Nashville aims to improve road safety for people who ride bicycles

By Tom Wilemon | The Tennessean March 19, 2012

With miles of new bike lanes and more people cycling to work, the city of Nashville wants to improve safety through "Moving in Harmony," a new campaign to teach both motorists and bikers how to share the roads.

The campaign will include billboards to raise awareness, safety programs and ground-level attention to problem areas. It is one of the initiatives that received funding through a grant Metro Public Health Department received from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention aimed at confronting obesity. Besides educating people about bike lanes, the program also aims to make the city a safer place to walk.

Mayor Karl Dean's Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee plans to have the campaign in full swing by May.

"As we make these changes, it is important that we educate drivers, cyclists and pedestrians on how to safely share our roads and walkways," Dean said. "The more we can get residents to bike and walk, the more we improve our health, our transportation system and our environment, which are all important to me."

In the past 10 years, the city has added 133 miles of bike lanes and shared routes as well as 200 miles of sidewalks. But many motorists did not know the rules for bike lanes and shared routes.

"We're also working with a number of neighborhood associations that have specific concerns -- one of them being the Belmont Hillsboro neighborhood association," said Marne Duke, communications coordinator with Metro Health. "There is a very popular bike lane on Belmont Boulevard that continues to have issues with motorists going around other cars that are turning and using the bike lane as a way to do that. A car is never supposed to be in the bike lane."

There are also eight educational projects to teach more vulnerable groups, such as children and the elderly, about ways to better protect themselves.

For more information, visit NashVitality.org/MovinginHarmony.