Plantation council narrows options for Midtown bike lanes; staff to design protected bike lane with landscaping and further review

Plantation city staff and a consultant briefed the City Council on three design alternatives for bicycle and pedestrian improvements on Southwest Sixth Street and Southwest 70th Avenue in the Midtown district. After discussion with staff, departments and Midtown advisory board members, the council signaled a preference for a protected-bike alternative that repurposes the outside travel lane, adds a roundabout at Sixth and 70th and increases pedestrian and landscaping amenities.

The city engineer, Samira Shalan, and consultant Winston Lucky of Keith & Associates presented three concepts: (1) a low-cost shared-lane ("sharrow") approach with minimal changes and no roundabout; (2) repurposing the outside lane to provide a dedicated buffered bike lane with physical delineation and an optional roundabout; and (3) a more extensive…