Business owners express worries over modifications to Shenandoah Avenue

Roanoke, Virginia – There have been some recent improvements made to Shenandoah Road, and business owners in Roanoke have expressed some reservations about them.

“If you stay out here 30 minutes, you can watch people crossing over both into the white buffer zone of the bike lane and the double yellow,” said About Clean business owner Peter Shank.

Shank is the owner of the company located on Shenandoah Avenue.

“My thought is it’s more dangerous for the cars than it is for the bicycles,” said Shank.

Although he was first thrilled about the new pavement, he claimed that the line markings make it harder to maneuver through the lanes.

“I had a van coming at me over this hill the other day. I pulled out and tried to keep it as tight as I could. He didn’t see me until the last minute, and he went over into the bike lane,” explained Shank.

We discussed the concerns with Robert Issem, the coordinator of Vision Zero at Complete Streets. He claimed that turning both bike lanes to one side increased bicycle safety.

“One safety enhancement that all businesses on that corridor will benefit from is the traffic calming effects of the new roadway configuration. So, having those two 10-foot lanes and the bike lanes on the other side will encourage motorists to drive at speeds that are safer for that entire corridor, which will really increase safety for everybody,” said Issem.

Shenandoah Avenue is a busy industrial area, according to Shank. You can hardly turn without running into oncoming traffic, he claimed.

“They’re so wide that their tires are over the lane. We literally have about 20 some inches between the curb and the white line where before we had three feet,” said Shank.

According to Issem, in order to possibly reduce the speed limit, bollards will be installed along the bike lane and a speed survey will be carried out.