2nd Avenue is about to become a two-way street in Midtown, ending its reign as the neighborhood's most illogical thoroughfare. The street is practically wide enough to land a jumbo jet, so carving up this turkey will provide cyclists and drivers with large portions of road. According to Midtown Detroit Inc , 2nd Avenue will be a two-way street with a center turning lane. Motorized traffic will be flanked on either side by bike lanes, which will be insulated from traffic by buffer zones. Last but certainly not least, get ready for parallel parking. The conversion will take this weekend, with the first day of two-way traffic planned for Monday.
ModeShift laid out the specific measurements last fall. Keep in mind, this is a typical cross section; the actual measurement will vary slightly depending on the intersection:
The [bike] lanes will run a mile along both sides of the street with a diagonally striped buffer between the parking lane and travel lanes. The typical cross section will feature an 8-foot parking area, 5-foot bike lane, 3.5-foot buffer and 11-foot drive lane on each side of an 11-foot center turn lane.
Street Deets:
· The switch covers the area between Temple and Warren. The one-way will remain in place south of Temple.
· Midtown Detroit, Inc is behind the campaign to eliminate the neighborhood's one-ways. They helped facilitate a similar conversion on 3rd Street a few years ago.
· These might be Detroit's first buffered bike lanes.
· The owner of Mario's Restaurant opposed the conversion to a two-way, claiming two-way traffic is less safe. In reality, the conversion will hurt Marios' valet parking business, which depends on angled spaces.
· 90% of 2nd Avenue's property owners had to sign off on the switch.
· There's no parking allowed in the affected area of 2nd Avenue from Friday to Sunday.
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