- The Harney street bike lane in Downtown Omaha will be closing after Labor Day
- The new bike lane will come with upgrades to medians, buffers, and aesthetic landscaping
- The removal of the bike lane is a risk to safety according to Dawaune Lamont Hayes, an avid bicyclist and supporter of the lane
- The timeline of the project shows a lack of concern for community needs, according to Hayes
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Neighbors who ride their bikes in Downtown Omaha are getting a new route, the city says the Harney street bike lane will be closing after Labor Day.
The bike lane will be closing Tuesday September 3rd to make room for utilities companies as work of the streetcar continues. Neighbor Dawaune Lamont Hayes is an avid bicyclist, he's already biked 1000 miles this year
He was apart of the protest to keep the lane 2 years ago and says removal of this bike lane is a risk to safety.
"I've had people honk at me.I've had people almost hit me intentionally because they don't think that cyclists deserve to be on the street," Hayes said "but it's really disappointing because it's one of the few ways that cyclists can safely get to and from downtown and suddenly that's gonna be gone."
Though this is the end of the Harney bike lane as we know it, Mayor Jean Stothert says to fear not, because a new permanent bike path will be built along Farnam from 31st to 17th before crossing onto Harney at 17th and continuing down to 10th in the Old Market.
This new bike lane will come with upgrades to medians, buffers, and aesthetic landscaping.
"We basically came out with three designs and one was kind of the minimal, one was pretty much average and one was the really nice one And we picked the really nice one because we felt like if we were putting our money into this and getting a lot of philanthropic help, we really wanted this to be something that we were proud of and that really worked and really protected the cyclist and was really effective," said Stothert.
Though the new route is coming with some upgrades, Hayes says the timeline of the project shows a lack of concern for community needs
"We have a cyclist coming down the track right now like it's clear that we need this infrastructure and that people are safer when they have it. But when that's not available and it just happens when you get around to, it puts more people at risk and halts progress," said Hayes.
When finished alongside the streetcar, it will complete what the city calls a 'multi-modal transit corridor.'
The bikeway is estimated to be complete by 2028.
