LV withdraws proposal on bicycle lanes policy

Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2003 | 9:15 a.m.

Las Vegas has withdrawn a proposal that critics said would have made it easier for regional governments to ignore rules to put in new bicycle lanes.

The move is a victory for bicycle riders and the Regional Transportation Commission staff, which had recommended rejection of the proposal. The city's proposal would have allowed governments to apply for an administrative waiver to bypass the existing rule to install a bike lane when they do extensive road work.

That would have eliminated public comment when local public works departments wanted to avoid adding a bicycle lane. The comment is now required under RTC rules.

The city announced the move Monday in a meeting that included representatives from environmental groups, bicyclists, the RTC and city officials.

Jane Feldman, an activist with the local arm of the Sierra Club, said the decision is a good one for bicyclists and anyone who supports alternative, clean transportation.

"I think one reason we were successful is because we had more than one voice speaking," she said. "It doesn't mean that we are going to have bike lanes everywhere, but we are going to be able to talk about it because the public process has been preserved."

Las Vegas Public Works officials have said they never wanted people to have the impression that they were opposed to bicycle lanes, although the public process could be time-consuming. Last month city officials asked to hold discussion on the proposal to give stakeholders -- including the city, RTC and the bicycling community -- a chance to talk over the potentially contentious issue.

Charlie Kajkowski, Las Vegas city engineer, said the cities can continue to deal with the issue of installing bicycle lanes "on a case-by-case basis."

"We decided to leave things just the way they are," he said. "We'll deal with projects as they come along."

The issue comes up when crews are doing work on a road in which adding a bicycle lane would eliminate an existing travel lane for automobiles, or would require a potentially difficult and expensive expansion of the right-of-way. The existing policy requires the agencies to get a waiver, after a public meeting, if they want to avoid those alternatives.

RTC spokeswoman Ingrid Reisman said her agency is happy with the status quo.

"The RTC feels it was an appropriate action to pull the item," she said. "The bicycle community understands the issues, the city of Las Vegas understands the issues, and right now it doesn't seem the proposed change is necessary."

Bicyclist Michael Young, a researcher at the Desert Research Institute, said he feels the policy move is a win for the community.

"I think it's very helpful," said Young, who attended the Monday meeting. "I think it's very necessary to have public participation in these sort of issues."