The City of Bellingham will use successes and shortcomings gathered from the Holly Street bike lane pilot program to develop interim improvements to bike lanes.
“This pilot project was a vessel for us to take on what was a very, very complex project and turn it into something that we can use to build something more substantial in a smarter way and use what is going to be a significant investment in public funds wisely,” Shane Sullivan, city transportation engineer, said.
The city has received four proposals for a more permanent design that will be ranked with consultants interviewed to select one, Sullivan said.
The Holly Street Bike Lane Project was completed in May 2024 as part of the 2024 Bicycle Lane Master Plan that has cited Holly Street as an important connection for the biking network in Bellingham, Sullivan said.
“All of that was seen as such a complex section that needed further study for many years,” Sullivan said.
The project implemented buffered and parking-protected bike lanes, as well as signal timing adjustments as low-cost features with minimal disruptions to automobile and pedestrian traffic.
A study from Bellingham Public Works reported a 33% increase in bike ridership from August through October despite weather changes.
“By simply providing a dedicated facility, a bike lane, we were able to get more folks who were less confident to use Holly Street as a bike corridor,” Sullivan said.
Visibility issues in driveways, alleyways and intersections caused by parked cars were cited as an area where major improvement was needed, said Sonja Max, a Bellingham Walk and Roll board member.
Bellingham Walk and Roll is a non-profit organization that advocates for safer communities by expanding and improving transportation infrastructure for bikers and pedestrians.
“One of the ways to fix that is to pull back the parking spots and make the no parking zone in front of the intersection or the driveway longer,” Max said.
Visibility issues also contributed to an increase in “right-hook conflicts” where a motorist turning right at intersections cuts into a cyclist’s path, Sullivan said.
“The right hooks didn't exist before the project,” Sullivan said.
Although the frequency of right-hook conflicts increased, the severity of conflicts remained low.
“We know that this is a safety concern that we have the opportunity to improve a little bit,” Sullivan said.
According to Max, greater physical protection makes bikers 60% more likely to feel comfortable by bike than those who merely have paint between them and a motorist.
Professor Ryan Avery, deputy director of Washington State Transportation Center at the University of Washington, noted the importance of providing infrastructure for more casual riders in addition to skilled riders already comfortable riding next to traffic.
“A lot of people are not going to be convinced to ride bikes regularly if you only provide infrastructure that works for those people,” Avery said.
Bellingham Walk and Roll has discussed creating more continuity across bike lanes. This could look like closing gaps in places like intersections where bike lanes end and cyclists are forced to merge with traffic.
“They feel uncomfortable doing that. And so by eliminating those gaps in those cycle routes, we think more people would feel comfortable riding,” said Max.
DuPree Nugent (he/him) is a City News reporter this winter. He is a second-year student studying news/editorial journalism and creative writing. In his free time he enjoys long-distance running, listening to music, and reading and writing short stories. He can be reached at dupreenugent.thefront@gmail.com
