Whether it is by foot, car, bus or bike, there are many ways to get around Syracuse. While cycling is one of the most popular modes of transportation in the university area, our city has modest infrastructure to support the number of bicycles.

The university neighborhood, and nearby areas, desperately deserve upgrades in cycling infrastructure — for the safety of commuters and support of a more environmentally and health conscious option.

Currently, high-traffic areas containing a large amount of cyclers are also designated “Share the Road” areas. Euclid Avenue and other areas around the Syracuse University and State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry quads are often a jumbled mess at high volume commuting times.

To improve commuting to, from and around campus, there are both small and large changes that can be made on campus.

Over time, separate bicycle lanes should be created on heavily congested roads, such as Euclid Avenue, Sims Drive, University Avenue and College Place. A clear definition between car and bicycle traffic not only will make it a safer ride in the morning or evening, but will improve the safety and ease of biking so more people will be drawn to cycling.

Cities throughout the globe have been increasing bicycle infrastructure to meet the growing demand. Even the city of Syracuse has increased the number of bike lanes, primarily along the Connective Corridor route. While these improvements are good and necessary, the ever-increasing amount of bike traffic in the university area is not being addressed.

With designated bike lanes, the university area also requires higher amounts of bicycle safety and awareness to be spread to all commuters. Even if people choose not to cycle, general knowledge of bike protocol and positive bike-car-pedestrian interactions need to grow.

For instance, riding a bike the six blocks to campus should involve an easy stretch of riding on the right side of the road, signaling for turns and slowing or stopping at designated intersections — just as if you were in a car. Instead, the morning commutes turns into dodging parked cars, pedestrians and other cyclists that don’t know what they’re doing.

Drivers frequently do not maintain any sort of distance from bicycles, or maintain way too much of a distance. They beep and yell from cars and turn some cyclists into riding on the sidewalk. Not only will riding a bicycle on a sidewalk get you a ticket, but it is dangerous for pedestrians also on their daily commute.

Quite frankly, the morning commute is overly stressful, but riding a bike saves time, serves as a little bit of exercise and is generally better for your carbon footprint. Improvements — some on a small scale and some on larger scales — need to be made to decrease the stressfulness and increase safety for all parties involved.

Education is part of the answer. Some clubs and organizations strive to spread the word on both of our campuses, but it is not enough. The university should promote these education programs, especially to off-campus residents and new students that are not familiar with the area.

The best improvement options not only focus on education, but infrastructural improvements. Without these improvements in the near future, Syracuse will be left in the dust of countless cities across the globe that are taking their commuters safety into account – a safety from accidents and injuries and a safety promoting a better, cleaner world.

Meg Callaghan is a senior environmental studies major at SUNY-ESF. Her column appears weekly. She can be reached at mlcallag@syr.edu.

Published on September 10, 2013 at 1:59 am