There may be some changes happening to the streets of Downtown Reno.
The Reno City Council held a meeting Wednesday with one of the items on the agenda being accepting or denying the Micromobility Pilot Project. This project could dictate what Downtown Reno will look like in the future, including micromobility lanes, determining what streets will allow cars, and which will have widened bike and scooter access.
It's all in an effort to make this area more accessible place.
Catie Harrison, engineering manager of Reno Public Works, says, "In other U.S. communities that have well-built and well-connected infrastructure have seen a mode share of roughly 5% using micromodes which would represent nearly 30,000 daily trips. And just for reference that's the same number of daily trips."
National surveys have determined that over 51% of the population are interested in biking and other forms of transportation but are concerned because they do not feel comfortable riding with traffic. Harrison says our current micromobility infrastructure does not serve the need of this large group. So, they plan to encourage them by providing additional separation from traffic such as buffered and two-way bike lanes, reduce conflict at intersections by including bike boxes, bike signals, and protected intersection lanes, and improve continuity and connectivity of the micromobility network which is coming up next month.
"A key thing that was echoed throughout the project and the workshops that we attended was the importance of continuity and connectivity in the micromode network. So the city is working with RTC and their consultant on a downtown micromobility and connectivity plan that will include corridor concepts and cost estimates."
The council has voted unanimously to accept the project and move forward to the next steps. For more information on this project you can check the link by clicking here.
