DOWNTOWN FARGO NEW BIKE ROUTES PROJECT

Proposed By Wenyi Zhang wenyi.zhang@my.ndsu.edu 2012 Summer

Mr. Pat Zavoral City Administrator City Transit Department 502 NP Ave. N, Fargo, ND Dear Mr. Zavoral Attached you will find my proposal for the Downtown Fargo new bike routes project. This proposal mainly forces on the northern area and the main avenue of the downtown district. Minor changes and construction will be taken place during this project. I believe it would be a great help to come up with thoughtful bike routes designs for the bikers downtown. My new proposal creates more traffic lanes to be used only by bikes within the downtown area. This involves repainting the existing signs for the constructed bike lanes. It would provide a overall bike welcome neighborhood in the heart of the city of Fargo. The following documents will illustrate my planning for the new downtown Fargo bike routes. As an architecture student for North Dakota State University, I will use my past experience and knowledge to design this new project. My personal resume in the following pages may help you to evaluate my skills. In this proposal, you will find the detailed schedule and budgets as well. Since I believe this submittal will give you the information you need. I am looking forthis project does not involve large construction, the budget will be as low as $1,000. ward to working on this project and proceeding with you.

Sincerely, Wenyi Zhang

Letter Of Transmittal | Wenyi Zhang

Executive Summary
I understand many people in the Fargo area have changed their lifestyle in

recent years. Many people choose to bike quite frequently, especially in the summer season. As a result, the city of Fargo has a growing urge for better-planed bike routes. Since the downtown district is one of the densest populated areas of the city, many activities and vendors downtown encourage people to use bikes more in this area. A new bike routes project for the downtown Fargo area is very much in need. My new proposal focuses on planning more bike lanes and lockers to benefit the pubic. This will lower the risk for both bikers and pedestrians on roads and lead to a healthier way of living. First, new project will mainly take place on the roads without bike lanes, and then we will repaint the existing bike lane signs to make it more easily distinguishable from other lanes on roads. The last part of this proposal is to add more public bike locker in this area. The budget of this proposal will be as low as $1,000 in total. Since the project consists of three main parts, the scheduled construction plan for this proposal will last up to three weeks. Each week will be used to finish one part of this project.

Executive Summary| Wenyi Zhang

Statement of problem
As biking has become more and more popular for the local residents, it is not

surprising to see an increase in bikers downtown, especially in the summer season. Despite the fact that the city of Fargo has been built more bike lanes and bike facility for the downtown area, there still remains some problems for the downtown bikers. The following statement points out the unsolved problems of downtown bike routes and provides possible solution to the question.

Problems:
First of all, comparing to the amount of people that bike in the downtown area, the number of bike lanes found in the same area is certainly not big enough to convey the traffic load. This will result in a chaos condition for the local roads. Although the city of Fargo allows the bikers to share some wide sidewalks (equal or wider than 4) with the pedestrians, under this circumstance bikers have to share sidewalks with the pedestrian in some very narrow roads as well (fig. 1). This potentially increases the risks for both the pedestrian and the bikers. Secondly, many of the existing bike lanes are not being used as expected (fig. 2). In most cases, the indication of the bike lane is simply a painted sign on the road (fig. 3). As some bikers in Fargo are used to sharing

BIK

EL

AN

figure 1 Bikers have to share very narrow streets with pedestrians

figure 2 Bikers do not aware of the existing bike lane

figure 3 Very simple indication for bike lane

Statement Of Problem part 1 | Wenyi Zhang

the sidewalks with the pedestrian, many of them are not aware of the planned lanes for bikes. It will not help the current biking situation if the bikers can not find the bike lanes. This is a waste for the existing resource. Last point, since the downtown area provides a broad selection for restaurants and vendors, it is reasonable for bikers to stop frequently. However, there seems to not be enough public bike lockers within the area. Many people choose to locker their bikes to a streetlights. This not only hurts the citys image but also blocks the passing pedestrians.

Solution:
To the very first existing problem, the simple solution is to constructed more bike lanes in the downtown area. In this project, NP and 1st avenue will add an individual bike lane on the road. For some of the finished bike lanes, solid lines will be painted to distinguish the area that is only for bikes on the roads. A successful example for the project could be found from 4th street to the north side of Main Avenue (fig. 4). This step involves with Roberts Street and Board Way. To solve the final problem my proposal will add several more pubic bike lockers in various locations. In this proposal, the biggest public bike locker will be installed at the west side of the cityscapes and two small bike lockers will be located on Broadway(fig. 5).

figure 4 A successful example of the individual bike lane

figure 5 Smaller bike lockers on Broad Way

Statement Of Problem part 2 | Wenyi Zhang

WENYI ZHANG
Profile

| wenyi.zhang@my.ndsu.edu | p.o.box 5224 |apt 517 | Fargo | ND 58102 | Project Experience Japanese Teahouse
2010 Fall | Instructor Joan Vorderbruggen The very rst studio project, emphasized on understanding the ritual of the tea ceremony. Develops the basic hand drafting skills and model making skills.

Assiduous Chinese architecture student, seeking a better educational experience in the United States. Characterized by self-motivated and organized personalities, I am willing to challenge myself with plethora of design tasks. Education North Dakota State University 2008 present Expected degree Bachelors of Environmental Design 2013 Masters of Architecture 2014 Experience 2010 Summer| Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China Internship at Zhejiang University Institution of Architecture Work as the assistant of the design studio. Experience the working environment in this professional area. 2011 Summer| Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China Interpretor of Sir Run Run Shao Hospital Help to translate for the foreign students that interns at the hospital Help to make brochures of medical information for the community Technical Skills
Adobe Photoshop Adobe Illustrator Adobe InDesign Autodesk AutoCAD Autodesk Revit Autodesk 3DS MAX Microsoft Ofce Google Sketch up Model making Hand Drafting Photography

Minnesota Rowing Club Boathouse

2010 Fall | Instructor Joan Vorderbruggen Designing a boathouse that function as both the training space and the storage space for the facilities. A eld trip to Minneapolis was involved in this project.

Dwelling

2011 Spring | Instructor Cindy Urness Build a new community in Marfa, TX. New technology of clean energy and green design concept were required in this project. A good practice for design software and graphic layout.

Zombie Safe House

2011 Fall | Instructor Regin Schwaen An entry for the zombie safe house competition. Worked with another partner the entire time. This project mainly focused on graphic design stills.

Artist In Residence

2011 Fall | Instructor Regin Schwaen Created four carbines for four different types of artists. A hybrid design with the material choice of brick and wood. Focused on the structural design of one building.

NDSU Multi-use Technology Building

2012 Spring | Instructor Mike Christenson A semester long project include with four parts. The format of this studio section was to trade projects. Each student would inherit one set of work from his or her classmates. New project started with the unnished work of others. An intense practice for all design skills.

Awards 2009 - Present Named to Deans List of North Dakota State University

| 2012 Summer |

Resume | Wenyi Zhang

Experience/Qualifications
I, Wenyi Zhang, am qualified for the Downtown Fargo new bike routes project First, as an architecture student in North Dakota State University, I have learned

because: many design skills including urban planning. Images below are selected works from my urban design class. These two projects, the Fargo site analysis and the city of Glasgow analysis, focused on urban analysis and overall city planing skills which related to the downtown Fargo new bike routes project. Secondly, I have lived downtown Fargo for some time, I know how inconvenient the existing problems of bike routes are for the city of Fargo. I have the passion and determination to create a better environment for the city of Fargo.
urban design 461 wenyi zhang

g l A s g o W
NDSU campus
Population: 105,549 Density: 2,388.2/ sq mile 465238N 964722W

U K
5 5 5 1 ' N Y T I O N 0 4 1 2 ' W / s q m i 0 8 0 0 . , 1 0 4 0 5 3 , , 8 2 T A I L S U N P E O D P

Urban Design 461

Wenyi Zhang

Erin Saarela

FIGURE GROUND

EDGE PATH DISTRICTS CENTER SUBWAY STATION CITY HALL

DISTRICTS Engineering Center

PATHS

NODE

university ave

SUN PATTERN MUSEUM / SQURE

WIND PATTERN subway

STEEL GLASS STRUCTURE ARCHITECTUAL CHARACTER

Selected work of urban planning skills

Fargo Site Analysis

CITY LANDSCAPE

SUN

WIND

Parking Lots

BRICK

CONCRETE

Experience & Qualification| Wenyi Zhang

Budget
Road paint (plus labor costs) $8 /per gallon $8 * 50 gallon = $ 400

Bike locker Small locker $ 50 $50 *2 = $100 Big locker $ 400 $400 *1=$400 Installation labor $100

Total Cost = $400 + $100 + $400 + $100 = $ 1,000

Resource:
Http://dailyreporter.com/2010/06/16/builders-predict-rising-paint-prices/

Budget | Wenyi Zhang

Schedule
Week 1 - Plan Bike Routes Measure and sketch the newly planed routes on N.P. Ave and 1st Ave Select the locations for new bike lockers

Week 2 - Paint Bike Lanes Finish the road painting for the new routes Add solid paint lines to the existing bike lane signs

Week 3 - Install Bike Lockers Install the facility on the chosen spots

Schedule| Wenyi Zhang

Supporting Materials

Current bike routes for the selected location

Original map from: Http://www.cityoffargo.com/attachments/bbd73393-5c79-4b46-8b8c-44ab154e380a/BikeMap_FinalRevisions_2012.pdf

Supporting Materials

part 1| Wenyi Zhang

New bike routes for the selected location

Supporting Materials

part 2| Wenyi Zhang