Omaha Downtown Plan

Your input is needed for preferred bicycle routes.

Please comment below.
Feedback will be collected by April 10th.

28 Comments

1. Michelle Moyes Dill said on March 28th, 2009

   Lanes and trails need to be straight - The sidewalk considered part of the Happy Hollow connector trail is dangerous for everyone – at 15 mph, one cannot see around the winding corners to avoid or be seen by kids, walkers or runners. Further, drivers seeing this as a ‘bike path’ don’t look for us on the street creating another dangerous situation.

   Paths need to be well marked– some of us move as fast as cars (20-30mph) – tiny, inconspicuous signs will get us lost – I should be able to easily maneuver a route the first time. A well marked path will also alert drivers and pedestrians to cyclists and make it safer.

   Budget for city funds to maintain paint lines AND REFLECTORS on city streets. Some are so faded that unless you knew it was a bike path, you wouldn’t know it was there. That’s dangerous. Consider a flexible reflector posts at key intersections to mark the boundary between driver and cyclist lanes.

   Routes need to make sense – Work with the current traffic arteries.

   Paths need to be wide and well defined for both cyclists and autos The connector trail along Happy Hollow is narrow and recommended by the City of Omaha “only for the brave.”

   I am so excited that Omaha could be a REAL bike community, not just a few recreational trails I have to drive to!

   Please do the right thing to encourage healthy and active lifestyles - my daughter is growing up here and I want to give her every excuse to be active.

2. Lea Blake said on March 29th, 2009

   For the most part, I agree with Ms. Dill. I do take exception to the 20-30 mph on a “foot path”. I’m an avid biker, but I realize that recreational walkers, bladers, and runners need a place to be also.
   Mixing that kind of speed with other activities is a disaster in the making no matter whether the trail is straight or not.

   Omaha seems to be gaining on the north/south corridors, but is very lacking in east/west trails. I’m hoping there are plans in the making to accommodate east/west travel by bike.

3. Brian S. Allen said on March 29th, 2009

   Last year at the Activate Omaha sponsored Bike Summit event, a 20+ mile route was presented to the people in attendance. A former city planner and avid bike rider had a key role in the development of this 20+ mile route. I believe this is a strong and well researched plan but I do have two major disagreements.

   1- To use Saddle Creek (southwest bound) and Center Street (westbound) starting from the intersection of Leavenworth and Saddle Creek rather than continuing the routing westbound on Leavenworth. This flat route would tie in nice with the UNO south campus, new development along Center Street, and the current trail system next to these places. The best scenario would be to include the bike lanes on all of these streets rather than deciding between the two routes to get you to and from the UNO area and current trail system.

   2- To use Cuming Street rather than Burt Street. I love going up and down Cuming Street because there are not very many lights and stop signs for a major portion of it. It is wide and seems that bike lanes could be incorporated very easily. It was to my understanding that Burt St. is favored in this plan because less car traffic is present, but I must say that I feel safe on Cuming Street.

   LETS GET STARTED NOW WITH EDUCATION- We can start a more biker friendly mentality with drivers immediately by simply posting “Share the Road” signs along the streets. A bundle of money ($600,000+) was donated over a year ago to help boost the cities bicycle culture. In addition to that we should push for the “Share the Road” messages to appear on billboards, city buses, bus benches, and possibly at the intersections with traffic lights for example. Lets educate the kids in schools and add bicycling questions to driver education and driver license testing!

4. Palmer said on March 30th, 2009

   Bike lanes are a very good thing for the future development of Omaha, and will be much more popular when gas prices are higher. I like the idea of connecting Aksarben/UNO, UNMC, Creighton, North Downtown, the Riverfront extended to Little Italy/South 10th St., all the way down to the ZOO/Laurizten Gardens. I know some of this is outside the focus area, but of course it is important to keep the connecting routes in mind. Previous submission regarding Center, to Saddle Creek, to Cuming is nice. A shortcut along 24th St. connecting Cuming St. with St. Mary’s would provide more options during high trafic at the Qwest/Ballpark. Very attractive route on an overhead map!

5. Eric Brunt said on March 30th, 2009

   Downtown Omaha does not need much to make it more bicycle friendly, the roads are are already multi lane or one way, which works for us folks that use human powered transit. The biggest need is bicycle racks. Until they are offered I will continue to lock my steed wherever I please.

   But the key here is getting the general population to use the streets for bicycle use, thats where lanes come into play. Bicycle Lanes give folks a set place to be on the road, which makes individuals more comfortable and more apt to use their bike as transportation.

   So what in my opinion does Downtown need to get folks out on two wheels?

   -On Street Bicycle Lane on 13th St. from Leavenworth all the way to Cuming

   This route would link main DT with NoDo, and its completely flat. Works for all types of pedalers.
   The other thing the route would showcase would be the magnificent mural on the side of the Energy Systems building.

   -On Street Bicycle Lane heading East on Harney from Midtown to Downtown.
   One-way Street, already has multiple lanes

   More to come…

6. Ed Leach said on March 31st, 2009

   I agree with the comment that more work on east west routes would be greatly appreciated. If you want to see a good example of how nice bike paths and connections can be, take a look at the Minneapolis system. It provides a loop around the urban core connecting the riverfront and the major lakes as well as making connections with outer suburbs using RR right of ways. Really nice!
   The fact is that Omaha could do this with a bit of forward thinking.

7. Dave Nelson said on March 31st, 2009

   East and West routes would be great!

8. Scott Redd said on March 31st, 2009

   There is ample bike parking in downtown Omaha, if you consider locking your bike to light poles, rails, and even trees. However, real bike racks, whether they be provided by private businesses or the City show that bikes are welcome and encourage more people to try going by bike.

   A proper bike rack must be cemented into the sidewalk, and provide two points of contacts to a bike. The most suitable rack is not typical racks of slots for a wheel to go into, like you might imagine at a school yard, or even a wave style rack like you see at the W. Dale Clark library. An inverted U rack is ideal.

   With a small enough U-lock, one could lock a bike to a parking meter, of which there are plenty in downtown. An interesting idea would be to install “bike ears” to existing parking meters.

   See the following for a picture:

   http://www.flickr.com/photos/oakparkcycleclub/2836916774/

   These ears are designed to be attached to parking meters and provide an excellent way to secure a bike without the expense of installing new bike racks into the cement.

   Last year I was in New Orleans and blogged (with photos) about bike parking in the Big Easy. http://redd-shift.blogspot.com/2008/11/cycling-in-new-orleans-parking.html

9. Bill Huerter said on April 3rd, 2009

   If there were more east/west trails commuters to downtown might choose to ride bikes.

10. Ryan Miller said on April 4th, 2009

    Love the ideas of the west/east routes.

11. mark hoefker said on April 4th, 2009

    They need to finish the river trail,which now stops on the north side of Dodge Park,and if the east shoulder of abbott drive is the route from the fountain at Carter Lake then 1)the shoulder has rumble bars that should be removed and 2)need a safe way to cross Locust st. Also the shoulder disappears near the marina and there is a dirt path

12. Bill Norton said on April 6th, 2009

    I’ll echo all the other comments about east/west routes.

    There needs to be better connections to the pedestrian bridge on the Omaha side. Currently, there are no real connections to the bridge. The Riverfront trail heading both north and south ends not far from the bridge. These need to be extended.

    Finally, whenever the city is rebuilding or widening streets, one side should have wider sidewalks that are designated as bike trails. Basically, turn any new street into a trail.

13. Brian S. Allen said on April 7th, 2009

    http://www.unomaha.edu/bikeblast/

    This link will direct you to an art project involving bike racks. A bit unbelievable that this was not discussed at the recent meetings or in the papers, but it is not too late for the deadline to enter a design.

14. Tony said on April 8th, 2009

    How about a trail along the Missouri River to connect the downtown area with Bellevue, possibly running all the way down to the Hayworth Park/Bellevue Loop trailhead. This would of course require the City of Bellevue as well.

15. Krisha Bosselman said on April 14th, 2009

    I think bike/skate routes and pedestrian routes should be separate and well marked to prevent accidents when they are on the same path

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