Hough activist advocates for bike lanes on Columbia Street

She decided to see what the sharrow fuss was all about, and described her experience riding on two-lane Columbia Street to Vancouver City Manager Eric Holmes, Mayor Tim Leavitt and members of the city council in a Sept. 21 email.

“I started from Evergreen (Boulevard, in downtown) and rode northbound to 24th Street in Hough Neighborhood,” Cowen wrote. “On my short ride, I was dangerously and unlawfully passed by one driver and honked at by another, as if I had no right to be on the street. Granted, I was going slow (it is uphill, you know), but my anecdotal observations showed that sharrows are a half-hearted attempt at making this community bike friendly. There is no way I would let my young children ride on Columbia, despite the sharrows. We ride very often as a family, and it saddens me that we can’t ride through the heart of our neighborhood,” she wrote. “Drivers simply do not understand what the markings imply, and do not have respect for bicycle traffic on the roadways.”

Cowen mentioned in the email that the Hough Neighborhood Association’s action plan, as developed by residents and approved by the city council, calls for adding bicycle lanes to help encourage nonmotorized forms of transportation.

The city has indicated it wants to encourage alternative forms of transportation. It has Destination Downtown, created under the state’s Commute Trip Reduction Efficiency Act and funded by a federal grant, that has a primary goal of reducing drive-alone trips to downtown and Uptown Village.

Additionally, as Cowen mentioned in her email, a 2005 study of Columbia Street found that bike lanes could be added and that best practices would preclude the on-street parking currently allowed.

In short, Cowen wrote, “cars and bikes, yes, parking spots, no.”

“Here is where the confusion enters,” she wrote to city leaders. “If the city has already determined that bike lanes are necessary and appropriate for Columbia, why did the decision ultimately turn to sharrows? There are many issues with sharrows. First and foremost, vehicle drivers do not understand what they mean. The city has had no communication with neighborhoods how to instruct residents to safely navigate sharrows. Second, they do not provide a safe place for bicyclists to traverse unsafe conditions, such as sudden car doors flying open, or bus traffic. This is especially apparent on the northbound lane of Columbia, which rises in elevation from the river all the way to 45th Street.”

Cowen said her husband, Eric, commutes by bike to work at Columbia Machine. They regularly ride with their three children, ages 4, 6 and 8, and if they venture out of the neighborhood they travel on Franklin Street to go downtown.

She suggested to city officials they should consider at least adding a northbound bicycle lane on Columbia Street and banning on-street parking on the east side of the street.

Her concerns about sharrows echoed those expressed earlier this year over plans for Columbia Way, the primary east-west arterial to a proposed $1.3 billion waterfront development.

The public-private project on the former Boise Cascade site has been marketed as bicycle friendly. Bicycle advocates questioned the design of Columbia Way, which branches off Columbia Street, because plans call for one lane in each direction, with on-street parking and sharrows. Advocates wanted dedicated bike lanes.

Chad Eiken, the city’s director of community and economic development, confirmed to the city council on Sept. 15 that sharrows are still in the plans for Columbia Way. Bike lanes would require giving up on-street parking. On-street parking has priority, he said, because it will be important to help ensure success for retailers.

Columbia Street, however, may still receive bike lanes.

In Sweeney’s response to Cowen, which was shared with the mayor and city council, he thanked Cowen for “getting out there on your bike to experience the cycling conditions on Columbia Street.”

He said he’s an avid cyclist and has ridden his bike on the street, too.

The sharrows have sparked discussion about north-south bike mobility through westside neighborhoods, he wrote.

“Please note that the sharrows on Columbia Street are an interim measure to help raise awareness of bicyclists and motorists sharing the right-of-way. The consideration of removing the on-street parking and putting in bike lanes has been and is still on the table. It has never been ‘off the table.’ When the funding for Columbia St. resurfacing/reconstruction is identified, the discussion, with neighborhood associations and the adjacent property owners, will be revisited,” Sweeney wrote.

“We recognize that it may take some time to find a resolution and, as necessary, funding to support that. As you can appreciate, accommodating all the needs of the community in a fixed-width right-of-way, particularly streets that were built as part of the city’s historic past, is a challenge. The city will explore the different options for creating a safe and convenient way for bicyclists to travel north/south on the west side of town.”