New bike path guides cyclists through pedestrian zone

A freshly painted bike path on the walkway between Herter Hall and the Du Bois Library may bring an extra measure of safety to the recently designated pedestrian corridor.

Shortly after the pedestrian-only zone was created in April, said Pat Daly, director of Physical Plant, “People started complaining about bikes.”

The walkway is wide enough to create the two-lane bike path, he said, and now gives cyclists and pedestrians some clearly defined routes.

Once students return and the corridor is again filled with pedestrian traffic, Physical Plant staff plan to monitor the use and effectiveness of the bicycle lanes. “We’ll observe the area and also look for comments from the campus community,” said Daly.

Daly hopes to work with the UMass Police Department, which enforces the pedestrian-only rule, to gather safety data from the area. Daly said the police and Facilities Planning are developing a proposal to install video cameras in the pedestrian-only area to detect the presence of motor vehicles. The cameras, which are motion-activated, could provide useful information on bicycle activity as well, he said.

“It’s all about improving campus safety,” Daly said.

August 29, 2008.

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