March 29, 2024
Annapolis, US 52 F

Main Street: Goodbye cars, hello bikes and cafe tables

Annapolis Mayor Gavin Buckley is moving forward at lightning speed on implementing a bike lane along Main Street. Today, crews will be marking the pavement for the 5-foot lane and the bump out of the existing sidewalks to accommodate cafe tables and chairs to give Main Street a more “European” feel.  Cars on the left side of Main Street will get the boot after the Labor Day holiday when construction of the bike lane and widened sidewalks will begin. It is expected to take about 2 weeks to complete and the City is planning an “unveiling” on September 16th as we mentioned the other day along with other bike related events in September.

The parking lot at the Annapolis Elementary school will be made available for parking on the weekends, and stores will be provided vouchers for garage parking to distribute to their customers.

However, this is only a test run to see if it will work when the City re-considers the re-bricking of Main Street in the spring. Below is a letter the City distributed to local businesses.

Later today, the Mayor, along with County Executive Steve Schuh will officially launch the new Pace Bike Share program in the City. Racks and bikes have been installed around the area and the app will be initialized this afternoon. Bike rentals (but not helmets) will be available with an app set up with a form of payment. The initial 30 minutes are free for new accounts; however, after that, the cost is $1 for 30 minutes.  From what we understand, bikes can be locked up and left anywhere while under rental (secured to a post, in a public rack or a dedicated Pace rack) but should be returned to a Pace rack when the rental is complete. The Mayor’s office says that they have looked at studies that show visitors will remain in a downtown area longer and spend more money if there are bikes available.

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