Here’s my first cycling video. It’s a bit rough. You’ll notice that I’ve attempted to mask sounds of wheezing and sniffling (I have a little cold) with some mediocre guitar playing 
This video shows a 1.92-mile, 12-minute ride along Holland Ave. from Glenwood St. north to the southwest corner of MSU at Grand St. Holland is part of the Springfield bicycle route system — roads marked as being particularly bicycle-friendly (the system map also includes bicycle lanes and the MSU Bikeway).
What makes Holland particularly important is that it provides a connection between the South Creek Greenway and MSU. And from MSU it’s an easy trip to downtown and the northern neighborhoods of Springfield. In other words, this could be a significant route for moving a large number of walkers and cyclists from the neighborhoods between Grand St. and Sunset St. into campus and downtown.
But Holland still needs a little work to encourage more walkers and cyclists to use it as a route to downtown. I’ll discuss after the video.
Holland St. north to MSU from acline on Vimeo.
Here’s a list of things I think could be done to promote Holland as a walking and cycling boulevard:
1. Turn all the stop signs in favor of Holland. The exception, of course, would be the big intersection at Sunshine St. This is a major 4-lane east-west artery. There’s not much to be done here. Perhaps a painted crosswalk — something to let drivers know to be careful?
2. Lower the speed limit to 20 mph. Drivers are not using Holland as a north-south artery. People who live along this street head to the nearest cross street to get to larger roads better suited to moving quickly through town. A 20 mph limit should not present a hardship for residents.
Near the end of the video you’ll notice that Holland turns into an alley. The bicycle route shifts onto Clay Ave. and Dollison Ave. At the intersection of Dollison and Grand, riders and walkers shift a few yards to the east to cross at a pedestrian light to continue north on John Q. Hammons Pkwy. This part of the bicycle route takes you drectly through campus. You can also pick up the campus bikeway.
Making the alley an additional connector across Grand would mean cyclists could easily continue north on Holland by crossing at a controlled intersection. And, as with Hammons, one may easily pick up the bicycle route or campus bikeway. Downtown is just mile away.
Comments 6
I don’t have occasion to use that route very often, but when I do, I always jog over and cross Sunshine at the light on Kimbrough. It’s a couple of blocks out of the way, but I like the security of crossing that at a light. I’ve often wondered why they didn’t take the Bicycle Route that direction instead of leaving the four lanes of Sunshine to cross. Granted, by jumping over to Kimbrough on Cherokee and then back to Holland on University you are on the busier for a couple of blocks, but I’m more comfortable doing that than trying to cross, especially if traffic is heavy on Sunshine.
Posted 27 Dec 2008 at 3:23 pm ¶Tracy… That’s a good plan. Traffic was light the day I made that video, so crossing was easy. I may have waited 20 seconds. But during rush hours? Forget it.
Posted 27 Dec 2008 at 3:48 pm ¶Cool video. I think it is especially appropriate for “Holland” to be a road for cyclists.
It looks very long and straight, I so I guess it provides quite a direct route. However, I can see why the STOP signs get a bit annoying. It looks ideal for conversion into a “bicycle road”. This would mean cars were treated as “guests of the bicycle” if driven on the road, you’d have priority at all those crossings with STOP signs and perhaps it would be made impossible to drive all the way along.
There is a big road of much the same size as that one near our home, and it has an underpass like this. That’s pretty standard here to allow cyclists to make direct journeys on main routes. Or, perhaps the road could be lifted out of the way of the bikes as shown here ?
Anyway, as it is it already looks a pretty good route. How many cyclists use it ? I don’t recall seeing any others in your video, but I dare say this isn’t the peak time of year.
Posted 27 Dec 2008 at 4:31 pm ¶David… Holland Ave. is a popular route for walkers and cyclists because it is such a straight shot to MSU and downtown. But, yes, this is not a peak time of year. I have another video I’ll post soon that shows a portion of the South Creek Greenway. You’ll also find it interesting because it has a few features that will remind you of home.
Posted 27 Dec 2008 at 9:18 pm ¶Andy,
I agree about the stop signs. Looks like some of them are being misused for speed control, or traffic deterrent (a pernicious trend in this country, leading to disregard for the device and ignorance of yielding rules).
The 4-way crossing in really dicey. A bike route should, by design, have controlled intersections at major crossings like that.
I don’t know that there’s much difference between a 25mph and 20pmh speed limit, unless the limit is strictly enforced (unlikely). I think 20 is more for areas where children are present because they make unpredictable movements.
One thing I really like about that road is the lack of a center line. Around here the local governments paint every little 25mph residential collector to look like a #@$% highway — double yellow line, white edge line, raised reflectors (there’s an advantage to snow!). The lines have 3 adverse effects: they induce higher speeds by creating a speed-context visual cue; they reduce caution by channeling motorists in their lanes; they reduce passing clearance of bicyclists (on roads with no lines, motorists move way over to the other side to pass… even for the curb-huggers).
Posted 28 Dec 2008 at 7:46 am ¶Keri… I think you’re right about the speed limit. I would like to see it merely as a symbolic move. Springfield is has actually been raising limits around town on arteries, although it has begun lowering residential areas to 25. It used to be 30 in most places.
Posted 28 Dec 2008 at 8:19 am ¶