A proposed network of bike lanes and routes for Marblehead drew both praise and criticism from residents at the Feb. 24 Traffic Safety Advisory Committee meeting, where committee members reviewed the town’s draft bicycle plan after nearly a year of development.
“West Shore Drive is definitely broken and it needs to be fixed. I’ve nearly been hit by cars three times in one week while trying to cross the street,” said Laurie Dunham, a West Shore Drive resident. “I am afraid of the stretch of West Shore Drive to get into the rail trail. Once I get on the rail trail, it’s great.”
Resident William Anderson countered that changes were unnecessary. “The overwhelming opinion is that what we have now works fine … it’s not broken, don’t fix it,” he said. “We have very few bikers in town, actually, but they seem to get along just fine, including myself.”
Resident Albert Jordan worried about safety implications. “I don’t want to create these bike paths because we’re going to create more people getting hurt,” Jordan said. “By putting in these bike paths, I hope we’re not going to bring people from other towns in to use them.”
Taylor Dennerlein, a senior engineer with Toole Design Group, presented findings from the comprehensive bicycle facilities master plan that began last April with $79,000 in COVID recovery funds.
“We’ve been helping the town draft the Marblehead Bike Facilities Master Plan,” Dennerlein told the committee. “The overall objectives are to provide facilities that are convenient, attractive, safe and accessible to residents and visitors of all ages and abilities.”
The plan divides potential bike routes into two categories: “neighborhood greenways” where cyclists would share roads with vehicles, and “separated facilities” that would provide dedicated lanes or paths for bicyclists.
Dunham emphasized that traffic calming measures are needed on West Shore Drive. “I am hoping, pleading for anything that produces traffic calming. Narrowing that road would in and of itself create traffic calming,” she said. “It has become more dangerous over the years. I’ve certainly lived here long enough to have seen the evolution of it, and it has not been a positive pattern.”
Public engagement during the planning process included pop-up events at the Festival of Arts and Farmers’ Market, stakeholder interviews, steering committee meetings and an online survey that garnered over 800 responses.
“Safe routes to schools popped up throughout almost every single event that we held,” Dennerlein said. “People in Marblehead were typically biking more for recreation and enjoyment, as opposed to commuting to work.”
The survey revealed that safety concerns are a major barrier to cycling in town. “Cyclists felt unsafe on roads and at particular intersections,” Dennerlein explained. “Most people use the rail trail, but a lot of people don’t necessarily feel comfortable biking on the road. They drive to the rail trail and utilize that instead of biking from their house.”
Committee member Rick Smyers questioned whether specific recommendations had been made for different types of separated bike facilities.
“Within the separated bike facility, what kind of separation? That seems like the toughest decision to make in some cases,” Smyers said.
Dennerlein acknowledged that these specific design decisions would come later. “With the information that we had, we couldn’t necessarily pick which type for all roadways, but in the toolkit, we do provide guidance on when you would use each type,” she said.
Police Chief Dennis King asked how Marblehead compared to other communities in bicycle-friendliness.
“Marblehead is really unique geographically. You don’t have any through traffic. You’re on a peninsula,” Dennerlein replied. “That keeps the vehicle volumes and speeds relatively low compared to a lot of other communities, which is excellent. We biked on a lot of different streets, and a lot of them already feel very comfortable to bike on.”
Committee Chair Gary Herbert inquired about short-term bicycle enhancements and budget estimates for the proposed improvements. Dennerlein explained that while specific costs for each street weren’t calculated, general per-mile estimates could be provided for different facility types.
Smyers emphasized the importance of measuring outcomes. “The data in other towns has shown that when you put in a bike lane, it typically slows down the speeders on that route and reduces the number of crashes and the severity of crashes,” he said. “I think it would be important to measure that and show that that is, in fact, happening here.”
The plan’s prioritization factors include routes to schools, safety considerations, connectivity to the Rail Trail and key routes to destinations like downtown and nearby MBTA commuter rail stations.
Dennerlein noted that historic streets in Marblehead would likely be designated as neighborhood greenways rather than having separated bike lanes, due to their constrained width.
“I believe all of the streets within the historic district are just designated as the neighborhood greenways. So they wouldn’t necessarily have bike lanes, they would just be more of the traffic calming features,” she said.
The bicycle plan is expected to be finalized by early April after additional town review. It will serve as the final piece of the town’s Complete Streets planning, building upon the Rail Trail improvements already in place.
