No bike lanes on Roper Mountain Road…apparently

I wrote a post in June about the possibility of bike lanes on Pelham and Roper Mountain as part of SCDOT resurfacing projects for sections of those two roads. Many of you responded in favor of bike lanes on those streets, and the support did not just come from individual citizens. Major local companies including Fluor, Hubbell Lighting, GE, and Greenville Hospital System sent the SCDOT letters of support for the inclusion of bike lanes in these projects. Ditto for local organizations like the Greenville Spinners, The Spinners Safety Foundation, GPATS, and LiveWell Greenville. 

In response to everyone who wrote a letter, Steve Gwinn in the Greenville SCDOT office responded:

“Thank you for your e-mail (or letter) concerning the striping of bike lanes on Pelham Road and Roper Mountain Road after the upcoming resurfacing project. We have met with the City of Greenville and reviewed the roadway geometry as it exists today to determine a possible solution that would accommodate bike lanes on both roads.

The exiting roadway width on Pelham Road is 61.5 feet of usable space. Our restriping typical required a minimum of 64 feet for exclusive bike lanes. We have existing 12 foot lanes with a 13.5 foot median. The proposed typical would have travel lanes and median less than 11 feet and 12 feet respectively. This is not meeting a minimum standard for an arterial with 22,400 vehicles per day. We are currently working on a restriping plan for Roper Mountain Road that will not only try to eliminate confusion with lane placement but also try to accommodate bike lanes.

We have been working diligently in trying to modify our existing facilities to accommodate bike lanes. We understand that the City of Greenville is submitting a design exception request with detailed information for Pelham Road for reconsideration. We will take this information into account for the restriping of Pelham Road. We will also determine what we can accommodate for Roper Mountain Road once resurfacing is complete.”

Based on that response, it sounded like they had issues to overcome with Pelham Road, but that a restiping plan for Roper Mountain was in the works. In addition to the design exception for Pelham, the City of Greenville had submitted to SCDOT a rough design for a layout of Roper Mountain that included bike lanes, so I was encouraged about the chances of seeing bike lanes in the final design.

From what I had heard, the resurfacing project on Roper Mountain was to be delayed a bit, so I was quite surprised to see the old asphalt being scraped away earlier this month. On August 9^th, I sent an email to Steve Gwinn in the Greenville SCDOT office to find out what was going on:

Dear Mr. Gwinn,

I want to follow up with you on the status of the Roper Mountain and Pelham resurfacing projects (http://bikegreenville.blogspot.com/2011/06/bike-lanes-on-pelham-and-roper-mountain.html). You mentioned in your response to the letter from the Greenville Spinners that there were some issues with existing widths on Pelham, but that SCDOT was working on a restriping plan to include bike lanes on Roper Mountain. Is that still the case? It appears that resurfacing is currently underway on Roper Mountain, so I hope that bike lanes will be included when the project is complete. I know that a design exception has been submitted for Pelham Road as well, so I would like to hear about the status of that project as well. 

As you know, there has been a lot of local support for bike lanes on both of these roads. Local companies and organizations including Fluor, GE, Hubbell Lighting, GE, Greenville Hospital System, Greenville Spinners, The Spinners Safety Foundation, GPATS, and LiveWell Greenville have all publicly expressed support for the addition of bike lanes to these roads. I know that it is not easy, and that there are some hurdles to overcome to make these roads into complete streets, but doing so would be a major step toward making the eastside of Greenville bicycle friendly.

Thanks for your attention…and best regards,

James Thomas

http://bikegreenville.blogspot.com

I didn’t receive a response, but a couple days later I followed up with this message (and I copied SCDOT’s Pedestrian and Bicycle Coordinator Tom Dodds):

Mr. Gwinn,

I just want to follow up on the email I sent you a couple days ago. It appears that the surfacing and striping is nearly complete on Roper Mountain Road, and bike lanes do not appear to be included in the project. Out of the two SCDOT resurfacing projects on the east side of Greenville (Roper Mountain and Pelham), it certainly sounded like Roper Mountain was the one that was more likely to include bike lanes.

Earlier, you said, "We are currently working on a restriping plan for Roper Mountain Road that will not only try to eliminate confusion with lane placement but also try to accommodate bike lanes. " Is that something that is still in the works? Also, can you provide an update on the design exception that was presented for Pelham Road.

Thanks and best regards,

James Thomas

http://bikegreenville.blogspot.com

It’s been over a week and I still haven’t received a response to either email. I’m still hoping to get answers, so I sent this message today to the main SCDOT office in Columbia:

I have sent a couple emails to Steve Gwinn about the Roper Mountain Rd resurfacing that recently completed here in Greenville. Many local companies and organizations, including Fluor, GE, Hubbell Lighting, GE, Greenville Hospital System, Greenville Spinners, The Spinners Safety Foundation, GPATS, and LiveWell Greenville, wrote letters of support for including bike lanes as part of the project (along with another scheduled resurfacing project on Pelham Road). In his response to everyone who wrote a letter, Mr. Gwinn said:


"We are currently working on a restriping plan for Roper Mountain Road that will not only try to eliminate confusion with lane placement but also try to accommodate bike lanes."


Unfortunately, the resurfacing occurred with what appears to be no changes to the striping at all. Can someone please let me know why a request with so much community support was completely ignored? Mr. Gwinn has not responded in the past week, but maybe someone else can...Deputy Secretary for Engineering John Walsh perhaps?


The companies and individuals who supported bike lanes on Roper Mountain would like to know what happened. SCDOT pointed out that bike lanes on Pelham Road might be difficult, but it seemed like Roper Mountain was feasible and that the SCDOT engineering department was working on it. When did that change and why? I am looking forward to hearing your reply so I can share it with others.


Thanks for your time and best regards,


James Thomas

I’m a little frustrated now, but when I do get a response with some answers from someone at SCDOT, I will share it here. The resurfacing on Pelham is still on the horizon, so it is important to continue letting SCDOT know that we want to see bike lanes as part of these projects. Set-backs are discouraging, but safer streets  for all users are worth fighting for. I encourage you all to keep it up.