N Texas Blvd, included in Denton’s Bike Plan, to Undergo Reconstruction
Facing south on N Texas Blvd near Stella St.
N Texas Blvd, a bicycle route on Denton’s Bike Plan, is being reconstructed this year. Denton City Council will be voting today on the construction contract for this project.
To save on costs, the city has generally waited until a road is being resurfaced or restriped before installing the bicycle infrastructure planned for that segment.
Initial engineering designs of the project for N Texas Blvd did not appear to include plans to implement any bicycle infrastructure as part of this project.
The 2012 Bike Plan designates N Texas Blvd to have “wide outside lanes” as its bicycle accommodation. A wide outside lane is a normal travel lane that is at least 14 feet wide so that a driver could theoretically pass a bicyclist within the same lane.
Current conditions of N Texas Blvd
Given that the vast majority of people do not feel comfortable riding in the same travel lane as motor vehicles, the current draft update of the bike plan designates bike lanes for N Texas Blvd.
Dotted blue line indicating where bike lanes are planned for N Texas Blvd.
A segment of buffered bike lanes is already installed on N Texas Blvd between W Oak St and W Hickory St, though riders will often encounter these unprotected lanes blocked by parked cars.
Bicycling can only be a feasible transportation option if a safe, connected, and convenient bicycle network is provided. N Texas Blvd is a key connection between existing bike lanes on W Oak St, W Hickory St, Eagle Drive, and the UNT pedestrian bridge, the safest crossing of I-35. The future multi-use path along Bonnie Brae is likely to attract additional bicycle traffic to the UNT pedestrian bridge. Riders will then need to navigate along N Texas Blvd to continue to their destination.
Providing safe connection between these routes makes bicycling easier and more feasible for more people. Conversely, failing to provide safe connection makes bicycling more difficult and less feasible for would-be riders.
This project may be lightly discussed during today’s Denton City Council meeting. However, the agenda item is focused on who will be awarded the construction contract, not how the road will be designed.
Watch livestream of City Council meeting starting at 2 PM: https://dentontx.new.swagit.com/events/9152
Item is 2(A), Page 8, on the June 8, 2021 meeting agenda.
