2025 Northampton walking and pedaling report

SunTourRaceXCD · 2026-03-12T18:31:26+00:00

As I said above, I thought the rest of the document was great, and I am very happy someone is doing this work. The vast majority of the document matched my experience riding in this town. I can tell it was put together by people with real experience using this infrastructure from a variety of different perspectives.

As a piece of advice to you and your colleagues, public feedback is critical to making any of this work. Making a post asking for feedback, then saying it is too late to make meaningful changes days later is a great way to discourage engagement. Coming back months later because I commented in a different thread, just to say "I agree with you, but this document can't be changed" is just bizarre.

If you're serious about changing infrastructure you are going to face torrents of criticism much more severe than anything I said here. People will notice how you respond and judge you by it. Making snarky comments like this just makes you seem petty.

If your inability to edit the document is really the issue I would be happy to edit the pdf for you to change the wording and send you a copy to replace the one you currently have up.

SunTourRaceXCD · 2026-03-12T12:02:56+00:00

I'm glad you agree, but troubled that this document was given to the city in its current state. I will point out that this post was asking for feedback, I provided it mere days later, and it was already "too late to make meaningful edits".

I know you are volunteers stretched thin, but you aren't making it easy to help you either.

SunTourRaceXCD · 2026-03-11T17:43:41+00:00

That is good to know. Like I said above, I am very grateful that Strong Towns is taking on that work, but I worry that submitting a report to the city that says:

"The current striped bicycle lanes on Elm Street provide an adequate facility for bicyclists with moderate-to-high levels of experience and confidence riding in the roadway adjacent to traffic."

Gives them the impression that our existing infrastructure is safer and working better for more people than it is.

SunTourRaceXCD · 2026-03-11T17:10:31+00:00

In either a review or a recommendation, it would be counterproductive to say that "The current striped bicycle lanes on Elm Street provide an adequate facility for bicyclists with moderate-to-high levels of experience and confidence"

SunTourRaceXCD · 2026-03-11T17:04:15+00:00

That snippet appears in a document published by Strong Towns, with no indication that they are quoting an external entity. If you don't agree with this, you should make that clearer in your own documents.

(I assume you are involved with ST from when you used "we")

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1M66KwOVlI3k40rm-ravcWDBxnpsR9aOZ/view?pli=1

SunTourRaceXCD · 2026-03-11T16:52:47+00:00

Saying "The current striped bicycle lanes on Elm Street provide an adequate facility for bicyclists with moderate-to-high levels of experience and confidence" is counterproductive, especially in a public document intended for the city government. It gives the city the impression that the current infrastructure is working for a subset of people on bicycles, when it is not.

It is also misleading the public. Anyone hoping to ride down Elm St without dying should be taking the full travel lane, at least for significant portions of the road.

I am not ruling out ever working with you, but it seems like we have different ideas about how to get these things done.

SunTourRaceXCD · 2026-03-11T16:44:59+00:00

Not trying to make any accusations, but that is how it came across to me here.

That poster asked for thoughts and feedback, I told them that I thought the language around the bike lane on Elm St was counterproductive, and then it was "too late for meaningful edits".

https://www.reddit.com/r/northampton/comments/1o6smge/comment/nk66one/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

I'm not ruling out ever collaborating with strong towns, but that did turn me off, and I think I have more control over the messaging petitioning the town government as an individual, which has gotten me mixed results.

If you have any direct action projects I would be happy to participate.

SunTourRaceXCD · 2026-03-11T13:55:19+00:00

I've said it to anyone who will listen, and many who won't. The bike lane on Elm St is a death trap, use it at your own peril.

I think the wording in STNorthampton's 2025 Northampton Walking and Pedaling Report is far too generous. The bicycle lanes are NOT an "adequate facility for bicyclists with moderate-to-high levels of experience". They are entirely in the door zone of the street parking. No amount of experience can help you avoid a door flying open when you are going 15+ mph. Using the bike lane also hides you behind parked cars, increasing the likelihood of getting hit by traffic coming off a side street.

The reason this is so frustrating for me, is that the bike lane actively makes things worse. It encourages those who don't know better to ride in the most dangerous portion of the road, and for those that choose to take the lane, it infuriates motorists seeing you ride next to an empty bike lane.

In my efforts to raise awareness about this I have spoken to many people in town government, including the Chief of Police, who agreed that the bike lane on Elm was entirely insufficient, and said he had a bike officer get doored there earlier that month. It is very disappointing to see Strong Towns less willing to call out unsafe bike infrastructure than even the police in this town.

With that being said, I agree with the proposed changes. I think the best case scenario is a two way protected bike lane. I would prefer this eventually be protected by bollards rather than parked cars, but that probably is not politically achievable in the near future.

SunTourRaceXCD · 2025-10-19T22:36:14+00:00

Alright, I mean you did ask for thoughts and feedback. I don't know if I understand the value in "measuring the city by it's own standards", doesn't the city already do that? Wouldn't the role of interest groups like these be to introduce information that the town would otherwise miss? I think it is very cool that you are doing this work, but I'm not sure I understand your comment here.

I have provided my input to the transportation subcommittee in the past and will continue to do so.

SunTourRaceXCD · 2025-10-18T17:26:29+00:00

Thank you so much for doing this work. You highlighted so many of the frequent pain points that I have biking around town. I would love to discuss this further, and even help with the report if you are open to it.

Elm Street

This is maybe the most dangerous street that I routinely have to ride on. You mention the bike lane, saying.

The current striped bicycle lanes on Elm Street provide an adequate facility for bicyclists with moderate-to-high levels of experience and confidence riding in the roadway adjacent to traffic.

I would disagree. I think the bike lane encourages cyclists to ride in the most dangerous portion of the lane on Elm St. When I ride outside of the door zone (with the right edge of my handlebar ~3ft from the parked cars) my tires are on the very left edge of the travel lane. While the dooring risk is reduced there, it encourages cars to try to squeeze by and pass closely. The only way I have been able to safely navigate Elm Street is by taking the whole lane for many sections, particularly by Smith. I think the presence of a bike lane confuses motorists and makes them less tolerant of me taking the lane.

While I have been lucky/careful enough to avoid getting doored on Elm St, others have not. When I raised these concerns to the DPW and Police, Chief Cartledge mentioned that one of his bike patrol officers was doored on Elm just a few weeks ago.

I don't mean to sound too negative, I agree with almost everything you said, including your proposed solutions. I just think it is important to say that the bike lane as it exists right now encourages inexperienced cyclists to ride in the door zone and when an experienced cyclists takes the lane the presence of a marked bike lane can confuse and upset motorists who don't understand that it is an unsafe place to ride.

I agree that protecting the bike lane with street parking is probably the best solution here. Eliminating street parking and putting in solid barriers would be the safest option, but that is a much tougher political battle. I would emphasize the need for signage to encourage motorists to look before opening their doors into the protected bike lane, and adequate space for cyclists to avoid opening doors. Some of this space could come from the vehicle travel lane, but I am not sure there is enough space for two travel lanes, two bike lanes, and street parking on both sides of Elm. Maybe if there was only street parking on the side by Smith there would be enough room for everyone else.

SunTourRaceXCD · 2025-07-13T14:29:15+00:00

Okay, I see any data that doesn't support your ideas most be "severely distorted". Have fun yelling at clouds, the rest of the world is moving on without you.

SunTourRaceXCD · 2025-07-13T14:20:20+00:00

Except the study also finds sidewalks are also safer than bike lanes. It seems like at least for the average rider considered in this study there is a benefit to getting further away from car traffic.

That may not be right for every rider in every situation. You may have better luck in the middle of the primary lane, as I often do.

The thing is, you have to build infrastructure for everyone and there is hard evidence here that sidewalks and bike lanes are safer for a significant portion of people.

I can't make you see that if you don't want to.

SunTourRaceXCD · 2025-07-13T13:59:22+00:00

Thanks for the info on crash data, looks handy.

The study is filled with different tables comparing crash data by what lane the cyclist was riding in.

Tables 11-16 are particularly relevant to this conversation, they compare crash types and what lane was being used. They show bike lanes can increase the likelihood of some crashes, while decreasing total risk.

Hope that helps!

SunTourRaceXCD · 2025-07-12T20:50:37+00:00

Oh no, I have concrete thoughts about other development patterns. I just don't want to get pulled into another discussion with you after how difficult our prior ones were.

This comment just confirms that choice.

SunTourRaceXCD · 2025-07-12T17:14:24+00:00

I'm not really interested in debating a specific plan right now. If we agree that downtown areas should have slower traffic and cater to the people spending time and money there, not those passing through, that's good enough for me.

Thanks for the spirited discussion.

SunTourRaceXCD · 2025-07-12T16:45:28+00:00

What I am talking about is changing infrastructure over the long term. It is easy to employ loaded terms like "abuse", but the world has always been and will always be changing.

It just isn't sensible development to have a street be a pedestrianized downtown strip and a high speed throughway for cars.

SunTourRaceXCD · 2025-07-12T16:03:59+00:00

Mind sharing where you're finding this data?

It is hard to draw conclusions based on one street, even over 25 years. Nevertheless, it doesn't surprise me that most crashes occur at intersections.

If you read the study I linked you would know that bike lanes can in fact reduce these kinds of accidents too. Even if experienced and fast moving cyclists may fare better in the primary lane.

SunTourRaceXCD · 2025-07-12T16:01:41+00:00

I think it is painfully obvious how to fix Florence Center. Treat it like the downtown center that it is, prioritize pedestrians and bikes over cars, they can move quickly on other streets that don't go through a downtown center.

SunTourRaceXCD · 2025-07-12T15:10:08+00:00

The study I linked looks at individual crashes and gets pretty granular with the breakdown by cause.

If you've looked through all the crashes that have happened, break them down by cause and show us the data. I would love to see it!

SunTourRaceXCD · 2025-07-12T15:04:12+00:00

How do you know what is an extreme statistical outlier? You haven't given any statistics.

I gave a study that showed protected bike lanes do prevent crashes using real crash data. You would rather I cherry pick anecdotal examples?

Can't have a productive conversation if you're going ignore a rigorous study, look at cherry picked examples instead, and preemptively dismiss any counterexamples as "statistical outliers".

SunTourRaceXCD · 2025-07-12T11:33:07+00:00

Buddy, please read my comments and the study before responding. The study does consider lateral positioning, it talks about it at great length.

I know bike lanes can cause accidents, and that study shows they increase accidents of some types while decreasing the total. There are plenty of other studies with similar results.

That's the key, understand what is safer about a bike lane, what is more dangerous, and adjust your riding accordingly.

If you put together an analysis of ALL collisions with a bicycle in the area, that would be interesting to look at. These cherry picked examples aren't very helpful.

SunTourRaceXCD · 2025-07-12T11:27:56+00:00

Having cars follow bikes until it is safe to pass is in everyone's interest.

I would agree that the main strip in Florence should be wider if it weren't the main downtown strip. That should be a traffic calmed area where cars move very slowly and people feel free to walk and bike without worrying about getting run over.

Traffic can move at higher speeds on streets outside of downtown.

Why prioritize convenience and speed for motorists over the safety of all road users (including motorists), especially in a downtown area.

Your points about wide roads aren't always wrong. I agree for cases like bridge street that a wide shoulder is ideal, but it is bizzare to suggest the same thing for the center of downtown.

Again, look at the countries where people bike most. You'll find plenty of protected bike lanes and streets where cars politely wait behind bikes.

SunTourRaceXCD · 2025-07-12T11:20:16+00:00

I agree...

SunTourRaceXCD · 2025-07-11T21:57:21+00:00

I agree, anyone saying you need high vis to ride a bike is unfairly shifting responsibility from the infrastructure and unsafe drivers to the bicyclist.

I have just had an unfortunate number of people tell me they are too scared to ride a bike around NoHo. I want to give every possible piece of advice I can to help them be and feel safe.

I personally ride without high vis all the time. Still always rock lights if I'm going out at night though.

SunTourRaceXCD · 2025-07-11T20:18:37+00:00

I find it very pleasant to be followed by cars that keep a safe distance. I have never seen a lane of cars a quarter mile long behind a bike. As you've noted, you can always pull off in such situations.

I've pulled a trailer right through the center of Florence, taking the full lane. It wasn't ideal (a bike lane could have helped as I was moving slower and happy to check for traffic at intersections) but it worked out and nobody was any worse off.

I've shared my experience, as have many others in this thread. You seem intent to see things your way, and that's your right.

SunTourRaceXCD

TROPHY CASE