By Josh Kelety | Phoenix New Times
A city of Phoenix plan to add bike lanes along a stretch of North Central Avenue is meeting fierce opposition from neighborhood residents.
Transportation officials want to revamp the four-lane North Central Avenue between Bethany Home Road and the Arizona Canal into a three-lane road complete with bike lanes and a center turn lane. The bike lanes would be “buffered,” meaning that while there wouldn’t be a physical barrier protecting cyclists from vehicle traffic, a section of pavement several feet across would be marked to provide a clear visual divider between the bike and car lanes.
But at a virtual community meeting last week put on by city officials to gather feedback about the project, neighborhood residents slammed the project as unnecessary and ineffective. Some even claimed that it would be dangerous for kids in the neighborhood.
