Peter asked  <What do bike paths count as? Say, for example, the crossing of 
Willy St. at Riverside (the Yahara River)? >

 Good question, and another situation where you need to look at more than 
section of the law to understand.  It counts as a street, see below.  We have 
detector loops in the path (you can see the cuts in the path for the loop 
wires) that are sensitive to bikes approaching from each direction, so please 
wait for the green there, it will come up.

The rationale for the bike path being a street is:  A street is defined as any 
public way open to vehicular traffic.  A bicycle is defined as a vehicle.  Ergo 
a bike path is a street on which motorized traffic is prohibited.  Here are the 
specific legal definitions.


340.01 Words and phrases defined. In s. 23.33 and chs. 340 to 349 and 351, the 
following words and phrases have the designated meanings unless a different 
meaning is expressly provided or the context clearly indicates a different 
meaning:

(64) "Street" means every highway within the corporate limits of a city or 
village except alleys.

(22) "Highway" means all public ways and thoroughfares and bridges on the same. 
It includes the entire width between the boundary lines of every way open to 
the use of the public as a matter of right for the purposes of vehicular 
travel. It includes those roads or driveways in the state, county or municipal 
parks and in state forests which have been opened to the use of the public for 
the purpose of vehicular travel and roads or driveways upon the grounds of 
public schools, as defined in s. 115.01 (1), and institutions
under the jurisdiction of the county board of supervisors, but does not include 
private roads or driveways as defined in sub. (46).

(5) "Bicycle" means every vehicle propelled by the feet acting upon pedals and 
having wheels any 2 of which are not less than 14 inches in diameter.


Arthur Ross, Pedestrian-Bicycle Coordinator
City of Madison Traffic Engineering Division
215 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Suite 100
PO Box 2986
Madison, WI  53701-2986
608/266-6225
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