New Bikeway for Woodlands Boulevard

On Monday evening, the City of Tamarac invited residents whose homes abutted Woodlands Boulevard to discuss the creation of a bike lane on both sides of the road.  Director of Community Development, Jennifer Bramley, Commissioner Michelle Gomez, Public Works Director Jack Strain and City Manager Michael Cernech attended.

Only two residents showed up!

These two residents were also joined by new WHOA President Patti Fox, who wanted to know more about how the lane changes will affect the community.

Many years ago, the city looked into creating sidewalks along the boulevard.  Residents on Woodlands Boulevard were against this proposal, so they never moved forward with it.  A few years later, there are younger, more active people moving into the Woodlands who are using the boulevard everyday:  Moms with strollers, pet owners, runners, walkers and bicyclists, despite the fact that it can be a  safety hazard when motorists are speeding or passing other cars.

Unfortunately last fall, one of our residents was hit by a car on the boulevard which got the ball rolling again about getting some sort of protected area for the residents.  Residents took the idea of the bike lane to our WHOA, who in turn, voted to move forward with it.  They proposed it to the city who ordered a traffic study.  The traffic study showed that the amount of traffic that uses Woodlands Boulevard each day doesn’t justify having four lanes.

The City has proposed the following:

Each lane is currently 11 feet across on both sides of the street: One lane will be increased to 14 feet across, and the bikeway lane will be 8 feet across.  These will be re marked on both sides with new striping and reflectors.

The city also sees this as a traffic calming change. Cars are currently speeding down Woodlands Boulevard making walking dangerous.  Cars that try to pass on the narrow lanes make it even more dangerous and some of our wildlife have been the victims of speeding cars.

The city will hear additional input from residents at the District meeting on April 6th and at the Woodlands meeting on April 14th.  (Please see calendar for more details.)

They don’t anticipate traffic issues with service companies such as delivery people and garbage trucks, as they will be able to pull into the bikeway to allow cars to go around them.   Even though it is called a “bikeway,” golf carts, walkers, runners and all pedestrians are allowed to use it and no one is going to be cited if they are not on a bike.

Get your walking shoes ready.  If the city receives positive feedback about the bikeway,  they said it could take a month or so before they get started on the project, which would just require re marking the roadways.  The roads have been resurfaced in the past few years so no new asphalt needs to be applied.