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Over a decade after its release, the city of Syracuse has completed only 11% of its 2012 bicycle infrastructure plan, according to a recent report by Syracuse City Auditor Alexander Marion.

Marion presented the report outside of Syracuse University’s Martin J. Whitman School of Management Wednesday morning, standing next to a cycle track — a dual-lane bike path separate from the rest of the road that Marion called the “gold standard” for safety. The report included an analysis of the city’s bike infrastructure and proposed several changes.

The city auditor called on city officials to develop an updated bike plan based on his recommendations. He also called for an “overhaul” of existing traffic codes, which he said haven’t been updated since the 1960s and contain minimal mentions of bike commuters.

“One of my recommendations is that the city of Syracuse pass a new comprehensive bike plan that looks at the next generation of bike infrastructure,” Marion said. “This is needed to save lives and make our shared spaces safer.”

Marion also said the city hadn’t even started around 70% of the infrastructure projects proposed in the 2012 bike plan. According to the report, it was difficult to determine the status of how much work each proposal would need, whether that may be broader infrastructure changes or simply additional funds.

The 2012 bike plan established 80 recommendations for bike infrastructure to be installed throughout the city, aiming to create up to 83 miles of new paths specifically for bike riders.

Marion’s report builds upon these recommendations while including areas of weakness throughout the city that prevent bikers from riding freely. The report recommended an increase in painted bike lanes on all streets.

Additional recommendations included a change in traffic laws as the use of bikes, electric scooters and e-bikes increases. The changes would make blocking bicycle lanes a violation. Marion also said that the city should employ additional civilian enforcement to monitor these violations, per the recommendations in his previous report — “Sworn to Protect.”

Other notable mentions included an increase in bicycle thefts within Syracuse over the last year, with a 400% increase.

Other proposals included updating the Syracuse bike infrastructure — painting bike lanes green, adding designated areas for bikers to get ahead of traffic in popular areas and creating a plan to continue painting more bike spaces.

To maintain organization for bike infrastructure plans, recommendations included having contractors and capital planning clearly label future projects related to the bike plan.

Marion’s plans coincide with several other infrastructure improvement projects throughout the city, including Mayor Ben Walsh’s Community Grid Vision Plan and Syracuse’s Vision Zero Initiative.

News Editor Julia Boehning contributed reporting to this article.

Published on November 21, 2024 at 2:27 am

Contact Zaara: zamalik@syr.edu