East-West Bikeway Connector

The community bike lane proposal was developed by Charleston, West Virginia bicycle enthusiasts with the assistance of Ryan Hough, a young, talented certified engineer. The East-West Bikeway Connector proposal would establish two bike corridors into downtown Charleston: one from the West Side and the other from the East End. The corridors use a combination of “bike boulevards” in residential areas and “protected bike lanes” in high traffic areas. Bike boulevards are “Share the Road” signs (called sharrows) coupled with speed reducing measures. Protected bike lanes have a physical barrier between one lane for bicycles and another for car traffic.
Specifically, the proposal calls for Virginia Street to be the corridor bringing bike traffic from the West Side into downtown Charleston and then out to the East End. On Virginia Street, going west from Park Avenue to Maryland Avenue the plan calls for bike boulevard designation then transitioning to protected bike lanes from Maryland Avenue through downtown to Morris Street on the East End. From Morris Street to Elizabeth Street a bike boulevard designation is recommended. 

Quarrier Street and Randolph Street is the other corridor. Going west on Quarrier Street from Greenbrier Street, the East-West Bikeway Connector uses bike boulevard designation from Elizabeth Street to Brooke Street, then protected bike lane designation from Brooke Street through downtown to Randolph Street. The protected bike lane on Randolph Street would end at Ohio Street. From Ohio Street to Madison Street the proposal calls for a bike boulevard designation on Randolph Street.

The East-West Bikeway Connector bike lane proposal would transform Charleston, making it the most bike-friendly city in West Virginia. It’s time we got this done!