Ingersoll Bike Lanes - 6 Month Feedback Needed!

Posted Sep 22, 2010
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Des Moines, IA Six months after controversial bike lanes were painted on Ingersoll Avenue in Des Moines, the city is asking for your feedback on how they're working. The bike lanes run from 19th Street to Polk Boulevard. City officials are asking anyone who lives or works in the area and uses Ingersoll to fill out a survey. You can give your feedback online here.

BIKEIOWA NOTE Please don't stand on the sidelines! We need TONS of Positive Feedback on the Ingersoll Bike Lanes! So far there has been over 1000 responses, and to our surprise, most responses have been negative. What does this mean?

It means a BIG Step backwards for Iowa Cycling! We lose. Period.
It means the bike lanes could be taken away and Ingersoll be re-striped back to 4 lanes
It means Des Moines and surrounding cities will probably not add any more bike lanes in the future
It means the new 20 year Bicycle Master Plan will not stand a chance.

We need CYCLISTS to take the survey! Even though the re-striping was for traffic calming, the "bike lanes" have cause the most controversy. Right now there is not enough traffic data to warrant leaving the bike lanes. Driving Ingersoll in a car takes 22 seconds longer during rush hour. The Ingersoll Bike Lanes took over 5 years to get implemented and we don't want to lose them due to negative survey results. Help keep Des Moines a Progressive Bike-Friendly GREEN City!!

Please take a few minutes and take the survey.

The city will review the survey results to help learn how the bike lanes are working before deciding whether to make them permanent. Some business owners were concerned the change might make it more difficult to park along Ingersoll and lead to other traffic problems. The survey will be close on Sunday, October 3rd [photo via KCCI.com]