Plans To Improve Bicycle Pathways

Some Texas Tech University students are waiting for campus improvements to bicycle paths, citing safety hazards to both drivers and bicyclists as a main concern this fall.

Michael Montalvo, an advertising major from Plano, Texas, often used his bicycle on campus before it was stolen and said there is a definite need for better bicycle paths throughout Texas Tech.

“It’d be a lot better if they (bicyclists) were a lot more careful also,” Montalvo said. “I’ve seen them get pulled over by cops and everything because they’re cutting around streets. It’s just been a problem.”

Craig Cotton, Texas Tech’s transportation demand manager, said Texas Tech does not have bicycle pathways that are made specifically for bicycles, skateboards, roller blades, or any other form of transportation without a motor.

Trevon Dulworth, a business management major from Dallas, said he feels uncomfortable driving throughout Texas Tech due to the number of bicyclists.

“I used to drop my girlfriend off on campus all the time to go to class,” Dulworth said. “I won’t do it anymore. The closest I’ll get to driving on campus, especially around lunch, is up the parking booths. I drive about five miles per hour on campus because I’m so worried about hitting someone.”

Cotton said Texas Tech is aware of the problem many bicyclists face and is making it a priority to improve and construct pathways wide enough for bicyclists, pedestrians and skate boarders.

A recent visit to the bicycle-friendly University of Arizona provided many ideas for improving Texas Tech’s bicycle pathways, Cotton said, nothing that Arizona is 19 years ahead of Texas Tech in terms of its bicycle lanes.

Cotton said one plan to improve Texas Tech’s bicycle safety has already been discussed and includes improving bicycle parking, while dividing the campus into 18 academic zones specifically for designed for bicyclists.

After this initial phase, Cotton said, Texas Tech plans to conduct a “bicycle-rack utilization” study to find out how many racks are around each academic zone and how many spaces are available within each bicycle rack.

While Texas Tech plans to improve bicycle paths, Cotton said the Texas Tech Transportation Demand Department doesn’t know the exact cost of construction at this time.

“Once we decide on a pathway design and dimensions and how wide it needs to be, how it needs to be striped, how it needs to be signed and all that, then we can move onto prioritizing where on campus needs a bicycle pathway first,” he said. “As far as money goes, we don’t have the money to do all the bicycle pathways we want.”