Protected Bicycle Lanes at Risk on Madison Ave. – After a 10-year effort by citizen groups, the City of Albany is designing and constructing a “road diet” along Madison Ave. from S. Allen St. to Lark St. While the project reduces the number of motor vehicle travel lanes, while improving to some degree bicycle accommodations, it still maintains Madison Ave. as a car-priority street.
The City of Albany is holding a Public Meeting on Madison Ave. Traffic Calming and Protected Bicycle Lanes on Wednesday, March 9, 6:30-7:30 PM at the College of St. Rose, Lally School of Education, 1009 Madison Ave.
The City of Albany initially proposed three alternative treatments:
- Shared Motor Vehicle/Bicycle Lanes
- Shared Motor Vehicle Parking/Bicycle Lanes
- Conventional Bicycle Lanes
5-ft lane with buffer
Since no one of these, especially the first two “non-facilities,” were acceptable, the Protected Bicycle Lane Coalition formed to push for a 2-way Protected Bicycle Lane on the north side of Madison Ave. The city studied this proposal and added a fifth option, Buffered Bicycle Lanes. The Protected Bicycle Lane Coalition then offered a second Protected Bicycle Lane option, 1-way Protected Bicycle Lanes on each side of the street.
The City now has two alternatives under consideration. The purpose of the meeting is to review these concepts and trade-offs for the two feasible alternatives. The Allen St.-to-Lark St. project is to be done in three phases, Allen to Partridge Sts. being the first.
Meeting Details:
- Wednesday
- March 9, 2016
6:30 to 7:30 PM - Info/questions? Bill Trudeau Jr., Coordinator of Traffic Engineering, Albany Traffic Engineering Unit, 434-5791, MadisonAveStudy@albany-ny.org
- The College of Saint Rose – Lally School of Education, 1009 Madison Ave., Touhey Forum
- March 9, 2016
Albany Bicycle Coalition 