Crews began working on the bike-specific pavement upgrades on the Fourth Avenue bike boulevard yesterday.
Here are a few photos of the crews and the first completed strip of pavement. One of the workers said he thought they would complete the entire stretch in two to three weeks.
Rode it – it’s smooth, yet lumpy.
I rode it yesterday. To me, it says “This is where some underground utilities got replaced.”
Methinks that, before too long, they’ll just cave in and repave 4th Avenue between University and Grant. It needs it.
Question: Since they are only going to do this for the section between University and Speedway what are they going to do for the rest of the corridor? In my opinion, they should at least oil all the cracks. It’s not as good as a repaving but it would definitely help.
This idea seemed rather stupid when I first read about it, after seeing the pictures, its seems even more so.
It looks like they’ve limited our riding path to a narrow, poorly paved strip of roadway. I predict riders will avoid the cyclist strip. It won’t take more than a few good rains to begin eroding the asphalt and then we’ll have grooves in the pavement to deal with too.
I agree. This strip is only 2 inches thick. Cars will likely be running on the inside portion of it. A utility repair replaces the whole thickness of street upon repaving. I see this new asphalt giving way under the weight of car traffic, cracking, then water will do its thing from underneath.
I rode on the section that they put down yesterday. There is no need to continue on this project unless the crew doing the work is instructed more clearly on the intended use or the process is altered for a better result. Yesterday’s section is as lumpy as the original pavement.
I agree completely. It is incredibly lumpy and uneven. The only improvement is the lack of giant cracks; otherwise, this an ineffective “solution” and therefore a poor use of city funds.
I rode it today and it was little better than the adjoining street! I mean it was just seriously awful. I would rather compete with traffic on a smoother street than ride it. I think it is a fine idea actually, but it needs to be executed in a better way. As it is they should give up and save their money.