Assessing the Bicycle Lane Situation in Downtown Cedar Rapids

You may have read Chris Carson's blog a while back regarding the conversion of 3rd Avenue in downtown Cedar Rapids to accommodate the installation of bicycle lanes. The situation on that street seems like an obvious disaster to me, but I saw another less-than-logical location for a bike lane recently.

Looking out the KDAT studio window, I noticed a new bicycle lane had been installed between the Ground Transportation Center and the back of the Paramount Theatre. Now, the theatre does have a loading dock that's generally large enough for tour buses and vehicles of the artists and shows playing there, but you do occasionally see them parked alongside the very curb where the bike lane now sits.

Couple this with city buses pulling out of the GTC -- which, on the positive side is much safer now than before the redesign of that building when the buses backed out into the street -- but still a less-than-safe environment in my opinion for a bike lane. When a show happens to be in town this could be a complicated spot as well. Will the tour buses simply just have to make due with the loading dock? Will the bike lane be closed for shows, which occur pretty frequently? Seems like an odd placement.

Don't get me wrong, I applaud people for trying to go green and find ways to exercise, and the city for encouraging it. In time, hopefully the bicycle lane kinks will all get worked out. I would also guess we'll see fewer people bicycling altogether for a while as we head into a more cold (and snowy) season. Could this re-open the bike lanes for vehicle traffic and actual parking on the curb until spring? I think it should. For now, I'm skeptical and see too many problems with the current setup.