GObike’s Tactical Refresh program is giving Buffalo’s worn road paint some much-needed attention and making streets safer for those who walk and bike.
By Newell Nussbaumer
September 22, 2018
Originally published in Buffalo Rising
Back on August 1, we reported that GObike Buffalo was teaming up with The City, to provide resources needed to paint bike sharrows, crosswalks, and chevrons. Since that time, the refresher program has worked wonders. A couple of days ago, local Elmwood Village resident Joel Capizzi sent along a couple of images of Rebecca Riley and Thea Hassan, as they stenciled bike markers on Linwood Avenue. That prompted me to reach out to Riley, to get an update on the program’s traction.
“The GOBike Tactical Refresh program has had an amazing summer in spite of all the rain,” said Riley. “We’ve completed 63 crosswalks, 4 bumpouts, 159 bikons (bike lane icons), 62 sharrows, and 4 major corridors have been completed – Delaware, Michigan, Porter, and Niagara.”
Honestly, that’s a lot more coverage than I even expected at this point in time. Due to the success of the initiative, to date, I asked Riley what we can expect from the program moving forward.
“We’ve been so successful and people have liked it so much, that we are considering something more official this fall,” said Riley. “Since I do the work with my bike, it makes it very efficient because I can do the work right in the bike lane without obstructing traffic, or in the case of doing sharrows, I don’t obstruct traffic much at all. It’s also easier loading and unloading gear. Potentially, we think it might be a great way to take some of this type of maintenance work of the shoulders of The City.”
Similar to the way the Grassroots Gardens tackles derelict urban lots, by planting vegetation and greenery, this Tactical Refresh program is helping to ensure that it’s safe to bike around the city. It looks like we might be onto something here – I wonder what else we can do for ourselves when it comes to programs that are in need of people power?