How We Roll: St. Pete Goes Green for Bicycles

By: Meredyth Censullo

St. Petersburg, Florida - A small stretch of 1^st Avenue N. in St. Petersburg is a petri dish of sorts for the Highway Safety Research Center at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Joseph Kubicki, City of St. Petersburg Director of Transportation and Parking: “We received approval through the federal government to do this experiment here and see how it works.”

“It” is the green paint highlighting one of St. Pete’s 70 bicycle lanes. The hypothesis: painted bike lanes keep cyclists safer. If proved, the experiment could have national implications.

Kubicki: "If it works well here and works well in the other parts of the country it could be put in the manual of uniform traffic control devices and striping plans could will be allowed nationally."

Playing the role of lab rat in this experiment is cyclist Allen Loyd, who says he bikes almost everywhere – the grocery store, restaurants and even to appointments with doctors. UNC researchers observed and videotaped motorists’ behavior towards Loyd before the bike lane was painted green and often saw right-turning cars cutting him off. Senior Research Scientist Bill Hunter says the videotape even revealed a school bus cutting off a cyclist.

Allen Loyd, St. Petersburg cyclist: “It seemed to happen a lot less when the green was put in so that was definitely an improvement."

But … it still happened so skip stripes were added. They indicate to drivers that they can cross the green lane … but only after checking for bicycles. Cyclist Raoul Simon says he encounters cars merging into the bike lane without double checking for bikes quite often.

Raoul Simon: “When drivers are approaching an intersection to turn right, their attention is focused on what's ahead of them and not what's alongside of them or coming up alongside of them.”

St. Petersburg is currently testing new signage near the green lane to see if those help alert drivers to the bicycle lane and city officials hope that in the near future all signs will point towards safer roads for everyone.

Kubicki: “We're hoping to accomplish a higher level of safety for bicyclists and pedestrians throughout our community."

Kubicki adds that St. Petersburg was chosen to be the test city for the painted bike lanes because of its efforts over the past decade to make the city streets friendlier to pedestrians and bicycles. In the mid 1990s the city had 10 miles of designated bike lanes. Today, there are 70 designated bike lanes with about two dozen expected to be added this year.

Senior Research Scientist Bill Hunter says he’s still compiling the data generated from the various test of the green bike lane and hopes to complete his report on the project by May. The results of the green lane study could eventually be passed on to committees that set national standards for safety measures on roads.

Hunter also says that other cities have experimented with colorized bike lanes. Portland, Oregon was the first in the nation to paint some of its designated bike lanes blue. However St. Petersburg is the first city to undergo a comprehensive evaluation before, during and after the addition of painted lanes.