Proposed Bike Lanes in Town of Addison Depend on Upcoming Council Vote
Bike lanes in Addison face opposition—email City Council before July 8 in support of bike lanes on Quorum Dr and Westgrove Dr to help save them.
Addison has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build high-quality bike lanes that connect residents and visitors to the new Silver Line trail, local businesses, and neighborhoods across North Dallas.
Despite strong funding and smart design, opposition from a few vocal residents led to the cancellation of the proposed bike lanes in Addison Circle. The remaining bike lane proposals throughout Addison are now at risk—unless supporters speak up. A final vote is expected at the July 8 City Council meeting.
Please email the Addison City Council in support of the Quorum and Westgrove bike lanes before July 8. Council members’ email addresses are listed at the end of this article.
Addison: a town of food, beer, fireworks… and cycling?
When you hear the name Addison, your first thought might be restaurants—or perhaps Oktoberfest or Kaboomtown. Maybe you’ve been on a date at one of the charming cafés in Addison Circle and thought, “This neighborhood is cute.” Or maybe you work here and often find yourself stuck in traffic on Belt Line Road or Midway as you head home.
Unless you live in Addison, you probably don’t associate the town with biking—and you wouldn’t be wrong for thinking that. But if you stick around long enough or visit the right neighborhoods, you’ll find a surprising amount of bike-friendly infrastructure.
Addison is home to several great trails, such as the Les Lacs Linear Park Trail, which connects to Vitruvian Park and extends all the way to Brookhaven College and even Dallas’s own Northaven Trail. More recently, Addison used bond funding and a DART sales tax rebate to add shared-use paths along Midway Road and nearby streets, which will link the town’s existing trails to the upcoming Silver Line Trail just north of Belt Line Road.
I once biked nine miles from US-75 and Walnut Hill Road all the way back to Addison—it was surprisingly doable!
Addison deserves better bicycle infrastructure
These trails are great, but biking isn’t just a leisure activity—for many people, it’s a legitimate mode of transportation.
Do these trails connect residents and visitors to essential services and jobs? Sort of… but not really. In fact, Addison’s signature neighborhood, Addison Circle, has extremely limited bicycle access.
It’s ironic that the town’s least dense neighborhoods benefit from exceptional bike infrastructure, while a mixed-use neighborhood that has won design awards doesn’t even offer a safe way for cyclists to reach the Whole Foods less than a mile away.
Fortunately, Addison has a plan to improve bike-ability in the Circle—at least, until recently they did.
Two expert studies proposed bike lanes from Addison Circle to town edges
Last year, Town of Addison staff presented the findings of two separate projects, both focused on improving mobility for residents and visitors along Quorum Drive—the main road leading to and through Addison Circle.
The NCTCOG Connectivity Study recommended a contiguous series of cycle tracks (two-way bike lanes) and buffered bike lanes from the northern edge of town along Westgrove Drive, to the southern edge along Quorum Drive.
In Addison Circle, the study recommended replacing one car lane in each direction with a protected bike lane. This change would not only make the neighborhood safer and more comfortable for cyclists, but also improve safety for all road users—including pedestrians and drivers—by slowing down cars that currently travel at high speeds on the four-lane Quorum Drive.
As part of the study, NCTCOG partnered with Popken Popups—an urban design firm specializing in temporary installations—to build test bike lanes in Addison Circle. The temporary lanes were in place for three weeks. Active Towns produced a 25-minute video featuring interviews with project planners and showing how the bike lanes functioned with real traffic.
The Quorum Drive Placemaking project focused on the segment of Quorum south of Addison Circle and addressed “the need to create outdoor spaces for people working in and visiting the South Quorum Business District.”
In summary, we have two separate yet complementary studies, each developed by teams of traffic engineers and mobility experts. Both recommend replacing car lanes with bike lanes to improve safety, enhance mobility, and support economic growth for Addison’s residents, visitors, and local businesses.
What’s more, tens of millions of dollars are already available to fund these upgrades from the 2019 town bond and NCTCOG programs.
So why would anyone oppose this?
Biggest pushback is over construction impact
Based on my conversations with Addison representatives and neighbors in Addison Circle, the biggest concern seems to be the construction itself.
The vision for Addison Circle’s bike lane involves removing one lane of traffic in each direction, shifting on-street parking into those former travel lanes, and repaving the old parking lanes into protected bike lanes. It’s the platonic ideal bike lane design—parked cars shield cyclists from moving traffic, and trees provide a buffer between the bike lane and the sidewalk.
Everyone benefits… once it’s built. But the construction phase would admittedly be disruptive, and many residents are understandably worried.
Vocal opposition to bike lanes at public meetings
Over the past few weeks, those and other concerns began surfacing at City Council meetings. People raised questions about parking during and after construction, how delivery vehicles would load and unload, and whether bike lanes were needed at all.
Town staff had reasonable answers and solutions to nearly all of these issues—but never got a chance to fully stick up for bike lanes due to strong pushback from those in attendance who were vocally opposed to losing car lanes.
What happened during those council meetings was, frankly, quite political—and I won’t get into all the details here. But one council member did start a petition to preserve both driving lanes on Quorum Drive.
I just wish staff stood their ground. They had a wealth of data supporting the bike lanes, and the funding was nearly guaranteed.
Bike lanes removed from consideration for Addison Circle
In late June, I spoke with the City Manager about where things stand with the town’s bike plan.
For the portion of Quorum Drive within Addison Circle, rather than sticking with the original proposal of installing proper bike lanes, they’re looking at instead painting “sharrows” in the car lanes.
In my opinion, these sharrows are functionally useless when it comes to protecting cyclists—in fact, they may be worse than nothing. A 2018 study concludes that sharrows may provide bike riders with a "false sense of security," leading to more crashes and injuries, and often pose more danger to cyclists than not having any bike markings at all.
Without road diet, speed limit reductions don’t actually work
Last month, the town officially lowered the posted speed limit in Addison Circle from 30 mph to 25 mph. This came after concerns over dangerous speeding on Quorum Dr were voiced by local residents, many of whom were also outspoken against bike lanes on that same street.
I share these concerns with my neighbors and I think 25 mph is a more appropriate speed limit. A person is about 70 percent more likely to be killed if they're struck by a vehicle traveling at 30 mph versus 25 mph.
However, as the U.S. Department of Transportation—and any amateur urbanist—will tell you, more car lanes lead to faster driving. Town staff tried to warn the Council that having two lanes in each direction essentially “invites” drivers to speed comfortably. But most Council members believed the issue could be addressed through traffic enforcement rather than street design.
Remaining hope for bike lanes in Addison
Fortunately, the rest of the proposed plan – bike lanes north and south of Addison Circle – is expected to move forward as currently designed. The City Council is expected to confirm this direction when they meet on July 8th.
This is excellent news, as the remaining proposal is a great improvement over existing infrastructure. Addison and surrounding neighborhoods in Far North Dallas would benefit greatly from this connection. The proposed bike lanes will make travel safer for cyclists, pedestrians, and cars.
Much of the proposed design will be funded through either the voter-approved bond, or a local funding match through NCTCOG. These projects are an absolute steal to build, and will invite more visitors to the Circle once the Silver Line rail and trail open.
We need your help
These bike lanes need to stay! However, the same forces that killed the bike lanes inside Addison Circle may try to eliminate those outside the Circle as well.
That’s why I’m asking everyone who supports safe, vibrant streets in the Addison area to email the City Council (see contact info below) in support of the Quorum and Westgrove bike lanes. Please take action before July 8 so they understand the importance of investing in safe mobility for all—before it’s too late.
Addison City Council:
Bruce Arfsten - Mayor: barfsten@addisontx.gov
Chris DeFrancisco: cdefrancisco@addisontx.gov
Marlin Willesen: mwillesen@addisontx.gov
Howard Freed: hfreed@addisontx.gov
Dan Liscio: dliscio@addisontx.gov
Randy Smith: rsmith@addisontx.gov
Darren Gardner: dgardner@addisontx.gov
The Addison Addition is a new section of Dallas Urbanists STLC, focused on urbanism in the Town of Addison. If you live or work in or near Addison, please subscribe to The Addison Addition to receive future posts! I’ve you already subscribed to Dallas Urbanists, use the Subscribe button below and make sure to check the box for The Addison Addition. If you’re not already subscribed, click the Subscribed button below to open your subscriber settings and under “Notifications” turn on emails for The Addison Addition.