> From: Darryl Jordan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > Out of curiosity, since I work at off-hours, where and > when are the bike paths and routes most crowded? > (Besides coffee shops, small groceries and book > stores?)
The Isthm...er...Cap City Trail, Isthmus Section (or whatever they call it now), esp. along the lake, can be crowded almost any time the weather is good. I'm sure there are patterns, but I doubt that anywhere near the money spent on studying car traffic patterns has been spent on determining what those patterns are. > Also, if the lanes are crowded, is bike traffic > bumber-to-bumper? It's _traffic_, not just bike traffic. You encounter everything from people walking their dogs (legal, I _think_, if they're on a leash) to fishing from the bridges (illegal, of course). Imagine a two-lane car bridge, with no shoulder and blind approaches, and people standing on the traffic lanes hanging fishing lines over the side. > Would occasional passing lanes be practical every two > blocks; which raises the issue - is passing on the > right still legal? (Although, having stop lights on > the entrance ramps on the busy bike path like there > are on the Beltline would be a clear signal how > serious Madison takes its bike commuting. ;-)) US Hwy 14 through Iowa, Sauk and Richland Counties has these periodic "third lanes". Of course, the speed ratio of slow to fast traffic is usually not nearly as great on a road like this as, say, on the above-mentioned path on a pleasant Saturday. But the model might be applicable. The only "merge" I can think of that could possibly use a better, perhaps light-based control is in front of Machinery Row. But that entire intersection, for cars, trains, cyclists, visitors to the businesses, and especially pedestrians, is (as it's often called) a cluster-f@&k of an intersection. > Are there alternative streets to use for a block or > two? Ort just maybe stop by the nearest beverage stand > to wait out the bike rush with a sugar rush? Would you ask Beltline users to do the same? But actually, when car drivers do this, it's usually with problematic results. I live on a residential street that's parallel to, one block over from, a major car artery. Freqently car commuters use our street as an "auxiliary". But of course, they try to do so at the same speed as they do the artery, which puts residents in danger. --------------- Paul T. O'Leary Desktop Insurgent Madison, WI USA _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected] http://www.danenet.org/mailman/listinfo/bikies
