Pedaling City Sidewalks

At the downtown farmer’s market on a Saturday morning. by half_full

When I first moved to here in the mid-1990s, I was told in no uncertain terms not to jaywalk in downtown Lawrence. I was sure to get a ticket, my friends told me. Everyone knew someone … who knew someone else who had gotten such a jaywalking ticket.

It’s been years since I’ve heard a story like that, but a quick search of the LJWorld.com web site netted me this story from May, 1994: “Downtown Foot Patrols Building Better Rapport“. Back then, apparently, the Lawrence Police Department had a campaign to “educat[e] the public about the importance of obeying laws, to keep downtown a safe place to visit.” The campaign worked, and even after patrollers quit regularly writing jaywalking tickets, locals were telling newbies like me: don’t jaywalk. It’s not allowed, and you might get a ticket.

If you are a new bicyclist in Lawrence, you might hear a similar warning: don’t bike on the sidewalks! It’s illegal.

But that actually isn’t exactly true. The city code prohibits bicycling on sidewalks in the Downtown Commercial District (basically Massachusetts Street between 11th and 6th). Those are the only sidewalks that are off limits. The rest: yes, you can bike on them (unless there’s a sign posted stating otherwise).

In fact, in places with designated bike and walking paths – such as Clinton Parkway – it’s illegal for bikes to ride on the adjacent road.

All these rules are actually available on the City’s web site, in Chapter 17 (PDF) of the City Code.

There are certainly places in Lawrence where bicycling is only possible if one is willing to ride on sidewalks. As a bicyclist on the sidewalk, it’s important to be aware of the traffic on the street and in adjacent driveways and parking lots. And, of course, yield to pedestrians.

Another option to consider, in addition to sidewalks, is use parallel roads to the major routes that cars take. For example, 23rd Street between Iowa and Louisiana is definitely not a bicycle-appropriate road, and it also lacks consistent sidewalks. At the same time, riding on those sidewalks means dodging lots of turning cars turning in and out of parking lots. By contrast, just two blocks north is 21st street, a wide road designated as a bike route. If you’re heading east or west in that area, it’s a much safer option.

In fact, the city recently published a Bicycle Rideability Map to help people find those bike routes they may not even know about. It’s available in print at City Hall, and also online.

21st street is just one of many examples of alternate routes bicycles can consider. If you bike in Lawrence, what streets do you ride on to avoid traffic? When you were a newbie bicyclist in town, what “truth” about bicycling in Lawrence do you wish you had known about?