These bike lanes, added at the beginning of 2012, are only one mile in length but an important step forward for bicycling infrastructure in Phoenix. These lanes fill in a gap between the Murphy Bridle Path, which runs along Central from Bethany Home to the Arizona Canal, and the Central/Camelback light rail station. The result is a bicycling link that extends not only to the Uptown and North Central neighborhoods, but to points beyond via connections with Maryland Avenue and the Arizona Canal, two important east-west bicycling corridors. Those new travel possibilities were a factor in converting me from a park-and-ride commuter to a bike-and-ride commuter.

As helpful as the buffered bike lanes have been, they could benefit from some enhancements. Some specifics:

1) A HAWK is needed at Central/Colter, the halfway point between Missouri and Camelback. Right now, there are still some bicyclists riding the wrong way on the sidewalks, and some of it may have to do with the difficulty bicyclists and pedestrians face in crossing the street to reach restaurants, offices, and businesses on the other side.

2) While there is a clear path from the southbound bike lanes into the light rail station, it's more difficult to reach the northbound lanes when exiting the transit center on a bicycle. A creative approach may be needed to offer a clearer, safer path there. Some ideas can be found at the link below: