Pensacola protected bicycle lane opens
The City and County of Honolulu’s Department of Transportation Services announced the opening of the Pensacola protected bicycle lane that runs 2 ways. This new bike lane runs in both mauka and makai directions on the Diamond Head side of Pensacola Street, between Wilder Avenue and Kapiʻolani Boulevard. The Pensacola bike lane connects to the King Street two-way protected bike lane, which takes bicyclists eastbound to Mōʻiliʻili or westbound to the Fasi Municipal Building and Honolulu’s Civic Center.
The Pensacola bike lane connects the dense Makiki neighborhood to essential jobs and services makai of the H1 freeway. Roughly 70% of the Makiki residents have one or no cars per household. This allows for safer opportunities for residents without personal motor vehicles to get to their destinations city-wide.
Providing safe, protected bike lanes will give commuters more options to travel, without having to worry about parking or traffic congestion. Creating a grid of bicycle lanes throughout Honolulu will help remove the dependence on personal motor vehicles on the roadways, which will help reduce traffic congestion, travel times, pedestrian and vehicle collisions, and greenhouse gas emissions. The bike lanes also connect the travel between bus stops, local businesses and future rail stations.
“We’re really excited. It’s about getting people out of their cars”, says Mayor Kirk Caldwell. “It’s about getting people in the sun. It’s about having people be healthy. It’s about becoming carbon neutral. It’s about making this a more livable city. Just one more ongoing effort of creating a grid of protected bike lanes in the City and County of Honolulu.”
With the installation of the first protected bike lane on King Street in 2014, there has been a 50% reduction in pedestrian-vehicle collisions. The King Street bike lane improved visibility for both bicyclists and pedestrians, removed bicyclists from riding on sidewalks and increased awareness for motor vehicle drivers. The success of the King Street bike lane pushed the installation of the South Street two-way protected bike lane that opened in 2017. The Ward Avenue protected bike lanes are currently in construction, along with multiple bikeways for Downtown Honolulu coming up in the future.
The Pensacola bike lane is part of the City’s commitment in creating Complete Streets to improve the safety of all roadway users. For more information on the Pensacola protected bike lane, please visit http://www.honolulu.gov/completestreets/urbancore
Please check the link for the Pensacola Protected Bicycle Lane video:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UPRybnLV7Wb2rQr2qQhzmDKowrG72Xby/view
