Groups make DIY bike lanes to show US cities what could be
A makeshift bike lane divider made of painted two-by-fours and PVC pipes lasted three days on a busy Dallas street last month before the city removed it, which was two days longer than its creators expected.
The $100 structure was the work of the Dallas Transformation Department, one of several like-minded groups of anonymous Twitter users who have taken a do-it-yourself approach to making road improvements in cities stretching from New York and Boston to San Francisco.
Activists say a flower planted in a pothole or a line of cones or toilet plungers to keep cars from drifting into bike lanes can have the magical psychological effect of getting drivers to slow down and watch for cyclists and pedestrians. Although the measures are meant to be temporary, they can show the public what could be and spur cities to make permanent improvements.
“These transformation groups are creating change, and we support that,” said Kathleen Ferrier, a spokeswoman for the Vision Zero Network, a group dedicated to eliminating traffic fatalities around the world. “What’s happening with guerrilla tactics is that they are creating more urgency. It’s helping people imagine and experience what change could be like.”
Last month’s project was the first for the Dallas Transformation Department, but it plans more.
“We knew it wouldn’t be permanent. It would take a few times, but we believe people should have the power to give their neighborhoods value,” said Layne, a group spokesman who declined to give his last name because the project was technically considered vandalism by the city.