MOBILE, Alabama — Roughly 150 cyclists rolled through downtown Mobile on a hot Sunday afternoon to try out freshly painted bike lanes along a newly repaved stretch of St. Louis Street, part of a grassroots push to make the city’s core more welcoming to riders.
A flash ride with a purpose
The event, organized by the executive director of the Delta Bike Project, brought together roughly 100 riders who met at the group’s St. Francis Street location before pedaling over to St. Louis Street, where 50 or 60 more cyclists joined them. Volunteers had marked both sides of the four-block stretch with white paint, creating two 8-foot bike lanes and leaving two 12-foot travel lanes for cars. Police officers stationed at each end of the corridor did not close the street but slowed traffic as riders passed through.
Getting drivers used to sharing the road
Organizers said the police presence reflected a broader cultural shift already underway in the city, where drivers are still adjusting to sharing downtown streets with cyclists. The goal of clearly marked, easy-to-navigate bike lanes, they said, is a healthier, happier and more economically vibrant downtown. The idea traces back to when the city first repaved the corridor and included a single experimental block of bike lane to gauge interest. After a month of encouraging local riding groups to use that block, organizers said the response was strong enough to justify expanding the concept along the full stretch for the flash ride.
Riders of every stripe
One longtime Mobile rider who has given up driving entirely, getting around instead by bus, on foot or by bike, rode up and down the new lanes several times on her three-wheeled cycle, with her small dog riding along in a basket. She said the marked lanes made her feel noticeably safer navigating downtown streets. The crowd also included roller skaters, families with strollers, and at least one local artist performing tricks on a unicycle, a skill he picked up decades earlier as a member of a local unicycle club that once performed in downtown parades.
Small businesses join in
Nearby shop owners used the turnout as a chance to introduce themselves to the crowd. A recently opened art studio on St. Louis Street, run by two artists who relocated from a more expensive space a few blocks away on Dauphin Street, saw a wave of new visitors curious about the space. Down the block, a local pizzeria’s general manager handed out samples of homemade lemonade, carrot-pineapple juice and cold-pressed coffee to help riders cool off, calling it both a chance to promote his menu and a vote of support for a more bike-friendly downtown.
Bikeable, but not yet bike-friendly
Several longtime downtown business owners said the area has long been physically bikeable but has lacked the infrastructure to make it truly welcoming to cyclists. Organizers hope events like the flash ride will build enough public support to expand marked bike lanes to more of downtown Mobile’s streets in the future.