India -- I think Michael is talking about bike LANES. The City does an admirable job of plowing bike PATHS after a snowstorm (and they are doing a better job than they used to of keeping up with the drifting and thawing/freezing that happens after the snow), but they give much less attention to on-street bike lanes. For example, the contraflow lane on University Avenue was, if I recall correctly, unrideable for a lot of the winter. Paths and lanes are maintained by different organizations within the City, so perhaps this isn't surprising; but more attention to on-street lanes would be an easy way to make the streets more bike-friendly.
And Michael's comments on signals just scratch the surface. In my experience, signals are set up to expedite auto-traffic and accommodate (minimally) pedestrians, while bikes are mostly an afterthought. If signal timing worked better for bikes, and if bikes had a reliable way to trip the signals (those magnetic coils don't always work, and the buttons are usually inaccessible), you'd probably see fewer bicyclists going through red lights. ----- Original Message ----- From: "India Rose Viola" <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Cc: [email protected], [email protected] Sent: Thursday, April 22, 2010 9:41:52 AM Subject: Re: [Bikies] 3 Simple Things to Improve Biking in Madison Michael, Thanks for bringing up this topic to our neighborhood group. I am also cross-posting this to the local bikies listserve. While I agree with you that asking local cyclists about how to improve conditions for cyclists in Madison is an essential and under-tapped resource, I do support our officials traveling to cities that have superior mixed-transportation infrastructure. As much as a picture is worth a thousand words, I think seeing a successful system in action is worth a thousand suggestions. In my opinion, globalization in the best sense of the word includes borrowing each others' success stories and then translating them thoughtfully into different contexts. Anyhow, as far as simple, low-cost improvements, I would like to see increased and better signage aimed at auto drivers- signs throughout the city that remind drivers that cyclists are legitimate road users ("share the road" signs) as well as signs that alert drivers to road/path intersections. In regards to your suggestion that the paths get plowed in winter, I don't know what your winter route is, but my experience is that the John Nolen bike path from Jenifer St. to North Shore Drive, and the Missing Link path are very well plowed all winter long- often times they are clear before the roads are. The path entrance/exits at street crossings are a different story, as they get plowed in as the streets get cleared. -India http://www.WeAreAllMechanics.com 3 simple things to improve biking in Madison Posted by: "Michael" [email protected] michaelagoodman Wed Apr 21, 2010 9:23 am (PDT) OK, since our Mayor, County Exec, spouses, lobbyists, etc, went to Europe to learn about improving biking and public transport in communities, I think they could have saved some time (especially considering that they are/were stranded there) and money by simply asking us who bike every day. So, I'm proposing coming up with a short list of recommendations for ways to improve the quality of Madison as a biking community. Please let's keep these simple, relatively cheap or free, and as snark-free as possible. Mine are: 1) increase the time at traffic lights where the bike paths cross--notably the light at Willy and Riverside (there are others), and while looking at that intersection, let's move or get rid of the signal button, a lot of confusion with that being at the left on the west side; 2)Enforce the bike lanes around the Capitol; and 3) plow bike lanes in the winter, not use them as the outside edge for where the city does plow. OK, send your ideas, please. I'll compile results and see if we can offer some friendly local advice to our elected 'leaders'. MG _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected] http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected] http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org
