Advocacy group calling for bike lane on King Street

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) – 1 Lowcountry advocacy team is calling to increase a bicycle lane to King Avenue in downtown Charleston soon after the road was ranked within just the state’s top 10 most unsafe roadways for vulnerable buyers like bicyclists and pedestrians.

Charleston Moves, a Lowcountry nonprofit, is encouraging bikers and other community customers to indicator a petition to insert a buffered bicycle lane alongside King Avenue.

Katie Zimmerman, the Government Director of Charleston Moves, said individuals typically check with them why King avenue just cannot be safer for pedestrians.

Zimmerman stated, based on crash information, the existing highway format is not secure for motorists possibly. In accordance to that knowledge from SCDOT’s road security audit, the vast majority of crashes alongside King Road are sideswipes.

To boost road protection, Zimmerman explained Charleston moves would like to see a buffered bike lane, bike-friendly grates, a resurfaced highway and lots of home for bikers and pedestrians at intersections

And, now is extra vital than at any time for these enhancements. The Lowcountry Quick Transit process will be operating down Conference Avenue and Calhoun Avenue, which Zimmerman expects to trigger a lot more and extra bicyclists to start relying on King Street.

“I assume the more guarded bicycle lanes we can have, where by it will make perception, the place the street can healthy it, the place it tends to make sense for website traffic styles and is contextually proper, I consider that is a definitely great factor and it is likely to help individuals, not just in the immediate phrase but in the extended time period. We really have to have to be offering this room for folks to be risk-free,” Zimmerman said.

SCDOT held a community conference in August where by they offered proposed notion safety designs for King Avenue. You can obtain the general public meeting supplies below.

For more data about SCDOT’s road safety audit and proposed security enhancements, simply click in this article.

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