Peter Rosenfeld
Wed, 17 Jul 2002 13:07:15 -0700
> > How should existing bike lanes in Philadelphia be modified to > correct for this perceived problem? I would not call it a perceived problem. There is data that strongly indicates that these lanes increase the dooring rate. And I personally know several people who have been doored while riding in lanes of this type. Modifications - I am assuming that there was enough bike and auto traffic in the first place to justify modifying the road with special facilities: 1. If the outside lane cannot be made wider and is too narrow to share: a)remove the lane altogether and encourage bicyclists to use the traffic lane. Most universal approach, works everywhere. Ideal for Spring Garden, which is 4 lanes, so there is no real issues with bikes inconveniencing car traffic. Education can support this - teach bicyclists of their right to use the normal traffic lane and the safety of doing so. Stress to motorists the right of bikes to do this. Also teach bicyclists to ride in a straight line and to check and yield when making positional changes. For paint approaches: A west coast group has suggested that bicyclists can be encouraged to do the above approach by painting bike icons in the travel lane at a position where it is safe to bike (relative to doors). Experiments are ongoing. b) Narrow the bike lane - move the right-most stripe left, resulting in a narrower lane. This will cause bicyclists to tend to position themselves further from the door zone. Can be a problem as the lane becomes narrower than AASHTO guidelines and you may still be in the doorzone. However, on Spring Garden I think that riding near the left bike lane stripe keeps you out of the door zone. 2. Widen the outside travel lane and then move the bike lane further out so it is outside of the door zone. I actually think this could work on streets like Spring Garden. It is a 4 lane street. The inner lanes can be narrowed slightly and this width used in the outside lanes. -Peter Rosenfeld ---- You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the Bicycle Coalition of the Delaware Valley list named "bike." To subscribe or unsubscribe or for archive information, see <http://www.purple.com/list.html>.