The Case for Bike Lanes on

Fredericksburg Road
Initial Draft Presented on
5/13/2009 by Alanna Avant
 Why Dedicated Bike Lanes on
Fredericksburg Rd?
• Location, Location, Location.
• Bicyclists Want It.
• BRT Works with Bikes.
 Location, Location, Location
• Fredericksburg Rd provides a direct
link between neighborhoods and major
employment centers:
– Medical Center
– USAA
– Downtown
 USAA
• USAA is committed to
providing employees
commuting options that
go beyond personal
vehicles.
• USAA has an active group
Pictured: Clint
of bicycle commuters. Checketts' six-mile
bike commute to
• USAA is the only his job at USAA
employer in Texas Others USAA bike
awarded Bronze as a commuters you
may know: Justin
Bicycle Friendly Business Moore, Robert
by the League of Davidson

American Bicyclists.
 Location, Location, Location
• Fredericksburg Rd connects to present
and future green spaces and bike
paths:
– Leon Creek Greenway (nearby)
– Westside Creeks Restoration Project
(Martinez Creek)
– Old Spanish Trail
– Woodlawn Park (nearby)
Leon Creek Greenway
Martinez Creek
 Old Spanish Trail

Proposed by Charlotte Kahl (from Woodlawn Lake) to create an Old Spanish

Trail Auto Highway Bicycle Route: “This bicycle route would complete the
San Antonio link of the proposed 300-mile Old Spanish Trail Hike and Bike
Route from Florida to California… could be added to VIA BRT project on
Fredericksburg Rd”.
Learn more about the request by visiting this URL:
http://www.sanantonio.gov/2007bond/PDF/CBC%20Suggestion%20Report_Streets%20and%20Sidewalks_Dec%2014,%202006%20to%20Ja
n%2021,%202007.pdf
Martinez Creek
 Location, Location, Location
• Fredericksburg Rd is also a shopping
and restaurant corridor to inner city
communities:
– Deco District/Monticello Historic District
– Crossroads Mall/Balcones Heights
 Location, Location, Location
• There is no parallel bike route to take
besides Fredericksburg Rd.
 Bicyclists Want It
• Fredericksburg Rd is
already a surprisingly
popular route for
Pictured: Nicky Rouse
bicyclists, even negotiates traffic while riding
though it is currently on Fredericksburg Road.

bike-hostile.
 Bicyclists Want It
• Fredericksburg Road
was identified as a
“needed” addition to
the existing bicycle
network during the
October 2003 MPO
Plan Update involving
approximately 150
citizens and agency
staff.
 Bicyclists Want It
• Fredericksburg Road
is identified as a
bicycle corridor in the
Bicycle Master Plan
Corridor Map as
approved by San
Antonio City Council
and Bexar County
Commissioners
Court.
 Why Now?
• The plan to implement dedicated Bus
Rapid Transit lanes along
Fredericksburg Rd requires millions of
dollars in changes to the streetscape,
including road widening...
 Why Now?
• … yet there appears to be zero
considerations to accommodate
bicycles on Fredericksburg Rd.
Why Now?
• In fact, the single section of
Fredericksburg Rd that was once
considered to have a High
Usability for a Bike Route (Bike
Route Suitability Map First Edition
2003) will be significantly
degraded after BRT is
implemented.
• This is because what once made
this route highly usable was wide
street shoulder space that will be
removed to accommodate more
vehicles on the road.
But BRT Works with Bikes…
 BRT Works with Bikes
• And transit systems across the world
have accommodated them…
• VIDEOS:
• L.A.’s Orange Line: Bus Rapid Transit (plus bike path!)
– http://www.streetfilms.org/archives/las-orange-line-bus-rapid-transit-plus-bike-path/
– Start at 2:27 mins, Ends at 4:45 mins
• Curitiba’s BRT (A warning about not planning to include bikes with BRT)
– http://www.streetfilms.org/archives/curitibas-brt/
– Start at 5:18 mins, End at 7:02 mins
• AC Transit (Simulation of future BRT in Berkeley)
– http://www.actforme.org/about/future.php
– 1:04 of video features dedicated bus lanes, single lanes of car traffic, along with bike lanes in an urban context.
– This effort has a pedestrian and bike-friendly focus that lists “single through-lane calms traffic and reduces crossing distances and
‘multiple threat’ conditions.”
• Physically Separated Bike Lanes (World-Class Advice)
– http://www.streetfilms.org/archives/physically-separated-bike-lanes/?autostart=true
– Whole video is 8:30 mins