By Justin Booth:
Many people enjoy travelling at their own pace with two wheels. Whether its for running errands, heading to school and work or simply for fun – bicycling is undoubtedly that best way to travel. I may be biased, but I’m not alone and cities across the country have caught onto this; some of the most notable are also cold and get snow but none have Buffalo’s many positive attributes. By taking advantage of these attributes and with some encouragement, we could make our city one of the most bicycle friendly and livable in the world.
Through a grant from the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo, Green Options Buffalo spearheaded the creation of a Complete Streets Coalition which has been meeting monthly with the city to encourage them to re-think how we design and build our streets to safely accommodate all users upon our roadways. What started as a simple policy has begun to percolate into everyone’s thinking and the City of Buffalo should be congratulated!
Over the weekend, the Department of Public Works made a tremendous step to encourage more bicycle use by installing “Sharrows” or shared lane markings along Richmond Avenue from Forest through Colonial Circle connecting the present lanes as well as striping Connecticut Street from Richmond to Niagara Street. These new markings make motorists aware of bicyclists while showing cyclists that they need to travel on the right side of the road.
By supporting the growing number of citizens who have chosen to bicycle as part of their daily routine and by encouraging more to do so – Buffalo is becoming a friendlier more livable city that will experience all the benefits that come along with it.