More cyclists are hitting the road in Somerville

Matt Byrne

Sharrows, the markers that tell drivers to play nicely with bicyclists and share the road, lead toward Davis Square on College Avenue.

By Danielle Dreilinger, Globe Correspondent

The City of Somerville's recent transportation findings will come as no surprise to patrons of Somerville's Diesel and Bloc 11 cafes, which just replaced some on-street car parking space with giant bike racks.

At 16 key locations, "Bicycle usage is up over 50 percent from 2005," transportation director Hayes Morrison said in an e-mail. Foot traffic in those spots has increased by "over 13 percent."

The stats come from the city's latest bike/pedestrian counts, released at a public meeting Sept. 29.

According to 2005-2009 Census data, an average of 13 percent of Somerville residents had primarily walked or biked to work in the preceding week. The national average is less than 5 percent and Massachusetts only a little over 5 percent.

(That said, Cambridge far outpaced Somerville--almost one-third of residents reported they had usually walked or biked to work in the week before answering the survey.)

Since commutes are not the only kind of travel, the city counts pedestrian and bike traffic each fall and spring, posting 30-plus volunteers at 36 spots during morning and evening hours over three days.

Not surprisingly, the Davis and Porter T stations were the biggest draw.

College Avenue and Winter Street, at the Davis T entrance, boasted a whopping 633 walkers per hour in the morning and 686 at night.

The Beacon Street/Somerville Avenue intersection a few blocks from Porter had 513 walkers and 435 at night. That spot had by far the highest bike traffic: 294 cyclists per hour in the morning and 352 at night. Bike use was high all along Beacon Street, despite its famously awful pavement.

Union Square was also heavily trafficked, with 372 pedestrians/125 cyclists per hour at Somerville Avenue and Washington Street in the morning and 442 walkers/158 cyclists in the evening.

Bike use was notably low in Winter Hill and Assembly Square. Joggers, meanwhile, love the Community Path, and more people jog after work than before.

Somerville installed 11 miles of new bike lanes and "sharrows" in 2010, according to the city website, and plans to add the same number again in 2011. Those painted lines really make a difference: "There has been "a shift of cyclists to newly marked streets," city planning staffer Sarah Spicer said in an e-mail. Data showed 22.6 percent more bike traffic on streets with new arrows and 25.1 percent on new bike lanes, with 32.6 percent fewer cyclists on streets that had not been changed.
 
"Somervillens enjoy a city that already has good 'bones' to enable an environment that is safe and pleasant for pedestrians and cyclists: compact neighborhoods, corridors of mixed commercial and residential uses, and multiple transportation choices," Spicer said.

The city planning staff is now identifying priorities for 2012 with the bicycle committee. Though no official plans are in place, Spicer emphasized, they're looking at possible improvements for the heavily used corridors of Elm Street and the arteries exiting Union Square.

But one thing's decided, Spicer said: Boston's Hubway bike-share service is coming to Somerville next year with approximately six bike stations.

Fall bike/pedestrian data collection takes place later in October. Would-be volunteers can contact the planning department at somervillema.gov or by calling 311.