Center Street Cycle Track remains in limbo as ‘placemaking’ study begins

The Center Street Cycle Track project remains on hold as a “placemaking” study of downtown Reno gets underway and after a traffic engineering report concluded that building a bike lane on Virginia Street would result in frequent gridlock at the city’s core.

The Center Street route, the result of years of deliberation and planning, was put on hold last summer after downtown casino interests asked officials to reconsider the route’s effect on their properties on Virginia Street. Planners say the pause in the project is necessary to make sure all possible options for bicycle routes between the University of Nevada, Reno and Midtown are considered. They said the cycle track plan must be looked at within the larger context of the future of the downtown core.

Advocates of the Center Street bike track, which now is paused at 30% of its design phase, say the delay is unnecessary and unreasonable.

“By holding up Center Street, the City, Regional Transportation Commission and (downtown casinos) have delayed $13 million in downtown investment and denied Center Street businesses the benefit of that economic development,” said Kyril Plaskon, president of the Bicycle Alliance.

“There is no reason why RTC can’t build the bike path on Center Street while the placemaking study is underway. If the city and RTC had not delayed this project, it would be done right now. The original completion date was spring 2022. It shouldn’t be this hard to build a bike path and keep our students, tourists, families, and workers safe.”

Plaskon noted that a traffic study of Virginia Street, completed last fall, concluded that constructing bike lanes on Virginia Street through the city’s downtown core would result in “gridlock.” That study predicted that reducing the street to two lanes to make room for a cycle track would result in regular traffic tie-ups and delays even under existing traffic volumes and patterns.

The ‘placemaking’ study

Planners downplayed concerns that Reno’s placemaking study — which began this month and is expected to be complete by September — will create undue delays in the Center Street project. On the other hand, though, the results of the study also could lead to the reconsideration of Center Street as an option for a cycle track.

The $13 million project would create a protected cycle track along Center Street from the University of Nevada, Reno’s campus on Ninth Street straight to Midtown. The two-way cycle track would extend from Ninth to Moran streets. The project also includes improvements to pavements, sidewalks, traffic signals and handicapped access. A Powerpoint presentation on the Center Street project, including options for a Virginia Street bikeway, is available online.

Most of the city’s existing cycle routes are either bike lanes designated by painted white lines and signs alongside traffic lanes or areas like Midtown, where bicycles and vehicular traffic share the same narrow roadway. The “protected” track on Center Street would make use of rolled curbing and plastic “candlesticks” to create a buffer between the cycle and traffic lanes.

RTC director Bill Thomas said that it’s not unusual for the agency to pause a project during the design phase as more people become aware of the proposal. Usually, he noted, issues raised during the design phase of a project are relatively minor, such as the affect of a traffic signal or new intersection. But in the case of the Center Street project, “it’s important to look at what the future holds for downtown Reno. One has influence on the other.”

“We all want (a cycle track) yesterday, but sometimes we have to take it as it comes… I know people  want a cycle track so bad; we all do. But it’s very important we do it right.” – Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve.

A vision for the future

Jeff Limpert, revitalization manager for the City of Reno, said while the placemaking study is focused on Virginia Street, whatever is done on Virginia will have impacts on Sierra and Center streets as well. “With any designs there are going to be pros and cons. There are going to be impacts.”

Planning needs to look at a balance of competing interests, he said. “If we (put a bike lane on Virginia Street), it would also bring more activity to the street scene downtown. Would that outweigh the negative impacts of the traffic issues? …What would you want downtown to be? Would you want fewer cars, more people and more bicycles? Those are things to look at.”

The process: The Reno City Council last month approved an agreement with Gehl Studio to complete a Virginia Street Urban Placemaking Study in the amount of $150,000, a cost split by the city and the Regional Transportation Commission. The purpose of the study is to “conduct an analysis of the Virginia Street corridor and work with stakeholders to identify a unified vision, while addressing such elements as land use, economic development, urban form, accessibility, safety, and livability. The timeline for the study and more information can be viewed in the Reno city staff presentation.

The placemaking study is designed to explore people’s preferences for what they would like to see in downtown Reno and to help determine what features would encourage visitors and residents to frequent the downtown core. That study won’t be analyzing traffic patterns, as the Virginia Street report already has done. So Plaskon and other advocates of the Center Street plan are frustrated that the project remains on hold when the traffic study indicates Virginia Street isn’t a viable option for a protected bike lane.

Banning vehicles downtown

Thomas said the Virginia Street study is important because RTC wants to look at “at all the consequences and options.” The traffic study, he said, is “really good information to have, but it’s not conclusive.”

It’s unwise to build the cycle track on Center Street before city leaders agree on what the future of Virginia Street should be, he said. One possible outcome of the placemaking study may be to turn the downtown area into a pedestrian plaza.

“That wasn’t a scenario (under consideration) when the Center Street project was planned,” Thomas said. “We have to make sure we don’t make assumptions that fail. The Center Street project could be the same or done differently based on what will happen with Virginia Street. Our job is not just to do projects. Our job is to do projects that will benefit the transportation network. That’s why we always try to be deliberate as to the consequences of our projects.”

Balancing needs, consequences

The concept of turning downtown Virginia Street into a pedestrian plaza has been floated for decades, but it dovetails with a proposal recently floated by Jacobs Entertainment, which is developing several blocks along Fourth Street. In a recent interview, developer Jeff Jacobs said his intention for the “Neon Line” district is to create a new entry corridor into downtown. Instead of exiting Interstate 80 at Virginia Street, as is now the case, vehicles would exit I-80 at Keystone Avenue and then drive east on West Fourth Street, passing Jacob’s properties.

“People are very passionate about Center Street and believe that’s the plan that should move forward, but we feel our role is that we can’t pick one thing, we have to balance all the consequences of what we do and all the outcomes,” Thomas said.

Public support for bikeways

Plaskon said the delay in the Center Street project comes at time when bicycle ridership is increasing and public demand for safe bikeways is greater than ever. A recent survey of Washoe County bicycle riders, whose results are scheduled to be released later this month but are summarized in a sidebar story in the Reno News & Review, spotlights residents’ interest in safe, direct bike routes in the Truckee Meadows.

“The fact that 91% of (survey) respondents want to ride more frequently tells us that there is a huge missed opportunity for recreation in Reno. We know how to solve it. Eighty-five percent feel the roads aren’t safe enough. How do we make them safer? The answer is clear in question after question: protected bike lanes make people feel safe.” – Ky Plaskon, Truckee Meadows Bicycle Alliance.

Building a protected cycle track along Center Street and other major thoroughfares should be a priority, he said.

“No one wants to live in a city where tourists, students and families are terrified to be on bikes because they are forced into traffic or there is just a white line between them and almost certain death,” Plaskon said. “We know (a cycle track) will work on Center Street and won’t work on Virginia Street because of the traffic studies… The fact is that we should move forward with what we know will work and what will have a huge economic and safety benefit now, and that is Center Street.”