A cyclist is pushed to ride along the curb due to a lack of bike lanes. Clarke Central High School senior Waylon Vaughn has experienced the perils of shared roads when cycling to and from school. “Drivers try to cut around me and underestimate how fast I’m going. They end up cutting into my lane while I’m biking, which leads to a dangerous situation where cars get really close to me and go fast to get around,” Vaughn said. Illustration by Sylvia Robinson
Athen’s inadequate cycling infrastructure is the cause behind the city’s high biking risks.
Cars, with people shielded in metal shells, rule the roads. Bikers, with only a helmet for protection, face the risks. Without proper cycling infrastructure, safety is compromised.
According to the 2023 Athens-Clarke County Bicycle Friendly Community Report Card, 45.8% of respondents said they were dissatisfied with local biking safety. A total of 54.1% said they would most like to see the local government install more bike lanes in this community.
A map shows the locations of dangerous roads for cyclists in Athens. Certain roads are particularly risky and perilous for cyclists because of the high number of traffic accidents that have occurred on them. Waylon Vaughn, a Clarke Central High School senior, noted how nerve-wracking it is to bike on roads with heavy traffic. “I’ve been in a turn lane before and someone has turned into it and gotten really close to hitting me. I had to brake hard to avoid getting hit,” Vaughn said. Map by David Wang
The numbers show a general pattern, but the lived experiences of cyclists like Clarke Central High School senior Waylon Vaughn reveal current infrastructure challenges up close.
“Milledge Avenue, my route to school, has no bike lanes on it, and I think that definitely contributes to how safe I feel on the road and also contributes to how many people are willing to bike to school,” Vaughn said.
While factors like driver behavior and traffic conditions are non-neligible, they all point back to an issue hard to reverse: the way Athens’ streets are designed. If roads are properly designed with bike lanes of adequate width devoted to cyclists, conflicts will be addressed at the fundamental level, as traffic and humans are unpredictable, while the safe space for cyclists should be permanent and secure.
While factors like driver behavior and traffic conditions are non-neligible, they all point back to an issue hard to reverse: the way Athens’ streets are designed.
Athens has already shown what change can look like. The Prince Avenue Corridor pilot in September 2022 converted four lanes into three and added protected bike lanes, per popular demand. All thanks to citizen advocacy and public support, the project became permanent that December.
“Prince Avenue is overall a better experience to bike on because the bike lane just makes it safer. You feel like you have distance from the traffic,” Waylon said.
However, bike lanes are not the end-all be-all. Greenways, shared bikes, and dedicated bike traffic lights are all more practical, feasible ways to begin implementation without requiring massive reconstruction downtown where the road needs are the greatest.
Mass education and public awareness are important to push big changes like Prince Avenue to enhance urban cycling quality. The reason for the successful pilot project and people’s awareness of low-carbon transportation are all because of this. The more citizen campaigns there are, the more breakthroughs can be achieved.
For the sake of cyclists, Athens must build safer infrastructure and citizens must demand it.
