All good points Robbie! I am now remembering times this past winter
trying to bike on those ruts. It sucked! But the "too many people -
often very inexperienced bicyclists - using this lane" grabbed my
attention. Since we want to encourage inexperienced cyclists to bike
more, does this type of lane (when clear) do that? Or would students
take anything on University, curbed or not (I often see bikes going
both ways on that path, but have never seen a bike going contraflow on
the North-side bike lane).
I wonder how a full-width curbed lane would work on University and
other 3+ lane streets. I agree that the contraflow lane on University
is too narrow. But if it were full width would it work well enough as
a 2-way bike lane -- like the paths? Would it work to take one of the
lanes from cars on streets like University, Johnson, Park, etc. and
make them curbed 2-way bike lanes? Would that lure "street-shy"
inexperienced cyclists onto them? Is one car-lane-width 2-way bike
lane safer and less wide than 2 separate standard-bike-lane-width lanes?
I'm optimistic that the big internal combustion car is headed out,
which will free up space on streets (and lessen exhaust for cyclists).
And on that sunny day we'll have money for more of the NY-style
cycling infrastructure you describe ;-)
On Nov 24, 2008, at 1:19 PM, Robbie Webber wrote:
Re: contraflow lanes on University - These comments are mine alone,
so I'm not saying others have to agree.
I hate the contraflow lanes on University, and will use Dayton
unless I am actually going to a destination on University Ave. Why?
1. In good weather, there are too many people - often very
inexperienced bicyclists - using this lane. <snip>
2. I don't trust the motorists to yield when turning left, and I
don't trust the pedestrians to not step out into the lane. This is
especially bad in the fall, when there are lots of new people in
town that haven't figured out how things work. <snip>
3. In winter, the lanes aren't well plowed and/or freeze over with
rutted ice and snow. <snip>
4. Looking at the oncoming traffic makes me dizzy. And I have to
look at the traffic because I don't want to get hit by a left
turning motorist. <snip>
lanes without curbs. This allows bicyclists to move left when
needed. <snip>
New York has installed curbed bike lanes that run parallel to the
traffic, and they are placed on the left of driving lanes to avoid
bicyclists getting cutr off by right turning motorists. Also to
avoid getting doored where there is parking. I was skepical about
these, but after seeing a presentation, I'm OK with them. HOWEVER,
the bike lanes have their own light cycle, and no left turns are
allowed by motorized traffic except on a left arrow. This eliminates
the turning problems. Also, the lanes are waaaay wider than those on
Unviersity Ave, allowing easy and safe passing by bicyclists.
If I were to redesign the area between Basset and Breese, I'd put
bike lanes on Johnson similar to the ones on University. Everyone
ride the same direction, plenty of room to pass, and you can move
left when making a turn. But since that's not going to happen, I'll
just take Dayton St.
Robbie
_______________________________________________
Bikies mailing list
[email protected]
http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org
