” bike routes, 8.5 miles of striped bicycle-only lanes (including the new Magnolia Avenue “road diet”), 58.4 miles of off-street trails, and 3.9 miles of “sidepaths” (wider sidewalks in situations where bikes-on-sidewalk is appropriate). In all, there are 109.4 miles of bike infrastructure in Fort Worth.
Under “Bike Fort Worth,” our bike infrastructure would be radically increased:
Sharrow routes would jump from 39.6 miles to 224.1 miles.
Bus-only lanes in Downtown would change to bus & bike-only, for a total of 1.75 miles.
Striped bicycle-only lanes would massively increase from 8.5 miles to a truly impressive 475.9 miles.
Off-street bike trails would increase from 58.4 miles to 153.3 miles.
Sidepaths would increase from 3.9 miles to 43.1 miles.
Total on-street bicycle infrastructure would jump to 704.75 miles, and total off-street would go to 196.4 miles. Truly, this is a paradigm shift in bicycle transportation in the city of Fort Worth.
Highlights of new off-street trails include:
New Trinity Trails extensions, connections, and crossings.
A new connection between the Trinity and Sycamore trails.
Trail Drivers Park to Trinity.
New trails along the Trinity Uptown waterfront.
Above is a view showing primarily Downtown, the Cultural District, and the Near Southside. Among the highlights:
New dedicated lanes in the Near Southside – at a minimum, the plan wants all of Magnolia from 8th to South Main, all of Rosedale from 8th to South Main, all of Pennsylvania from 12th to South Main, all of Vickery from Adams into the east side of the city, Jennings from Magnolia into Downtown where it joins up with Throckmorton, South Main from Lancaster all the way south to Morningside, Summit from Rosedale to 5th Street in Downtown, 12th Avenue from Pennsylvania to Rosedale, Cooper from 12th Avenue to Summit, and College from Pennsylvania to Rosedale. These dedicated lanes would be supplemented by existing and new “sharrow” routes. We say “at a minimum” because it was made clear that this is the “Bike Fort Worth” minimum and the even greater number of striped lanes in the Near Southside design standards are still available through the Near Southside TIF and other mechanisms.
A large network of sharrow routes in Downtown, in a reversal from the previous plan’s position that Downtown was already bike friendly enough.
Re-marking the Throckmorton and Houston bus-only lanes in Downtown into bus & bike-only lanes.
Dedicated bike lanes on 3rd Street from the east side of Downtown all the way out to East 1st, continuing on to the east from there.
Dedicated bike lanes on Sylvania running long-distance from north to south.
Dedicated bike lanes on East Lancaster from Downtown to Tennessee.
A new sharrow route on Henderson from 5th to Belknap that turns into a dedicated lane from Belknap to White Settlement.
Dedicated bike infrastructure on all the new Trinity River Vision bridges at White Settlement, Henderson, and North Main.
Dedicated bike lanes on White Settlement from North Main west past Rockwood/Westview.
Dedicated bike lanes on Bailey from White Settlement to the big University/7th/Camp Bowie/Bailey intersection.
Dedicated bike lanes on Carroll from West 7th to Whitmore, joining a sharrow route from Whitmore to White Settlement by way of Foch.
Dedicated bike lanes on Foch from West 7th to Crestline.
A close-up view of Downtown. One of the biggest changes and improvements in “Bike Fort Worth” is the creation of real bike connections between districts in the central city – dedicated bike lanes will carry riders between the Near Southside and Downtown on South Main, Jennings, and Summit. Dedicated bike lanes will also connect to the Cultural District – which we’ll get to in a moment.
Looking further south:
A number of new sharrow routes increase connections between existing routes and new bike lanes. A new route more directly connects to Forest Park, for example – a sharrow route will run down Park Place to the trails.
New dedicated bike lanes on Forest Park and McCart from Huntington to West Devitt.
New sharrow route down Rogers, between Cantey and new dedicated bike lanes on Lovell and West Vickery.
New dedicated bike lanes on University, from Cantey heading south past Berry (not shown here but presumably to Bluebonnet Circle at least).
New sharrow route on Hartwood, Mockingbird, and Colonial.
New dedicated bike lanes on Stadium from Cantey to Berry, then dedicated lanes heading out West on Berry and Bellaire.
New dedicated bike lanes on East Allen and East Maddox from I-35 to Comer.
New dedicated bike lanes on Nashville.
Also seen here is the long-distance route of the new dedicated bike lanes on Sylvania/Riverside.
In the Cultural District, we see:
The previously mentioned dedicated bike lanes on White Settlement, Bailey, Carroll, and Foch.
New dedicated bike lanes on Lancaster from Currie to Montgomery right past the museums.
A sharrow connection on Lancaster between Currie and Foch.
Dedicated bike lanes on Montgomery from West 7th south.
New sharrow routes on Crestline, Trinity Park, Cedar Elm, West 7th west of University, Dorothy, Bailey north of White Settlement, Hillcrest, Ashland, El Campo, Byers, Owasso, and Harley west of Montgomery.
New dedicated bike lanes on Harley between Montgomery and University through the Will Rogers Memorial Center, joining the sharrow route on a brief stretch of University to Crestline.
New dedicated bike lanes on West 7th between the big University/7th/Camp Bowie/Bailey intersection and Lamar in Downtown.
The dedicated bike lanes on West 7th are an especially big addition, especially with all the development activity along the street.
In addition, the plan adds extensive new signage for bike lanes, bike routes, trails, and wayfinding to destinations using the system.
“Bike Fort Worth” also looks at bicycle parking and storage. The plan calls for the adoption of mandatory bicycle parking requirements in zoning and development plans for new commercial, office, industrial, and multi-family residential development. In addition, the city will implement a “significant” bike rack installation program to radically increase the amount of public bike parking in the city. The plan calls for the placement of bike parking in convenient and logical locations by the main entrances of businesses – not stuck in the back or in the middle of nowhere. “Bike Fort Worth” will also implement preferred bike rack designs, favoring designs like the “inverted U” and “lollipop” racks and discouraging designs like the “wave” and “wheel-bender.” The plan also calls for new parking garages to provide bicycle parking space.
The plan even has strategies for replacing some on-street car parking with on-street bicycle parking, which allows the parking of a great number of bicycles in the space previously reserved for just one or two cars. A good example is shown in this Streetfilms video about bicycle parking in Portland, Oregon:
In addition, the plan calls for the construction of a Downtown Bicycle Commuter Station. An example of bicycle commuter parking can be seen in this Streetfilms video about Alewife Station in Cambridge, Massachusetts:
“Bike Fort Worth” also features extensive education, enforcement, and outreach programs:
The plan ties into the national “Safe Routes to School” initiative, encouraging more kids to walk and bike to school.
The city plans a “Share the Road” educational campaign to educate Fort Worth drivers and riders on safe, correct motorist/bicyclist interaction.
A new, better bike map will be published.
The city will participate in National Bike to Work Day and reinstitute the Clean Air Bike Rally.
The plan calls for Fort Worth to hold Sunday Parkways – weekend days when sections of road are closed to car traffic and turned over exclusively to bicycle and pedestrian usage.
The plan for Sunday Parkways is inspired by other such events in more bike-friendly cities, such as Portland, Oregon. This Streetfilms video shows some scenes from Portland’s own Sunday Parkways:
In addition, the plan calls for changes to street design standards, subdivision standards, and the development review process to ensure bicycle support is “built-in.” The city intends to fully embrace the “Complete Streets” movement and it will be policy that street planning, design, and construction will accommodate bicyclists, pedestrians, and transit users from the very beginning.
The plan also calls for the city to launch an accurate bicycling count program, and a bicycle-related crash data & reporting program.
“Bike Fort Worth” is in draft stage and the city is currently accepting public input on the plan. The last of the three public meetings will be tomorrow night at 6:30 PM at LMRA River Pavillion, 3400 Bryant Irvin Road. After the plan is refined based on public input, it’s off to implementation. As said before, the plan’s goal is to triple bicycle travel, reduce bicycle accidents by 1/4, and attain a “Bicycle Friendly Community” rating from the League of American Bicyclists by 2015.
It’s a radical plan for a city that’s been more slow and measured in the past, but it shows the fundamental shifts in thinking and planning that are occurring at City Hall. Fort Worth is a city that is changing its thinking, and “Bike Fort Worth” is a great example of progress towards creating a more livable, sustainable Fort Worth. We came away from the presentation very impressed indeed – a big thanks to Don Koski, the Senior Planner in Fort Worth’s Transportation and Public Works Department, for putting on the presentation last night.
While the actual redevelopment of the former Knights of Pythias Building in East Downtown hasn’t fully started yet (in the current economic climate, starting off a condo development isn’t especially practical in a lot of cases), developer TownSite isn’t just sitting around. A demolition permit has been filed for the small shotgun house behind the KofP building.
TownSite plans to convert the Knights of Pythias building into four condos. A third floor will be added, set back from the original facade, to accommodate the residences. Below is a photo of the building as it sits now, and a rendering of the finished project.
In East Downtown, carved into a space by the railroad tracks and right across the street from the Hillside Apartments and The Depot Lofts is a new public park. The small park, which I’ll call “Depot Park” until I hear otherwise, features a red metal shade with a rather “railroad-y” feel to it, with paving and benches underneath. A winding path leads from the sidewalk to the shade, going through a simple grassy space.
It’s a neat little space and an interesting addition to the neighborhood, which features the aforementioned Hillside and Depot apartment developments as well as the old Knights of Pythias building which will be converted into condos by TownSite Co. Click the photos for a bigger view.
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