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Chapel Hill Bike Lanes: More Than Just Safety
A perspective from Eugenia Chow
If you have biked on Franklin Street in the past three months, you may have noticed a change in the space you have to commute. In response to the recent series of deadly traffic incidents in Chapel Hill, the NCDOT has approved the West Franklin Street Lane Reallocation project to implement designated bike lanes. However, while these bike lanes were designed to improve the safety of bicyclists and pedestrians, they simultaneously contribute to building a post-car future that helps remedy racial injustices embedded in the transportation system.
Spanning from Merritt Mill Road to Columbia Street on Franklin Street, this project started in May 2022 and serves as a low-cost method of repurposing vehicle lanes to encourage different forms of transportation. The preexisting infrastructure on Franklin Street contributed to 16 pedestrian-involved accidents in 2021, more than both 2019 and 2020 combined. This was a consequence of speeding, distracted driving, and not yielding to pedestrians—which becomes a matter of life and death in an environment where safety is not prioritized.
Not only does the implementation of these “curb-running” bike lanes protect cyclists and pedestrians from moving vehicles, but it also decreases on-street parking, which helps reduce the reliance on private automobiles. This removal eliminates the barrier of parked cars in running a bike lane conducive to more sustainable forms of transit. This new configuration is also much safer than the pre-COVID five-lane Franklin Street as it mitigates potential bike-vehicle collisions at driveways and intersections.
The comfort and safety of a bicycle network largely determine a cyclist’s decision to bike, and this reprioritization of transit makes biking a much more viable alternative. Inequities in access to transportation often reflect racial injustices—as access to legal documents, private vehicles, and the time and means of coordination inevitably connect to racial and class distinctions. Moreover, without robust infrastructure, the fear of public transit is often racially coded as routes that pass through poor, Black, or ethnic minority neighborhoods are perceived as “dangerous”. Mobility is a racialized experience; therefore, streets must not be viewed merely as physical spaces, but also as symbolic places, because providing safe places for cyclists to ride can be a liberating form of movement.
While the revitalization of the Franklin Street vehicle lanes can promote more equitable modes of transit, it is also important to consider how these modifications of the urban environment may affect the livability of the neighborhood. One common concern is the risk of designated “white lanes”, where more bike lanes lead to the gentrification of poorer neighborhoods. As a result, the transition towards safer mobility must also ally with affordable housing initiatives to safeguard against the displacement of lower-income populations.
As this project doubles as a pilot initiative to determine if the town should implement similar projects in the future, it is crucial to integrate the community into decision-making processes to ensure that this prioritization of safety does not compromise the living conditions of communities. Not only is it important to consider that urban mobility and racial justice are fundamentally interconnected, but only when a town puts people first will it be able to create an equitable environment that is safe, sustainable, and liveable for all.
“Viewpoints” on Chapelboro is a recurring series of community-submitted opinion columns. All thoughts, ideas, opinions and expressions in this series are those of the author, and do not reflect the work or reporting of 97.9 The Hill and Chapelboro.com.
