LACKAWANNA, N.Y. (WBEN) – The City of Lackawanna and GObike Buffalo are building a temporary 1.4 mile protected bicycle lane along Ridge Road between Route 5 and South Park Avenue.
The bike lanes are being installed as part of a "road diet", which will increase the safety of the road.
"It reduces truck speed and car speed in particular," Rich Stanton, Lackawanna's Director of Development, said. "It doesn't do any benefit to have Ridge Road be a pass-through from Route 219 to Route 5. What we're looking for is the slower car type of traffic that will use the local business."
The bike lanes will contribute to that safety, which is why the city is testing out the project until mid-November with GObike. This project is costing the city $7,000, compared to Buffalo's permanent two-way bicycle lanes that are costing approximately $20 million, according to GObike's Justin Booth.
"What we're doing here in the City of Lackawanna, before spending millions of dollars, we're spending $7,000 to try out the treatment, get community input, then look at that long-term investment," Booth said.
The bike lanes in Lackawanna will not be available in the winter, though city officials said they will be back up in the spring.