TYLER, Texas — The City of Tyler has been working to add more transportation opportunities to the city. A look at many of Tyler’s roads shows a lack of bike lanes.
In the State of Texas, bikes are considered vehicles and must follow the rules of the road, as drivers do.
In 2018, city staff, engineers from Brannon Corporation and the Civil Engineering Department at the University of Texas at Tyler have worked together and designed bike lanes to connect throughout the city.
The City is inviting residents to attend an open house on Thursday, Jan. 30 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. to ask questions, give feedback, and review the maps in the Tyler Rose Center’s Rose Room located at 420 Rose Park Drive.
The project identifies 11 bicycle lane routes and a centralized hub near the downtown area. The proposed work includes painting bicycle lanes and placing designated signage along the existing roadways as follows:
- Route 1 – From UT Tyler along Old Omen Road, McDonald Road, Golden Road, Devine Street and Mahon Road to Tyler Junior College
- Route 1a – Along Lazy Creek Drive, Calloway Road, Lake Vista Circle, Lake Forest Drive, Oak Village Drive, Woods Boulevard, Long Leaf Drive, Winding Way and Eastwood Boulevard to Old Omen Road
- Route 2 – From Loop 323 along Garden Valley Road and W. Oakwood Street to the Oakwood Cemetery; From N. Glenwood Boulevard along Forest Avenue and S. Lyons Avenue to S. Parkdale Drive; From Forest Avenue along W. Erwin Street to Confederate Avenue
- Route 3 – From Loop 323 along Paluxy Drive, DeCharles Street, Amherst Street and Donnybrook Avenue to Houston Street
- Route 4 – From Loop 323 along Bellwood Road and Houston street to S. Vine Avenue; From Shaw Street along S. Lyons Avenue to Bellwood Road
- Route 5 – From Cambridge Road, along Yale Drive, Heritage Drive, Baylor Drive, Karen Drive, Powell Drive, Barbee Drive and Sutherland Drive to E. Grande Boulevard; From Rose Rudman Park along Donnybrook Avenue to Amherst Street
- Route 6 – From Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard along Palace Avenue, Harmony Street, Border Avenue, W. Queen Street, N. Ross Avenue, W. Bow Street, Moore Avenue to W. Oakwood Street
- Route 7 – From Old Jacksonville Highway. along Dueling Oaks, Cherryhill Drive, Hollystone Drive, Pinehurst Street, Hollytree Circle, Woodlands Drive, Hollytree Drive, Rieck Road, Cloverdale Drive, Trenton Drive, Timberwilde Drive, Old Bullard Road and Shelley Drive to Driftwood Lane; From Shelley Drive along Brookside Drive and Fair Lane to Sunnybrook Drive
- Route 8 – From Loop 323 along N. Broadway Avenue, W. 32nd Street, Glass Avenue and W. 28th Street to Mamie G. Griffin Elementary School; From Texas College along W. 29th to Glass Avenue; From W. 24th Street along N. Palace Avenue to W. 29th Street
- Route 9 – From Donnybrook Avenue along Amherst Street and Sunnybrook Drive to Frankston Highway.; From Sunnybrook Drive along Camellia Street, W. Azalea Drive, Terre Haute Drive and San Jacinto Drive to Milam Drive; From W. Houston Street along S. Chilton Avenue, W. 6th Street and Robertson Avenue to Sunnybrook Drive
- Route 10 – From Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard along Winona Avenue, E. Hillsboro Avenue, Church Avenue and Pabst Avenue to E. Queen Street
- Route 11 - From Loop 323 along E. Erwin Street to S. Beckham Avenue; From E. Erwin Street along Palmer Avenue to Devine Street
- Hub – Along Houston Street, S. Fannin Avenue, W. Erwin Street, W. Ferguson Street, N. Bonner Avenue and S. Vine Avenue
The City applied for funding for the Tyler Bike Stripes through the 2017 Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside (TASA) Program, a federal grant program administered locally through TxDOT. The grant will pay for 80 percent of the eligible costs and the City will pay for the remaining project costs through the Half-Cent Sales Tax Program.
Engineering students and faculty from the University of Texas at Tyler designed the project to provide designated bicycle lanes throughout the city ultimately connecting UT Tyler, Tyler Junior College and Texas College by street or concrete path.
The City Council approved a Sponsored Research Agreement with UT Tyler in the amount of $186,469 for the engineering and project design in May 2018 as part of a federal grant.