First look: Going Street bike boulevard gets two-way cycle track at 33rd

Riding north on Going Street on the new two-way cycle track.
– Video and slideshow below-
(Photos © J. Maus)

PBOT has installed a key piece of their marquee bike boulevard on N. Going Street. There’s now a two-way cycle track on NE 33rd Avenue where it crosses Going. This is an “off-set” intersection (Going doesn’t go straight through) and the cycle track is PBOT’s solution to make the crossing safer for bike traffic.

A sharrow marking directs you
onto the cycle track from Going.

The new crossing consists of two, six-foot wide bike lanes on the west side of 33rd. The lanes are separate from the sidewalk and are on a separate grade from the standard vehicle lanes. Bike traffic headed east on Going is directed to the left (north), up onto the cycle track via a sharrow marking, just before 33rd. (Motor vehicle traffic is not an issue here because there is no entry allowed from 33rd onto Going). There is a curb ramp that drops bike traffic back onto the roadway to continue east on Going.

I shot a short video to give you a bikes-eye view of how it works (sorry for the raindrops on the lens!):

When I first saw the plans for this, I was a bit skeptical on how it would work out; but after riding it I found it to be pretty intuitive. It feels a bit strange to ride north on the left side of the street with cars coming at you on your right, but it never felt dangerous. It’s also worth noting that this intersection is a good example of how “green street” treatments can integrate with bike boulevards. There are two bioswales included in the design.

Back in August, PBOT bike coordinator Roger Geller called Going the “best bike boulevard in the city.” In addition to this crossing treatment, PBOT has also flipped 19 stop signs and added 30 speed bumps to Going in an effort to make it a family friendly bikeway.

This is the first two-way cycle track PBOT has installed. They have plans to do a similar treatment on the N Concord bike boulevard where Concord crosses Lombard.

For a closer look at the Going St. bike boulevard project, see PBOT’s project page or read our in-depth report from last year. See more photos in the slideshow below: