As protected bike lanes arrive in New Orleans, cyclists happy, some other residents not so much

Two years ago, when Mayor LaToya Cantrell pledged to line dozens of miles of bicycle lanes in New Orleans with bollards and buffers, advocates called it a win for cycling safety. 

The promise to paint new lanes on previously unmarked streets was also praised as a way to ensure cyclists felt welcome in all city neighborhoods. 

But as City Hall begins to put its bike lane plans into action, some residents aren't happy. They say the bollards are an unsightly addition to their neighborhoods and that street congestion has worsened in spots where bikeways have replaced traffic lanes — and that the city didn't spread the word wide enough about the changes.

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"The bollards are eyesores, and the intersection configurations are confusing," said Denise Davila, a resident in Algiers, the first city area to be targeted under the administration's bike plan. "I just think they could have been constructed differently." 

All of it has become a lesson in how shifts in urban planning can easily rile communities used to the status quo. Amid opposition from some Algiers and Central Business District residents — which boiled over at a contentious neighborhood meeting in Algiers last week — City Hall officials conceded that they should have worked harder to inform the public. 

But the city maintains that it is trying to prevent the sorts of cycling accidents that have happened in the absence of protected lanes, bicycle boulevards and other bike-friendly infrastructure. 

"While we know that these changes can be disruptive in the short run, we are anticipating major benefits to people who live, work or visit the corridors in this network," said David Lee Simmons, a Cantrell spokesperson.

New Orleans' flat terrain and relatively small footprint have long made for ideal commutes for cyclists willing to bear the humidity, though its leaders have only recently begun to invest in biking infrastructure. 

The city went from having 12.5 miles of bikeways in 2005 to more than 117 miles of lanes in 2017, data from the Regional Planning Commission show. The more lanes laid down, the more residents have used them, according to a 2017 RPC report that showed that cycling has increased by 51% in 12 locations where lanes were newly installed. 

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Still, the city lacked ways to protect cyclists from oncoming vehicles. Street markings that indicate space for cyclists are often all that exist on many streets to separate cars from bikes, and there's little stopping a driver from veering into a bike lane. 

Such was the case on March 2, 2019, when a drunk driver smashed his car into two groups of cyclists riding down Esplanade Avenue after the Endymion parade, killing two bikers and injuring seven others.

Advocates cited the crash as proof of the need for more protective bollards that keep drivers out of bike lanes. And the Cantrell administration soon announced plans to install that protection in more neighborhoods. 

Officials held a series of public meetings beginning in spring 2019 to get the public's input, several of which were in Algiers, said Jen Ruley, mobility and safety program lead for the city's public works department.

"We were able to ask people, 'What are the types of bike facilities that you would feel comfortable with in that roadway?'' she said. "That went into creating the blueprint, and now, we're actively implementing the blueprint." 

That plan will put 75 more miles of bikeways in city neighborhoods over the next several years as money becomes available. Algiers, the Marigny and the French Quarter saw the first wave of those investments; construction will begin in the CBD, 7th Ward, Lower Garden District, Central City, Mid-City and St. Roch later this year. 

Bike safety advocates say the changes have already begun to make things safer for cyclists and drivers.

"I think there is more peace on the road when everyone has their piece of the road," said Dan Favre, the head of Bike Easy. "The new designs that are proliferating throughout the city are going to save lives and improve quality of life for people for years to come." 

Also pleased with the changes is the New Orleans Complete Streets Coalition, a group that encourages the creation of streets that lend space to cyclists, pedestrians and drivers.

"I have faith that with continued engagement we can all get to a place where everyone is at least satisfied with the direction that we are headed in," said Anne Springer Jayes, senior advocacy director for Lighthouse Louisiana, a member of the coalition.

But Davila and other residents say they were not informed of the changes and don't like what the moves have meant for their neighborhood. Davila started an online petition earlier this year to urge the city to stop its work in Algiers, arguing that the conversion of MacArthur Boulevard from a four lanes two has created heavy traffic delays. 

Some CBD and Warehouse District residents said they are also concerned about what's in store for their neighborhood. The city's proposal would create protected bikeways on several blocks of Baronne Street, O'Keefe Avenue, Julia Street, Howard Avenue and Roosevelt Way.

Under the changes that have sprung up in the Marigny, "a car that is crossing Elysian Fields on Burgundy has to go almost out in the middle of the street, past the bike path, and past the cars that are parked there, to see what's coming down the street," said Martha Owen, a longtime Julia Street resident. 

Installing something like that in the Warehouse District would create more problems than it would solve, she said. 

Roughly 300 people attended an Algiers Neighborhood Presidents Council meeting Tuesday, many shouting their displeasure at various points and talking over city presenters. 

"No one here is anti-bike," Davila said in an interview before the meeting. "But it's really about finding a better solution than what we have in place now." 

Simmons, the city spokesperson, said the city held almost two dozen meetings to inform the public about the bike plan. He acknowledged there was a lag of several months before the work started where more information could have gone out, but added that the threat of injuries remains a primary concern for city officials. 

"MacArthur Boulevard suffered 327 crashes between 2014 and 2018. That is the kind of danger we're most concerned about," Simmons said.

According to a factsheet the city distributed to residents, six of those crashes involved cyclists.