New Bike Lanes to be Created With Temporary Paint on South Lamar

The city of Oxford will create a new section of bike paths on South Lamar Boulevard using temporary striping.

On Tuesday, City Engineer Reanna Mayoral presented the idea to create the new bike lanes to the Board of Aldermen during their regular meeting.

The city just completed paving the area of South Lamar from Belk Boulevard North to Highway 6.

“We’re ready to do the striping,” Mayoral said.

Included in the newly paved section of road, is a three-lane road that extends from the roundabout at Belk Boulevard to just north of Elliott Drive. The bike lanes would be created in that area by establishing a new centerline where the center turn lane is and adding turn lanes on each side.

“This will allow us to have bike lanes from Belk Boulevard going toward Elliot,” Mayoral said. “We’ll transition the lanes out as we approach the intersection, so they move back into traffic when they come through Elliott Drive.”

In 2013, bike lanes were created from Belk Boulevard down to Highway 7.

Alderman Janice Antonow said with the new Lamar Yard barbeque restaurant off Lamar Boulevard, traffic is already backing up.

“I love bike lanes, and we do have a lot of people who do bike down South Lamar, so we can give it a try and see how it goes,” she said.

Mayoral said the city can use temporary paint to create the bike lanes.

“It’s a latex paint, and it doesn’t burn into the pavement,” she said. “It’s easy to remove if we need to.”