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Coming soon to Norfolk: New bike lanes along Granby Street

Frontier Bikes
Posted at 6:23 AM, Jan 26, 2022
and last updated 2022-01-26 06:23:43-05

NORFOLK, Va. - The City of Norfolk voted in favor of the Granby Bike Lane Project, which will add bike lanes in each direction on the section of Granby Street stretching from Willow Wood Road to Wards Corner.

The project, which was approved in a 7-1 vote, will reduce the stretch of Granby street from three lanes down to two.

This part of Granby Street is the only section of the road where there are three lanes.

The Granby Bike Lane Project is part of the City of Norfolk's Bicycle and Pedestrian Strategic Plan, which was passed unanimously in 2015.

But as it stands today, only a fraction of it has been completed.

Mike Merritt, a member of Bike Norfolk, a group that advocates for bike lanes, crosswalks, and more pedestrian-friendly means of transportation, says these bike lanes will improve equity between Norfolk residents.

He also says they will give kids another option of how to get to area schools, like Granby High.

"Many parents feel it unsafe to ride their bikes to schools and which is true because the roads are at a very high range of speed and they're all designed for cars," explained Merritt. "If things are designed for bicyclists to be able to use, more children will be able to bike to [school and work]. Our son, Miguel, bicycles to school when he can, but he's admitted cars come by very fast. He got nicked by a car once."

The new bike lanes will also include a substantial barrier between vehicle and bike lanes, such as a raised curb.

The city also voted to accept a $822,000 SMART SCALE grant from VDOT, which is estimated to pay for about half of this project.

The Granby Bike Lane Project will be rolled into a larger project to improve road conditions, signage, and medians on Granby street.

The entire project has an estimated cost of $2.6 million.