New York jumped on the bandwagon to opening its most extensive network of public space, the streets, or actually just a small portion of them, to bikes and pedestrians for 3 Saturdays this summer in a program called Summer Streets. Forgetting for a moment that they chose August, why couldn’t we do this in Savannah? Most of the north-south streets are untraveled by through traffic, so would it not be a fantastic idea to reopen our streets to Oglethorpe’s plan, to once again prioritize the slow traffic of pedestrians and bicycles? For goodness sake, with all of the tourists walking on Bull Street, everyone else knows to drive elsewhere. If we then opened it to a safe recreation corridor for weekends, locals and tourists alike could enjoy our city as it was designed to be enjoyed. There are other extremely successful worldwide examples of this idea.
While we’re at it, why not throw in bike sharing? It has worked famously for Paris and Barcelona, is imminent in Washington, DC, is testing in New York, and many other US cities are considering it. Savannah’s downtown area, with improvements in signage and parking, and a dedicated southbound artery for bicycles, would be perfect for people to experience Savannah not through the framed walls of a car or trolley, but with the panoramic views and slower speeds allowed by bicycling.
So, Savannah needs to step to the table — we need to start a recreational corridor through the historic district free of cars, even if only for weekends, and start thinking about bike sharing.