Dallas residents can weigh in on city’s new plan to improve biking infrastructure

From KERA News:

Fernando Trueba’s preferred method of transportation — after he sold his car last year — is riding his bike around Dallas.

“I try and bike every single place I go to,” he said.

Trueba is a member of the Dallas Bicycle Coalition, a group that advocates for a better bike network in the city.

“I really wanted to put my name behind an organization, group of people that believe in not just … giving people better bike lanes, better bike infrastructure, but also giving people a freedom of mobility,” he said.

The coalition is part of a thriving community of bike enthusiasts who meet regularly in group rides for all levels – beginners, people more into fitness, men and women, young and old. On a recent Saturday morning, they’re meeting outside a local café in the Design District.

“The community is really strong,” said Rebekah Kornblum, president of the coalition. “I’ve lived other places, and it is unique here.”

But biking in Dallas isn’t for the faint of heart – there are few protected lanes, and not much connectivity. Many trails drop cyclists onto three- or four-lane roads.

“That’s scary. That’s really scary,” Kornblum said. “It takes a very confident cyclist.”

She said being part of the cycling community helped her learn the safest routes, what streets to avoid and being safe around cars.

Right now the coalition is working with planners at the city of Dallas on its latest bike network plan. Recently, city staff reported Dallas is behind in bike path miles compared to other Texas cities like Houston and Austin.

Kathryn Rush, chief planner for Dallas’ transportation department, said that’s because the city hasn’t updated its comprehensive plan in almost 15 years.

“We are doing a lot and I think at a similar pace to other cities, but we just started off late,” Rush said.

The city’s vision is for Dallas residents to have access to bike paths that connect people to where they want — and need — to go.

“We envision more people traveling by bicycle or other micro mobility devices, particularly for short trips,” Rush said. “So those that are really that can be done within 15 minutes by bicycle.”

Right now Dallas only has a little over 200 miles of designated bike paths – Austin has more than 400 miles.

“The city of Austin has really been on a really interesting sort of … decade of work to build out its bike network and really that that network is serving much, much more than people on bikes,” said Laura Dierenfield, a planner for Austin’s bike network.

She said the path to success began in 2014, when the city shifted its thinking on mobility in the city.

“Not so much what the city can do for bicycling, but what can bicycling do for the city?” Dierenfield said. “What can bicycling do to help manage congestion? By shifting some short trips that really make sense by bike, that might be time competitive by bike.”

That shift turned into action when the city built out bike paths that people actually want to ride on. A survey found that more than half of Austin residents are at least interested in riding a bike in the city.

Rebekah Kornblum with the Dallas Bicycle Coalition said she wants to see the same here – but the city has its work cut out for it.

“Truly, there is so much opportunity for more people to ride if they felt safe, if we increased safe cycling routes across Dallas,” she said.

The current draft of the plan calls for 231 new bike path miles in the next two decades, but Kornblum and other advocates are urging the city to speed it up.

The city is asking for public input on the draft plan before it adopts a final version in May — and Kornblum said even if you don’t ride a bike, a better bike plan will benefit anyone who gets around the city.

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