PROVIDENCE — The city installed its first two-way bike lane earlier this month, but, after an outcry from neighbors, has decided to dismantle it and return the road to its original condition.

The total cost of the ordeal will be $127,500.

The lane, a two-way delineated bike lane going down one side of Eaton Street between Douglas and River Avenues, was completed the week of Sept. 9 at a cost of $63,500, according to Mayor Jorge Elorza’s office.

But the reaction from community members to the new lane was swift and severe.

“They took a two-lane road and made it into three lanes,” said Louise Ely, who lives in the Elmhurst neighborhood. “The issue with that was, if there were an emergency vehicle, there would be nowhere for cars to move.”

Ward 14 City Councilman David Salvatore, who represents the Elmhurst and Wanskuck neighborhoods, said the bike lane makes the rest of the road far narrower.

“The roads were so narrow that I personally was almost involved in a head-on collision,” he said.

After it was first installed, some motorists were driving in the bike lane or using it as a place to pull over because they didn’t realize what it was, prompting the city to place bright poles along its length to mark the separation between the road and the bike lane, Salvatore said.

“I’m not opposed to bicycle lanes, I think they add value to our quality of life,” he said. “However these measures have to be implemented thoughtfully.”

Ward 5 City Councilwoman Jo-Ann Ryan, who represents parts of the Elmhurst, Mount Pleasant and Manton neighborhoods, hosted community meetings about the lane and sent a letter to Elorza outlining multiple safety concerns and saying that the project had sent the community “into an uproar.”

“Mayor, I ask that you listen to the community’s opposition to this plan — return the street to the striping design as it was before it got repaved, complete a formal traffic study of the street and really engage the community in its redesign,” Ryan wrote.

Work to dismantle the bike lane will begin this fall and will cost $64,000, according to Victor Morente, spokesman for Elorza’s office.

“The decision was made this week based on feedback from residents and in collaboration with Council Majority Leader Jo-Ann Ryan,” he wrote in an email.

According to Emily Crowell, spokeswoman for Elorza's office, the Eaton Street project was part of the city’s overarching “Great Streets Initiative” unveiled in June that proposes 60 miles of bike lanes, some of them two-way, throughout the city. Information about the Eaton Street project was included in the city’s public outreach efforts and feedback was collected before the formation of a draft plan, she wrote.

“In Spring 2019, the City of Providence hosted a dozen neighborhood meetings to gather input on the Providence Great Streets Initiative, during which hundreds of comments were collected on topics ranging from traffic calming to street lighting to bike lanes,” she wrote. “Residents were also able to vote on project ideas and provide additional comments through an online interactive map.”

But neighborhood residents were still caught by surprise and confused by the bike lane, Salvatore said.

“I am concerned that the specific project wasn’t conveyed to the community that would’ve been most impacted by it,” he said.

Cyclists, though, saw the installation of a two-way bike lane as a huge step forward for the city.

“I realize that people don’t quite understand them yet, but it is kind of the latest thinking about engineering bike lanes,” said Sarah Mitchell, chairwoman of the Rhode Island Bicycle Coalition.

Two-way bike lanes only affect one side of the street, preserving street parking on the other side, and only require striping and physical barriers to be installed once, instead of twice, she said. But they are different than what people are used to and targeted outreach needs to be done to make sure people understand how they work, she said.

“I think the rollout could've been smoother and more should've been done to help prepare [residents] for it,” she said. “I’m very, very frustrated that we’ve stepped backward from it.”

Residents who opposed the bike lane said they were upset by the expense of the project, as well as its dismantling.

“The mayor was the one who gave the OK, how about it comes out of his pocket?” Ely said. “We’re paying for it as citizens and it's something that should’ve never happened.”

— mlist@providencejournal.com

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On Twitter: @madeleine_list