In 2017, the Roanoke Planning Commission voted unanimously to adopt a Downtown Plan that included a vision for a Downtown Roanoke Urban Loop (DRUL). I see 8 sections that the city should think about for the bringing the DRUL vision to life.

1. Downtown through Elmwood Park

The 2017 plan says that the DRUL will incorporate the existing greenway path through the core of Downtown. The city should strongly consider making some changes to the existing greenway path to make the DRUL the type of project that will be useful for bicycling and promote a strong core. The biggest problem that the city should consider is that Market Street is a one-way street that allows traffic to only travel south. To create a loop that can be traveled either way, the city would need to make Market Street two-way for bicycles or find an alternate route. There’s probably enough space for a contraflow bike lane to be striped on Market Street, but it is also a historic street with brick pavement so the city may want to consider other ways through signage or paint to show that it is a two-way street for bikes. The other issue that deserves immediate attention is the intersection of Elm and Williamson, where there is no pedestrian push-button aligned with the crossing of Elm that is a part of the DRUL. If a push-button is going to be required for this crossing then it should be aligned with the crossing that people are expected to do regularly.

2. Williamson Road Protected Bike Lane

The Protected Bike Lane on Williamson Road is mostly nice. It’s a surprising facility and likely needs little attention. As is common with most bike facilities, the issues that do exist are most prominent at intersections. At the entrance to the Carillion Hospital parking garage, it could be helpful to have a conflict area marking with green pavement. At Ablemarle, the pavement is rough and markings are sparse. There is an entrance to a parking lot that creates a long-unprotected space that may lead some to be uncomfortably pulling up to the intersection. I think that may be the only entrance to the parking lot, but there could be an added curb near the intersection to protect bicyclists waiting at the intersection.

3. Jefferson Road

This is probably the most difficult section as there is no clear transition from Williamson Road to Jefferson Road, there is limited space on Jefferson Road, and recent investments do not seem to have taken into account the idea of the DRUL. There’s really no solution that doesn’t involve taking a travel lane in order to make bike lanes, a cycletrack, or expand a sidewalk into a full-fledged trail; or rebuilding the bridge over the railroad tracks in order to expand one or both sidewalks. One creative solution could be to consider an at-grade crossing of the railroad tracks and then building a trail that parallels the railroad track under Jefferson Street. Another alternative would be to avoid this area and instead connect to the Roanoke River Greenway by using Walnut Ave, which has its own issues with inadequate bike lanes, but is generally lower speed and traffic volume. No matter what, this is probably the hardest part of the proposed DRUL to create.

4. River’s Edge

The proposed 2017 DRUL goes east-west on Reserve Ave SW before passing through River’s Edge Park. Reserve Ave SW is currently a four-lane road with parking on both sides. There are large sidewalks and it is possible that the proposed DRUL contemplates using those sidewalks as paths. I have no idea why Reserve Ave SW is a four-lane road. It receives ~7,600 vehicles per day, much less than other two-lane roads in Roanoke. I suspect that the road is extra large to accommodate buses during large youth sporting events, but that means that most of the time there are no bike facilities and a very long crossing distance for pedestrians. There’s a lot of space to do something, anything, that makes for a good DRUL experience.

5. Roanoke River Greenway

The Roanoke River Greenway is great. Personally, I wouldn’t be against Wiley Drive SW being closed to cars to create a larger greenway, but as it is the greenway is great. The biggest issue is that there is a high risk of flooding for the low bridge near Smith Park. Long-term, that bridge should be raised to make flooding less likely and ensure that the RRG is usable more days of the year.

6. 13^th Street

Thirteenth Street, also known – for now- as Lee Highway for part of the contemplated DRUL is mostly fine as is. It has bike lanes on both sides of the street, they’re marked in a way that meets generally observed standards for bike lanes, they could be swept more, but mostly work fine for people who are comfortable bicycling. A few intersections have large exposed areas and are built for fast right hand turns, but nothing is a dealbreaker for an average bicyclist. The city could look at a protected cycletrack for this corridor, probably on the northwest side of the street to minimize problematic turns, and if the city did that it could be continued all the way to the Grandin commercial area to create a more comfortable experience for most bicyclists. I think that might be a good improvement, but it wouldn’t be easy and the street has recently been redesigned so it’s unlikely to be part of the initial DRUL.

7. Campbell and/or Patterson Ave until 5^th Street SW

The transition from 13^th Street to downtown is probably the second hardest part of making a safe, comfortable, and attractive DRUL. I see a handful of approaches that are worth considering, but all have some issues:

• Commit to Campbell Ave – take parking off of Campbell Ave and add bike lanes to both sides of the road. Parking can likely be preserved on one side after 6^th Street, but to do it right parking needs to be removed from at least one side of the road. Committing to Campbell Ave also means that bicyclists will be expected to take the left turn at 7^th Street, which is not great.
• Split bike lanes onto Campbell and Patterson – this probably still would take some parking, but by having west bound bike traffic on Patterson Ave SW the left turn at 7^th Street could be avoided and there would be more room for bike lanes. The parking on Campbell Ave between 13^th and 10^th could also likely be preserved. From 6^th Street on, the issues are the same as committing to Campbell Ave.
• Commit to Patterson Ave – this has the benefit of extending the DRUL through more of the West End and might work better with a cycletrack on 13^th If parking was removed from the north side of Patterson, there might be room for a cycletrack on Patterson from 13^th to 7^th. Things get much more complicated east of 7^th. If normal bike lanes were used on Patterson it would create a very weird bike lane through a large uncontrolled intersection (which based on personal experience does not feel safe). A cycletrack extending past 7^th would likely mean at least a partial redesign of the intersection to combine the left turn and through lane going east. Ending the cycletrack at 7^th could mean rerouting bicyclists onto 7^th and then onto Salem Ave SW or Norfolk Ave SW. That might be less intuitive, but also might put bicyclists on a lower traffic street if the city isn’t otherwise putting bike lanes downtown.

8. 5^th Street SW to Downtown

From 5^th Street to Downtown, it feels unlikely that the city will remove parking to stripe bike lanes on Campbell Ave. It also seems unlikely that the city will remove parking to stripe bike lanes on Salem Ave. The best candidates for bike lanes, or other bike facilities to go from 5^th Street SW to downtown (defined by me as the City Market) are Luck Ave SW or Norfolk Ave SW. Both are similar in that they are low-traffic, may be too narrow for full bike lanes or a cycletrack, and have sections that are currently one-way that would prevent their full utility as part of the DRUL. None of those issues are too concerning and could be fixed at relatively low cost with signage and painting advisory bike lanes or sharrows where widths are narrow.

Dale Avenue is a street that is recommended for bicycling by Google, but not on the Roanoke Bike Plan. What Google realizes is that Dale Avenue is a low traffic street with limited cross traffic that provides a good alternative to more trafficked or more difficult streets like Tazewell, Bullitt, and Jameson. With a few changes, Dale Avenue could be a great bike boulevard and a great connection to improved streets at 9^th and 13^th, creating a solid network for bicycling in southwest Roanoke.

Here are some changes that could make Dale Avenue a street where it is clear that bicycling is a priority and that this is a preferred route for bicycling in southwest Roanoke:

The Easy Changes – Switch stop signs on 7^th and 11^th streets

Currently there are stop signs at 7^th and 11^th street that stop traffic along Dale Avenue. To promote bicycle traffic flow, those stop signs could be switched so that they allow continuous travel on Dale Avenue. If there is a concern about speeding car traffic using Dale Avenue, then small traffic roundabouts could be added and with community art it could be a really cool project to bring attention to improvements in southwest Roanoke.

An Easy Connection – Make the Intersection of Dale and 9^th Street more people-oriented

Dale Avenue crosses 9^th Street north of Jamison where 9^th street is a four lane road with a wide median. There is not much traffic on 9^th street in this section and Dale Avenue would be improved as a bike boulevard if 9^th street was only two lanes at this point, with parking and bike lanes. Parking is already allowed and there is a church nearby so parking at times may be significant. By marking parking lanes, bike lanes, and crosswalks at Dale Avenue this intersection will be significantly calmer and a much stronger connection in the southwest Roanoke bike network. Marking crosswalks may also help bicyclists feel comfortable crossing halfway if needed. If the parking demand is not super high, or the city wishes to further improve bicycle and pedestrian safety, then it would be great to create bump-outs with concrete, paint, or bollards at this intersection. It would also be interesting to use bike racks to provide some protection for a painted bump-out.

A Bigger Ask – Make the Intersection of Dale and 13^th Street more people-oriented

A lot of what was just said about Dale Avenue and 9^th Street could be said about Dale Avenue and 13^th Street. 13^th Street is higher traffic than 9^th Street at its intersection with Dale Avenue. A great bike boulevard would require a median so that bicyclists can cross as few lanes as possible at a time. 13^th Street has a larger project, and this would be an ideal time to make improvements at this intersection as well.

Thinking Bigger About Connections – Connect to Greenways using Dale Avenue

Dale Avenue has the possibility of making some great connections, but all would require some additional work.

• Connect to Fallon Park and the Tinker Creek Greenway – Dale Avenue curves at 16^th Street and then the bike boulevard can continue along Stewart Street. This has the benefit of avoiding the worst of hills. Where Stewart Street dead-ends at Fallon Park and Fallon Park Elementary School it would be great to have a path separate from the sidewalk to connect to the Greenway system in Fallon Park. A much bigger ask would be a bridge over Tinker Creek to avoid the rough road at Wise Avenue on the way to downtown Vinton.
• Connect to the Mill Mountain Greenway – Tazewell Ave SE is four lanes for some reason from 4^th Street SE to Williamson Road. This section sees ~5,000 vehicles per day and does not need 4 lanes. If the southern lane was taken away and repurposed into a two-way protected bike lane from the Mill Mountain Greenway at Elmwood Park to 4^th Street then that would make a great connection and facilitate the use of Dale Avenue as a primary bike route, as well and provide a safe connection for people who use bikes to access the Rescue Mission. Repurposing that lane might take 8 parking spots, but there are many alternative places to park downtown. A two-way protected bike lane in front of the Roanoke Regional Partnership and Roanoke Outside would also be a great way to communicate that the city values biking.