I don't have a problem with seaparate bike paths; I wish they were
everywhere. If it didn't add two miles to my commute I'd use them every
day. But here are some downsides:
1) they can always be taken away if rail lines are reactivated
2) They often don't go where you want to.
If not built on rail lines, they will have lots of road crossings, which
leads to the next several:
3) The concrete ramps/joints at intersections are just plain nasty on a
road bike unless you slow to a crawl
4) You have to slow down and yield (or stop) at every street crossing in
places where there are lots (like the Isthmus path, where you'll see
many bikers using Willy St instead)
5) If the path is right along a road, it's VERY dangerous at
intersections AND you have to weave around the cars stopped in the crosswalk
6) In winter many roads are kept in much better shape than some paths,
and they don't have big piles of plowed snow running across them at
intersections
7) Numerous studies show that the more bikes are on the streets, the
safer it is for bikes as motorists get used to them. If we're all off
on isolated paths that's not going to happen, so we are all less safe on
those occasions when we do need to be on the road.
They both have their pros/cons - they are both compromises and one is
not inherently better than the other.
-Doug Adler
John Martin wrote:
While I see the utopian vision of co-existing on the same roads with
cars, I still believe separate paths are a better option. Yes, there
is danger at every road crossing, but there's great peace of mind
between them.
My problem with bike lanes is:
1) they can always be taken away (as evidenced on South Park Street
after the St. Mary's redo;
2) they're routinely ignored or double-parked in (see the photo in
the recently-sited NYT article, or just about any bike lane on any
block in NY);
3) in winter, the "shared" bike/parking lanes get filled with snow in
the winter so cars park farther away from the curb and force bikes
into traffic;
4) in winter, a spill on a bike path is usually between the rider and
the ground; in a bike lane it's between the rider, the ground, and
nearby drivers whose windows are rarely de-iced.
Is there a clear argument for bike lanes that addresses these
problems? Or am I off-base with them?
thanks,
John
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