Bagby bike lanes part of growing cycle grid - Houston Chronicle

The street grid of downtown Houston can be a gauntlet for bicyclists, many say. Drivers vie for every speck of open space at some intersections, which can make passing or even standing still sketchy.

It is why for years, cyclists have asked for some room of their own — something a slew of projects is about to provide, with the new work to redesign Bagby acting as a spine for a growing bike system across the central business district.

Work started Saturday on the project to remake Bagby from Franklin to Clay, including a long bikeway separated from traffic.

GATEWAY GETTING A MAKEOVER: New year, new look for Bagby with bike lane, wider sidewalks

Bagby joins other recent developments devoting more room to cyclists. A green-painted lane on Gray from the Columbia Tap Trail in EaDo to Bagby is mostly completed. Crews will spend the next 10 weeks or so putting the last touches on the bikeway, including the installation of traffic signals similar to those along the bikeway on Lamar that give riders and pedestrians a slight head-start to avoid vehicle turns in front of them.

“The West Gray two-way bike lane is fantastic,” said Clark Martinson, executive director of BikeHouston.

Riders are not resting on what’s in motion, however. Martinson said Bagby can only be a backbone by providing key connections, some of which remain merely plans. He noted the city’s bike plan, approved in 2017, includes bikeways along Dallas, from Bagby west to Shepherd, opening more neighborhoods south of Allen Parkway to riders along routes parallel to Buffalo Bayou.

Criss-crossing those routes with others, such as a planned bike lane along Montrose between Dallas and Allen Parkway, will make them much more navigable.

On the east side of downtown, meanwhile, the office of Harris County Precinct 1 Commissioner Rodney Ellis and the city are working on bike lanes along Austin Street, part of a major push for green-striped lanes in Ellis’ district. Paired with Bagby, it will allow cyclists to ride into downtown from either side.

“When Ellis finishes the Austin Street bike lane between Buffalo Bayou to the north and Herman Park to the south, we’ll have a bit of a grid going,” cycling advocate Michael Skelly said.

dug.begley@chron.com

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Bagby bike lanes part of growing cycle grid - Houston Chronicle
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