Bikers: Don’t forget about us in road construction

CEDAR RAPIDS — Paul Fiegen remembers construction on 42nd Street snarling bike traffic for months last summer, where the Cedar River Trail crosses.

A detour for cyclists was provided, but it was impractical, far out of the way, and few used it, said Fiegen, president of the Linn County Trails Association. City officials said they faced a number of questions.

'The 42nd Street intersection was a mess all summer long,' Fiegen said. 'The proposed detour route seemed a little ridiculous.'

Cities are putting more emphasis on increasing mobility through additional recreational trails and bike lanes. But some say bike and pedestrian access is a low priority when it comes to traffic disruptions.

Fiegen has a message for planners as the busy road construction season approaches: Don't forget about us.

'Don't forget about cyclists and communications,' Fiegen said. 'There's nothing worse than heading down a trail and having to turn around.'

A similar situation occurred in Johnson County last summer.

Cyclists and others protested ripping up a segment of the commuter trail between North Liberty and Iowa City along Dubuque Street for the construction of Liberty High School. Frustrations grew when the closure time doubled, from three months to six.

Not only did trail users speak up, the Johnson County Board of Supervisors formally asked the school district to accommodate cyclists — which wasn't in original construction plans — and condense the closure timeline.

'What surprised us is how many people used the trails, and a lot of people during construction used Dubuque Road instead of the detour,' said Duane Van Hemert, physical plant director of Iowa City Schools. 'I am never surprised by public reaction to an improvement. Somebody is going to be inconvenienced, but the inconvenience is worth it when it's all done.'

Back in Cedar Rapids, John Witt, the city's assistant traffic engineering manager, said as the city's trail and bike lane network grows, road construction naturally causes more disruptions. Cedar Rapids has added more than 50 miles of bike trail and lanes since 2009, and another 7.5 miles are planned for 2016.

Planners strive to accommodate all transportation modes during construction, but cyclists should know by law they have the right to share the roadway, which they could do if a suitable detour doesn't exist, Witt said.

This year, a sewer project along the Fourth Street bike corridor has interrupted downtown trail traffic and has forced cyclists onto the street. Work on Third Avenue has squeezed vehicle traffic into bike lanes.

Disruptions 'have become more prevalent within the last five years because we are putting in more bike lanes around the city,' Witt said. 'We are doing projects that are impacting more bike lanes and trails, so we do need to think hard about cyclists when we are having traffic impacts.'

The trail issues overall should be less noticeable than last year, Witt said.

Witt said planners are particularly sensitive to finding detours and increasing communication when road projects affect the popular Cedar River Trail. In March, crews finished up a C Street sewer project near Tait Cummins Park that closed a segment of the Cedar River Trail for three months.

Fiegen with the trails association said the disruption due to the C Street work worked as well as could be expected because it was well marked and the city updated the public as to when the passage would be reopened.

'It helps when you have good communication flow with the entity (of) ...

the project, whether it's a Cedar Rapids project or county. But when no information is flowing at all, people get more frustrated,' Fiegen said.

Social media, he added, has helped with the spread of information.

The Linn County Trails Association posts trail closures with time, location and reason for closure on its website, at linncountytrails.org/maps/trail-status.

Mark Wyatt, executive director of the Iowa Bicycle Coalition, agreed cyclists as well as pedestrians can't be an afterthought. Instead, they should be part of the equation during road work planning, he said.

During construction, all modes need a safe and convenient detour, signs should warn of trail closures and, if a detour can't be arranged, posted speeds should be lowered to enable motorists, cyclists and pedestrians to share the road safely, Wyatt said.

Wyatt said in the North Liberty case last year, it wasn't until weeks into construction signs were placed far enough in advance so people could find an alternate route. Rather than backtrack several miles, many just veered onto the road.

'What we don't want is bicyclists making unsafe decisions,' Wyatt said. 'We don't want to see cyclists and pedestrians start to make their own rules.'