Doug is quite correct that many destinations can only be reached by traveling along the arterial, whether it be University Ave or another large road. Paths are fine, if they go where you want to go. However, the extension of the Blackhawk Path veers away from the University Ave corridor, so reaching destinations ON University Ave, or the NW Lake Mendota area, will still require riding on or near University Ave.
I would also like to highlight a different section of the abstract: "Extensive cycling rights of way in the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany are complemented by ... *comprehensive traffic education and training of both cyclists and motorists*, and a wide range of promotional events intended to generate enthusiasm and *wide public support* for cycling." [emphasis mine] Many of the separate facilities in Europe are what we would call "side paths," that is a path that runs more or less like a sidewalk next to the roadway. European drivers are taught to look for bicyclists before making turns, so the infamous right and left hooks - where a motorists turn across the path of a bicyclist (the most common types of adult bicyclist-motorist crashes in the US) - are much less likely to occur. In Madison, we can not even get motorists to stop before entering the crosswalk when they come to a stop sign, much less yield to bicyclists riding on a glorified path next to the roadway. Check the statistics for bicyclist crashes in Madison - a large percentage occurred when the bicyclist was on the sidewalk, because the motorist didn't yield. Until we start training motorists the way they are trained in Europe, bicyclists need to be MORE visible to motorists, not way over on the edge, and out of the drivers' lines of sight. Please also note the article states how important land use and development patterns are to encouraging cycling. When communities are compact and destinations are close together, bicycling becomes a much more attractive option. This is quite obvious in the higher numbers of bicyclists in the central core of Madison vs. the periphery. Robbie
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