MHK Bike News is no longer active. Articles are active still as a means to archive articles about bicycling in Manhattan, KS.

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

August 6, 2013 - Manhattan Infrastructure Improvements

Today if you were outside at all and near the Aggieville area you might have noticed something new on the streets. The Manhattan Traffic crew were hard at work today painting bike sharrows. These sharrows are part of the bicycle boulevards that are going in for this year. The new bicycle boulevards are on Laramie Street and Humbolt Street. Moro Street bicycle boulevard is going to extend into the Aggieville area.

Taken from the Bike Manhattan Facebook Page

Another part of the improvements happening in Manhattan today are the bike lanes being marked on 11th Street. Currently this bike lane will be between Poyntz Avenue and Anderson Avenue.

Yellow - Old Bike Boulevard; Blue - New Bike Boulevards; Purple - New Bike Lanes

These improvements are part of a strategic five-year plan that the City of Manhattan has produced for bicycles. The city is into the second year of this five-year plan and soon will complete the 2013 improvements. To see more of what the city is plan click on the 5-Year Strategic Plan.

Also a reminder, a new north bound bike lane is in the works on N Manhattan Avenue between Anderson Avenue and Moro Street. This is part of the intersection improvements currently happening on Bluemont Avenue between North Manhattan Avenue and 11th Street. As of now this project will not be completed until October of 2013.

Update: August 7, 9:00am - Big Poppi just posted pictures of the new improvements in Aggieville. Click Album to see more photos of the New bicycle boulevards going on Facebook.



What are these things mentioned above?

A bike sharrow is a pavement marking placed on the road to indicate where a cyclist should ride. Another intention of a bike sharrow is to alert drivers that the road is to be shared with cyclists. Below is a video from Ontario, Canada explaining a bike sharrow.


Bicycle boulevards are light traffic areas intended to provide a safe route for cyclists. These routes are designed to give cyclists the priority on the road. A common format for a bike boulevard is to lower the speed limit for motorists, add bike sharrows, and provide a near continuous path without many stop signs. Provided below is an explanation from the city of Portland and their bicycle boulevards.


If you have any suggestions please let us know. You can contact us through Facebook, Twitter, and email.