Cameron Village doesn’t want bike lanes. Cyclists do. So Raleigh tries to bridge divide.

The new pavement was laid down months ago, but the city has delayed putting permanent lane markings on a street in Cameron Village because of a disagreement over whether there should be bike lanes.

The city’s plan for Cameron Street through the heart of the city’s oldest shopping center was to change the traffic pattern from four lanes to three, with a travel lane in each direction and a turn lane down the middle. Eliminating a lane for cars would make room for bicycle lanes in both directions.

But the owners of Cameron Village, Regency Centers, would rather the existing four-lane traffic pattern remain as it is, to the frustration of the cycling advocacy group Oaks & Spokes.

The city is trying to reach some consensus, said Michael Moore, the transportation director. Moore said city staff is working on a few options that they soon will present to Cameron Village and its tenants, as well as cyclists and others who might be interested.

“We’ve still got a couple of things that we need to work on internally,” Moore said.

The city doesn’t typically build four-lane undivided streets anymore, in part because they make left turns at intersections trickier, said Eric Lamb, Raleigh’s transportation planning manager. Lamb said the city has found the three-lane pattern, with the center turn lane, to be safer. Such a pattern has been used on nearby Clark and Peace streets.

But Lamb said the city held off putting down the new lane markings on Cameron Street after Cameron Village objected.

Lynne Worth, vice president for retail leasing and property management for York Properties, which manages the complex, said the owners think the four-lane pattern is better for cars, cyclists and the city buses that stop at two points along Cameron Street.

“We prefer it to be as it is,” Worth said. “But we want it to be safe for all people traveling on Cameron Street.”

Meanwhile, members of Oaks & Spokes are anxious to see the bike lanes put in. During the past month, they’ve written letters to the City Council and held a group ride to Cameron Village to draw attention to the issue and to win support.

Oaks & Spokes member Tory Gibler says she rides on Cameron Street at least once a week and thinks it would be safer with a bike lane. She says lots of cyclists already ride to Cameron Village but that bike lanes would encourage more, particularly people who are anxious about riding in traffic without a space designated for them.

Gibler noted that while the city figures out what to do, the temporary markings on the pavement have faded.

“If you say you’re going to do things, don’t drag it out to the point where it’s unsafe,” she said. “It’s unsafe now that the temporary markings have washed away.”

Moore, the city transportation director, said the city will soon put down permanent markings for the undisputed parts of the traffic pattern, most notably the crosswalks. He said the city would like to get permanent lane markings down before winter weather sets in.

This story was originally published August 1, 2018 at 5:24 PM.