It's well-known Sacramento has given many streets a face lift, but on popular J Street, there's a change coming that has many bicyclists excited and some drivers not so happy.
While J Street can be crowded for cars during rush hour, many bicyclists claim it's even worse for them.
“It's pretty much the scariest leg of my commute,” said bicyclist Adam Kringel.
Instead, Kringel, who rides to work at the Midtown Art Retail Restaurant Scene building on 20th Street, takes alternative routes to J Street.
“I don't take it because it's just way too much traffic and there's no bike lane,” Kringel said.
However, the City of Sacramento has a plan up their sleeve. The city says this summer, between 19th and 30th Streets, they plan on removing one lane and turning it into a protected bike lane -- all to make the city more bike and pedestrian friendly.
“What we will be doing is removing the travel lane. The bike lane will be right next to the sidewalk and then we'll have a three-foot buffer,” said Jennifer Donlon Wyant, City of Sacramento Active Transportation Manager. “By having this set up, we'll be slowing cars down so that pedestrians are more easily able to cross. We're also improving sight distance so that pedestrians who are crossing are more visible to drivers.”
Online -- like on the Sacramento subreddit -- many have shown support.
“It's good because it makes my commute easier and safer,” Kringel said.
Even some businesses in the area, like Pizzeria Urbano, say it’s great for customer safety in their area.
“Everybody's safe, that's the main thing,” said Julio Mora, and employee at Pizzeria Urbano. “I don't think it will affect business all too much.”
As others still show frustration online over potential traffic after going from three lanes to two, the City says the impact won't be as bad as people think.
“The traffic is actually not mostly in the corridor we are looking at,” Wyant said. “We'll be adding some time to people's commute, but it's a matter of seconds not minutes.”
In order to hear everyone’s concerns, the City of Sacramento is holding a public forum on the topic at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Hart Senior Center.