Public Works director outlines key findings of Craddock Avenue permanent bike lane study

The results are now published on a seven-month study analyzing the feasibility of a permanent, protected bike lane on Craddock Avenue.

The City of San Marcos Public Works and Engineering Departments hosted an open house event on Nov. 29 at Crockett Elementary School to present the study’s findings.

Sixty people attended Tuesday’s presentation, according to Public Works Director Sabas Avila, adding that his department relied on public input to determine the study’s main objectives.

“Some of the feedback we received from our meeting last November [included] was this project going to cause congestion?” Avila said. “Was this project going to create more traffic on Franklin Avenue Drive, and would this project help to slow down traffic?”

Avila explained the details of the study in an interview on the Daily Record.

The researchers conducted the study on 0.8 miles of road segment along Craddock Avenue between Bishop Street and Old Ranch Road 12. According to Avila, the researchers performed a “level of service analysis” graded A to F, “A being the best, no congestion, and F being over capacity,” he said.

The study found no change in the intersection level of services, and “In fact, on Craddock and Ranch Road 12 we saw a little bit of a decrease,” Avila said. “So before the study in the am period, the level of service was C, so there was no change. For the pm period, the level of service before we installed the buffered bike lane was a level of service D, after it was a level of service C.”

The researchers also assessed the impact of a buffered bike lane on traffic speed.

The data showed vehicles maintained a speed of 40 mph on Old Ranch Road 12 near Ramona Circle and a slight decline in speed from 44 mph to 41 mph on Bishop St. near Furman Avenue between the start of the study in March 2022 and the end of data collection in September 2022, according to a city-issued press release.

Additionally, an average of 18 cyclists per day were counted on Old Ranch Road 12 near Ramona Cir. at the start of the study, and an average of 24 cyclists per day were counted at the end of the study.

Avila said of all the results, what surprised him the most “was that traffic went down. But what we realized is that was the same time that Hopkins Street opened up.”

“So that tells us right there that a lot of people are using Craddock Avenue to get around Hopkins Street,” he said.

After presenting the study results, Engineering and Public Works asked the public to submit comment forms.

“We specifically asked if [they] would be in favor of keeping the protected bike lane,” Avila said.

Avila said the city is still compiling and accepting public comments on the Craddock Ave Bike Lane Pilot Project.

“The next step would be to take the results of our traffic study and the comments and take those to city council, so that city council can make a final determination on whether to remove or maintain the buffered bike lane,” he said.

Individuals can download the study results or submit public comments at  http://sanmarcostx.gov/craddockbike.

For more information, contact the Public Works Department at 512-393-8036.