A new interactive map that overlays existing Google Maps has been published on the web, showing the future of Raleigh’s bike system. In our case, the future seems far away. The site takes the existing Google bike layer, which includes other Triangle spots like Durham and Cary, and lets the user add different layers of Raleigh’s bike plan.
Don’t take my word for it. Go see for yourself and check out the different layers and future bike plans at raleighpedbikemap.com. Creator Steven Waters of livingstreets.com is an advocate for this type of stuff. I think it’s an easy way for people to see the bike and pedestrian plan come to life.
After playing around with the map, the immediate future for the Lineberry area, South West Raleigh, and South East Raleigh does not look good. In the top 25 layer, only one major connection is being made along the Avent Ferry Road corridor.
In my opinion, it would also be nice to see the plans for NC State’s Centennial Campus included in this. I’ll admit, I have no idea how someone gets their pedestrian and bike data into Google Maps. I hear there is talk of creating a greenway that runs all the way around Lake Raleigh.
It would be great to connect the proposed Lake Raleigh system into the Lake Johnson trails and get a better crossing option at Gorman Street. Ultimately, we would have a connection from the Lineberry neighborhood into that system as well, along Trailwood Drive or Main Campus Drive / Thistledown.
I’m still advocating for Sharrows on Lineberry Drive. Not a full bike lane, but some paint / arrows indicating where bikes should be on the road and which direction they should be cycling, to make drivers more aware and share the road.
Tags: avent ferry, bike plan, bike_path, cary, durham, lake_johnson, maps, raleigh, wake county