OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — Daily bikers who use the protected bike lane on Harney Street are concerned about the lack of a safe alternate route during the multi-year closure.
- Cyclists fear for their safety with the lack of an alternative route with the bike path on Harney Street now closed for streetcar work and construction of a new path.
- The city has encouraged cyclists to use other routes or continue to ride unprotected on Harney.
- The new protected path is expected to be completed in 2028.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
"This is depressing, I mean it really is," Kevin Sweeney said.
It's the end of the Market to Midtown bikeway for now. Reporter Molly Hudson talked to two cyclists who fear for their safety, now having to find an alternative route to run their errands or go to work.
"I don't really care what is going to happen in 4 or 5 years to be quite frank," Sweeney said.
Kevin Sweeney and his dog Riley have been riding this bikeway on Harney since it opened in 2021. He rides from midtown to the downtown Post Office to mail records from his online business. Wednesday morning, he went as far as he could.
"Riley, it looks like this might be the end of the line,” Sweeney said. "90% of my riding is on this bikeway because I just don't want to get run over by a car."
He tested out an alternative route last week knowing the closure was coming. To clear the way for workers to install the new streetcar route.
"You have a choice, you can ride all the way over to the left side of the Leavenworth bikeway and then you’ve got cars and trucks zipping literally within inches of you or you can ride in the center and risk getting 'doored',” Sweeney said.
That fear of getting 'doored' is shared by cyclist Joyce Vondrasek who uses the bikeway 4 days a week to get to work.
"In any other city if they were going to take away infrastructure like this, there would be at least temporary projects going in to alleviate the use for this project," Vondrasek said.
The city has encouraged cyclists to use other routes or continue to ride unprotected on Harney. But these cyclists say they have yet to determine how they'll travel through here. Construction is expected to last until 2028.
"Just an amazingly bizarre decision to pull it with no replacement immediately ready, let alone, you know 4 or 5 years in the future," Sweeney said. "There should be bike lanes like this on Dodge Street, on Douglas, on Farnam, on Harney, on Leavenworth, all of Leavenworth should be re-done," Vondrasek said.
Both Kevin and Joyce raised concerns that this action taken by the city doesn't align with the city's vision zero plan to make streets safer.
"The vision is to have zero pedestrian cyclist deaths, and this is the exact opposite,” Sweeney said.
