Plano, Texas on-street bicycling

[cycle16v]

I have to hand it to Plano, they are a really progressive city and wish I would have bought a home here when I first moved into the DFW area. http://www.plano.gov/Departments/par...Bicycling.aspx

I love all the bike trails, bike shops, lots of cyclist and cycling events around, and now they've formally carved out on-street bike paths for us.

I'll also throw in a big thumbs-up to Plano's parks and recreation while I'm at it too. They sure do have a lot of nice parks recreational facilities.

Oh yeah- If you're one of our local decision makers in the surrounding cities (HELLO...wake up ROWLETT!), you need to follow Plano's lead here and make genuine efforts for all things recreation...especially cycling!!

Anyways, I'm glad the girlfriend lives in Plano. I get to bring my bike and we go out and enjoy the trails.

[StephenH]

When it's all said and done, the best bicycling occurs when you get out of town.

I've ridden some of the trails up there, but don't recall the names. The one that went down beside a creek was pretty decent, because you don't have to stop at cross roads. The ones that followed power line easements made you stop at every street, and that pretty well loses the advantage of having a trail. (Note that one of the things that makes the White Rock Creek and Lake trails so popular is you don't have to stop and wait every 200 yards.) One of the drawbacks of the trails is they are popular with walkers as well, so if the weather is nice, you have to work around them.

I rode back across Richardson on Apollo Road the other night. There is a section of it where they have Bike Lanes. That's cool, only they also allow parking in the bike lanes, so when you get to the bike-lane part, you have to switch to the left lane to actually ride through. I think what it demonstrates is that the roads where it's convenient to put bike lanes, you don't really need them, and the roads where you need them, they don't want to take up any space to put them in. So Apollo is great riding without bike lanes, and they put some there, and Belt Line needs them and doesn't get them.

Plano is pretty well the hub of road cycling around here. Seek out some of the road routes and you should have some good riding.

[Creakyknees]

...Belt Line needs them and doesn't get them..

Must disagree... do not recommend riding on Belt Line at any except way off-peak times. The way Richardson is laid out, there are so many parallel alternates, you never need to be on the 6 lane thoroughfares.

[matthewk459]

Went and rode some of these numbered bike streets this morning. First time I have followed their routes. Very nice, mostly residential roads that are wide and of low traffic. Pretty east to stitch together 40 or so miles of them if you're so inclined. The streets are a much better ride than the trails for the reasons mentioned above. I think Plano is really on to something with these routes.

[tcs]

What was the goal of this effort, anyway? To look good in a "bike friendly cities" rating or to actually accomplish positive change?

Anyway, Plano now has signs that tell riders that quiet residential streets are nice for bike riding. No further comment about that.

Even a cursory look shows the scheme has:
no crossing of Central north of Park (among other things, this makes a ride to Plano East Senior High School 4x~5x longer for many of the students)
no route to Plano Senior High School
no crossing of 121 east of Rasor
no crossing of Bush east of Independence
very few routes to the intersection of the major thoroughfares - which is where ~90% of the retail is in Plano
no route to the city's convention center
no route to the city's principle light rail and bus station on Archerwood
no route to the city's college campus

A bike transportation scheme that doesn't go to the high school or college in town - really?

[Shortsocks]

Well:
Tonight I was at Plano City Hall with at least 25-30 cyclists as well as with Rick , the owner of Plano Cycling and Fitness, And we helped pass this:

The Safe Passing Ordinance has gone through the Police Department and the City Attorney’s Office, and before City Council Monday night, Feb. 13th. It will be in the main Council Meeting. This meeting starts at 7:00 PM. We need to be there by 6:45.
*
The Ordinance will be on the Consent Agenda. .
*
This ordinance stipulates distances motor vehicles must allow cyclists, outlaws throwing or objects or substances at cyclists, and provides legal remedy if a cyclist is hit by a motor vehicle in some situations. The ordinance can be viewed here:
*
http://plano.gov/City_Hall/agendas/C...C021312-01.pdf
*

--- we passed this. SO if you read that PDF it stipulates that Plano actully as a municipality has passed laws now protecting cylists on the ROAD!! For a non-city residential town (suburb) that's a pretty big deal in Texas.

Plano, where I live, IMO isn't te safest city for cyclists on the road. But this is one big step in making cyclists on the road legally seen. Maybe , MY HOPE, that cities surrounding Plano will pass laws similar to this....

Its pretty cool. That as a cyclist and resident that we actually DID something.

So as of TONIGHT what is in that PDF is now LAW in Plano. :-)

Socks

[tcs]

...This ordinance stipulates distances motor vehicles must allow cyclists...

I read in the link you provided:

"An operator of a motor vehicle passing a vulnerable road user on a highway or street shall...pass the vulnerable road user at a safe distance...An operator of a motor vehicle may not overtake and execute a right-hand turn in front of a vulnerable road user unless the operator is safely clear of the vulnerable road user..."

So when you say "stipulates distances" you must mean in the conceptual sense and not actual measurements. My real world experience with police and city attorneys has been 'if there wasn't an accident, ipso facto the situation was safe'.

Now, however, this part actually seems to be worthwhile and maybe worth more than the entire Plano Bike Route Plan:

"An operator of a motor vehicle passing a vulnerable road user on a highway or street shall...vacate the lane in which the vulnerable road user is located if the highway or street has two or more marked lanes running in the same direction..."

So, any indication from the Plano City attorney's office if they will prosecute based on helmet cam video, or if they will require the incident to be observed by the police?

[Shortsocks]

No. There isn't any status on a helmet cam conviction or as to how many people have to be present for there to be a investigation. But. I have contacts to chief of police and to the city attorney. She seems very open to communicate to members of the PBA. I'll shoot her a call and get back to you.

Socks

[tcs]

Well, to be clear, I'm pretty chuffed about the "cycles get the entire lane in Plano" ordinance and good job on this to all that were involved.

Obviously the ideal and goal would be not proscecuting errant drivers but educating them to prevent the ordinance from being violated in the first place. Press releases have gone out, no doubt, and the city is probably preparing a water bill insert.

[matthewk459]

I read in the link you provided:

"An operator of a motor vehicle passing a vulnerable road user on a highway or street shall...pass the vulnerable road user at a safe distance...An operator of a motor vehicle may not overtake and execute a right-hand turn in front of a vulnerable road user unless the operator is safely clear of the vulnerable road user..."

So when you say "stipulates distances" you must mean in the conceptual sense and not actual measurements. My real world experience with police and city attorneys has been 'if there wasn't an accident, ipso facto the situation was safe'.

Keep reading

“Safe Distance” shall mean three (3) feet if the operator’s vehicle is a passenger car, or six (6) feet if the operator’s vehicle is a truck or a commercial motor vehicle.

[tcs]

Keep reading

“Safe Distance” shall mean...

Well, there we go, at least for passing. Unless I'm missing something else, right hook prevention still seems to be too vague to be enforceable/meaningful.

[matthewk459]

The signs are starting to pop up stating "Cyclists my occupy whole lane". In the absence of dedicated bike lanes, it's nice that Plano is doing something.

[maximumrob]

Bike Path 16 comes right by my front door! The cool thing is, I use most of the roads for my commute that Plano has now designated bike paths.

[cycle16v]

Bike Path 16 comes right by my front door! The cool thing is, I use most of the roads for my commute that Plano has now designated bike paths.

Diggin' it! Lucky you!