Advisory bike lanes installed in Milwaukee neighborhood welcomed with mixed reactions

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- New bike lanes, located along Edgewood Avenue from Oakland to Lake Drive, are causing relief and confusion within that community.

Last week, the Department of Public Works installed the advisory bike lanes. Edgewood Avenue used to have two lanes for parking and for traffic. Now it has one lane for traffic, two lanes for parking and two bike lanes going both directions.

Some bicyclists, like Don Nadar, said it was a great move.

"I love having bike lanes that are so visible for us, I feel much safer," said Nadar.

Others, like Judge David Borowski, who lives in the neighborhood, say it's a hazard.

"This is a very dangerous situation. Just in the last couple of days I've seen cars driving right at each other, basically playing a game of chicken and then having to pull over the bike lane. It's terribly designed, from my standpoint," said Judge Borowski.

According to Mike Amsden, multimodal transportation manager at DPW, when drivers see oncoming traffic, they are supposed to merge into the bike lane to avoid another vehicle. Then they're supposed to merge back into the center lane.

"It really functions very similar to most residential streets. Most residential streets don't have a yellow center lane, they don't have clearly marked travel lanes and kind of share that center space," said Amsden.

Amsden said the design of the advisory bike lanes is supposed to prompt more cautious driving. He said other states have seen success with this type of design.

"What they've seen is motor vehicle speeds go down, and it becomes a little safer for people biking as well," said Amsden.

DPW said they will evaluate the success of this project by conducting traffic studies. They invite neighbors to contact them with any concerns or complaints.