Friend of Transit Miami Alex Adams sent me this letter he sent to local Commissioners regarding installing bike lanes on Sunset from Cocoplum to the Doc Thomas House.
This evening I came home from work and jumped on my bike to measure Sunset Drive between Yumuri Street and Cocoplum Circle. Tape measure in hand I wanted to give a definitive response to Commissioner Gimenez on how a bicycle facility could be added to this County roadway. This road is currently being repaved and this is what I found.
Sunset Drive between Yumuri and Cocoplum is 99% residential single family neighborhood. The only commercial development is the first block on the north side at Yumuri. The speed limit is 35 mph however many cars are traveling over the posted speed. The width of the two lanes is typically 24′ of pavement with various added shoulders. I measured at Yumuri Dr, School House Road, Maynada, Erwin Rd, Granada St. lanes currently vary from 10′ 6″ to 12′ 6″.
Suggestions to make this street bicycle and neighborhood friendly:
1. reduce the speed limit to 30 mph and enforce. This is a residential arterial street.
2. reduce the travel lanes to 10 feet. This street does not have high truck demand and infrequent MDT buses. The residents would benefit more from the traffic calming and reduced speeds.
3. add 2′ of asphalt on each side generally to allow a 4′ dedicated bicycle lane. There are no trees or other obstructions.Lastly at the eastern end of Sunset Elementary School on the south side of Sunset Drive the sidewalk ends at the school property line. This leaves students no way to enter the school from the east and leaves a dead end sidewalk for pedestrians. Either a pedestrian crosswalk should be located at Mentone Street or the southern sidewalk should be extended to the next signalized intersection Maynada Road 2 blocks east. As a side note it is interesting that this school has 2 crossing guards to press the crosswalk signal at School House Road and none at this end of the school where there is no crosswalks. The crossing guards literally press the ped button, while many Miami-Dade schools have no signalized intersections, no crossing guards. I would suggest moving one crossing guard to the corner of Maynada and extend the sidewalk along the southern side of Sunset Drive.
Thanks for sending this Alex. I would add that long term fixes for Sunset Drive should include pedestrian friendly intersection improvements throughout, including a complete redesign of Cocoplum circle (which right now is a pure de mango).
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6 Responses to Citizen Planning: Bike Lanes on Sunset Drive
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Now if you want to see this happen, get the county to pass an ordinance to change the restrictive historic nature of this roadway to allow for widening to include bike lanes.
Hi Rider:
Actually, this is not necessary on Sunset Drive. The current historic nature already would allow for bike lanes. The only variance they are seeking is a self-imposed mandate for super-mega-wide medians. FDOT aims for vast medians (which makes sense on most of their massive interstate roadways). For them to add designated bike lanes, they would simply have to pursue an ever so slightly expanded variance – an additional two feet.
Another interesting thought: Why is this an FDOT roadway? It may soon become a country road, from the whisperings we hear. In that case, even under the historic designation, they would easily be able to add- wait for it – 5 foot + bike lanes.
Thank you for your comment! It would seem that FDOT only listens to large-scale protest and threats of litigation these days. We are pursuing both.
Not to mention that widening the road is never the answer to making a safer street. Narrow lanes slow traffic.
I wrote to our representative in Tallahassee today. See my email below – I really think that Rep. Robaina will help us with this but he needs to hear from YOU, too.
mailto:julio.robaina@myfloridahouse.gov
Dear Representative Robaina,
Thank you for taking the time to meet with me today. I am deeply concerned about FDOT’s lack of support for basic bicycling facilities in the Sunset Drive project. As you know, this is a very important route for people walking and traveling by bicycle. FDOT has refused to respond to my calls or emails, multiple individual requests made in a public meeting or even their own policies by not including bike lanes in this project.
FDOT is already seeking a variance to reduce the median – an additional two feet ONLY would make it possible to add 5 foot bicycle lanes on each side.
You can see the email that I sent to Gus Pego last month here: http://www.transitmiami.com/2010/03/31/sunset-drive-driving-out-sensible-citizen-input/
Please help us get our voices heard. We need your help.
Thank you,
Kathryn R. Moore
Miami, Florida
[...] but I was most impressed with how attentive he was to our concerns related to the Sunset Drive project. I wrote him a quick email over lunch and within an hour, I received the following response – [...]
Riding on the sidewalk works for me. It’s safe and I get eye contact with pedestrians. I never get eye contact with drivers – and they never greet me.