It’s been more than a year since Providence installed a bike lane on South Water Street despite opposition from businesses, but it’s apparently done little to ease resistance to protected lanes in other commercial districts of the city.
Plans for a temporary two-way bike lane on a 1-mile section of Hope Street next month have already ignited controversy, with nearly two dozen shop owners compiling a petition calling on city officials to cancel the demonstration project.
The pilot is scheduled to take place Oct. 1-8.
Laurie White, president of the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce, says the installation of bike lanes in some areas of the city is putting businesses – many still trying to recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic – in a difficult position.
“There’s a sensitivity to wanting to embrace alternative transportation modes like biking and the like,” White said. “But in this case, it appears from feedback we’re getting that the bike lanes are taking away valuable parking spots otherwise used by customers, traditionally. If there’s no place to park easily, then you get frustrated and go elsewhere.”
Advocates for the cycling and pedestrian infrastructure have been planning the Hope Street demonstration since the summer of 2021, led by the Providence Streets Coalition. Organizers point to studies that show bike infrastructure in commercial districts can improve customer traffic.
Some business owners are willing to take a wait-and-see approach.
Asher Schofield, owner of Frog & Toad LLC gift store at 795 Hope St. – one end of the milelong trial path, with Tortilla Flats restaurant at the opposite end – says bike lanes play an important role in serving a community with varying means of transportation, but making the transition to the new infrastructure can be a challenge.
When it comes to a permanent bike lane on Hope Street, Schofield is waiting for the pilot to roll out before he forms an opinion.
“I can’t really have an honest reaction about it until I experience it firsthand,” Schofield said. “I want to talk to the delivery drivers who come to my business, to those who arrive by car, by bike, by foot. I want to hear from my staff, my neighbors, and then form an opinion – I might even take my bike out on the path myself.”
Other Hope Street business owners have already made up their minds, saying that the challenges posed by a bike lane, primarily due to parking concerns, would put too much stress on businesses.
A group of 23 merchants signed the petition against the project.
“Still reeling from COVID losses, we fear an unnecessary interruption of business in the short-term and have serious concerns about the project in general,” the petition states. “We are strongly opposed to both the upcoming trial and the plan itself.”
Some business owners have also complained that they have not received adequate communication from the city about the plan.
Hope Street is listed in Mayor Jorge O. Elorza’s 2020 Great Streets Initiative as a "proposed urban trail candidate" that would require the consolidation of parking on one side of the street.
Organizers say they began meeting with community and neighborhood groups about a demonstration project more than a year ago, expanding communications to businesses last fall, and they began sending members to have in-person conversations with affected business owners this summer.
The Hope Street business district, which includes side streets, has a total of 1,428 parking spaces, says Jill Eshelman, a consultant with the Providence Streets Coalition and co-founder of the Greater Boston-Providence-focused Thriving Places Collaborative. The temporary bike lane will remove 110 spaces, or 7.7% of current parking.
According to a Providence Streets Coalition study, parking occupancy in the Hope Street business district ranges from 25% to 45%.
“I think that a lot of residents see that on Hope Street itself, there aren’t as many parking spaces,” Eshelman said. “But on the streets that are one block to either side, there’s a lot of available parking.”
Nevertheless, Eshelman says the pilot project does not guarantee a permanent bike lane.
“There is no funding for this now, and it’s definitely possible that after doing this one-week experience, it could go on a different street,” she said, adding that Hope Street was chosen for the pilot due to high interest from a survey of nearby residents.
If the city does pursue a permanent bike lane on Hope Street, Schofield expects that business owners, the city and cyclists can come to a compromise, drawing from examples set in other cities.
While the installation of the South Water Street bike lanes last year was met with protests from nearby businesses, Brown University, Rhode Island School of Design and the R.I. Department of Transportation, the backlash has since died down. White says the bike lanes in that area continue to impede traffic.
Still, she is optimistic that the city and Hope Street merchants can find a solution, even if it’s out of business necessity.
“I’m sure that there could be some accommodations made to make it less complicated to the business owners,” White said. “As we’re gearing up for the holiday shopping season, merchants would want to see this cleared up.”
Stupid, stupid, stupid idea!
I live in Seattle (I lived in Providence for years and that’s why I subscribe) and the bike lanes here have KILLED local, small, mom-and-pop stores because there is so much LESS parking and those that are available are diffuclt to park in.
if you want to ride a bike, go to a park but don’t put in bike lanes on Hope Street and destroy the small businesses there!
Enough of this ridiculousness!
Kudos to Laurie White for standing up for the tax paying business community upon which the RI economy depends.
If you need a bike lane, you shouldn’t be on bike. I’ve ridden bike for over 60 years and I don’t need no stinking bike lanes. Bike lanes are just another needless waste of tax payer dollars.