The main purpose of this bike lane project is to ensure safety conditions for pedestrians and cyclists who are risking their own safety along the section of the bike lane.
The Santa Bibiana bike lane has provided the construction of a path consisting of separate lanes in one direction: a reserved lane, obtained from the roadway, in the same direction as that of motor vehicles, in the direction of the district of San Lorenzo; and a reserved lane obtained from the sidewalk in the direction of Esquilino.
The separation of the bike lane's directions allows it to minimize the "critical points" related to the passage of bicycles from the lanes reserved for them in proximity with the flow of other vehicles, making the cyclist safe both when entering the traffic and when changing direction, thanks to the existing crosswalks and the newly built bicycle crossings.
The cycle lane obtained from the carriageway has a width of 150 cm in accordance with the established regulations in force, in order to increase the safety of cyclists, a neutral zone of 50 cm has been placed beside the cycle lane, with a margin strip made of plastic thermo-cast.
Moreover, the realization of optical retarders along the roadway and the installation of retroreflective devices (cat's eyes) in correspondence of the neutral zone has been foreseen. The pedestrian circulation, which is expected to be blocked on the opposite sidewalk as it is only intended for the bike lane in the Esquilino direction, is directed on the sidewalk adjacent to the reserved road.
The project included the reorganization of the existing parking lot on the right side, at the end of the tunnel. In addition, the project identifies the continuation of the bike lane and pedestrian lane at the parking lot, currently not safe.
The parking lot is equipped with an entrance and exit for vehicles, where the cycle and pedestrian paths are interrupted by the relative crossings. In this way, the insertion of the bicycle lane along Via di Santa Bibiana is an opportunity to make safe the pedestrian mobility between the districts of San Lorenzo and Esquilino.
For cycle flows in the direction of via di Porta San Lorenzo, a cycle crossing is foreseen in correspondence to the parking lot, as above, and the realization of a cycle lane with the same characteristics as the one under the tunnel, alongside the existing traffic island, after which the cyclist continues in mixed traffic with cars. The bicycle crossing of Via di Santa Bibiana in the direction of San Lorenzo marks the start of a more extensive and articulated project of bicycle infrastructure of the axis of Via Tiburtina, which is being prepared by Roma Servizi per la Mobilità.
