NORFOLK, Va. — One after another, several Norfolk residents made their final pitches to city council when it comes to bike lanes on Granby Street.
“Though I don’t live on Granby Street, I utilize the street often and would love to safely travel it with my family,” one resident said.
“Allocations to these resources to a very small group of citizens to provide an optional commuting method does not appear to be approving use of limited funds,” said another resident against the project.
Ultimately, Norfolk City Council voted to approve $822,000 of funding the city received from VDOT nearly six years ago to advance the bike lanes project.
The project will turn the outer lanes on Granby Street from Willow Wood Drive to Admiral Taussig Boulevard into bike lanes.
The city also included additional safety measures along that stretch of road.
City leaders are looking to repair the road, add pedestrian improvements and add left turning lanes on parts of the road. The city will look for additional funding for those improvements.
“This demonstrated that a large number of people really wanted this, and it’s been consistent with survey after survey saying this is what people are asking for,” said Michael Merritt with Bike Norfolk.
Now, the work begins to get the project started.
"We will work with the advisory group and the public just as we have done with project development over the last year to go into that full detailed design and engineering process,” said Amy Inman, the city's transit director.
Inman said the city will rely heavily on community input when it comes to the bike lane design. In fact, they have already received some ideas.
“They would like to have the vertical and separated barrier of some sort. So, more than just paint and flex post," she said. "Something like wheel stops or something a little more solid.”
Inman said the design process will begin in a few months, and it could take up to a year before construction begins. She said we could see the addition of bike lanes in 2024.