If there's a stencil on Rose Place, it would have been placed there by Shorewood Hills. So it's not just Madison.
----- Original Message ----- From: "Josh Mayer" <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Tuesday, November 12, 2013 11:11:57 PM Subject: Re: [Bikies] New bike stencil: Vilas at S. Park I observed these stencils yesterday on SB Rose Place at its intersection with University Ave (Rose Pl becomes Midvale south of this point). I had no idea what it was as I rode by on the right side of it and then proceeded to sit there for a while. Good to know more about them! On Monday, November 11, 2013 3:45 PM, "Ross, Arthur" <[email protected]> wrote: Mitch wrote < Riding to work this morning, I noticed a new stencil on the Vilas Ave. pavement, right before it crosses Park St. It doesn't look like a sharrow. Could it be a marker to show cyclists where to go to activate a green light? If so, I'd like to thank whoever is responsible; I've wanted something like that for a long time at that intersection.> I will pass your thanks on to the Traffic Engineers, Electricians and TE Shop Crew that worked on this. Most of the signals in Madison that work via detection are sensitive to bicycles. Without going into the science too deeply, there are loops of wire in or below the pavement with energy running through them that are sensitive to the movement of metal over them. Do a web search on induction loop detection if you are interested in how this works. We tested all of these locations with a bike with a carbon fiber frame and fork (alloy wheels, handlebar, stem, seat post). The area of the loop that is sensitive might not always be in line with where a bicyclist is generally operating, however. When we receive complaints that a bicyclist was not detected at a traffic signal we go out to test the loop, adjust the sensitivity if necessary, and mark the location of greatest sensitivity. We recently did this at a number of near west side locations where we had received complaints. Loops should have been marked at Wilson & Broom, Doty & Broom, Bedford & W Washington, Parr & Park, Erin & Park, Vilas & Park. All you need to do is ride over the stencil, you do not need to wait on the stencil. If anyone has other locations where they feel they have not been detected, please report these on the City’s Report-A-Problem website or call Traffic Engineering at 266-4761, and we will check them. Steve Arnold asked < Was it the Bicycle Detector pavement marking? http://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/htm/2009/part9/fig9c_07_longdesc.htm > I haven’t been out to check these yet, but yes, this is what the stencil should look like. Paul O’Leary wrote < One (well, two) of these detectors would be perfect for the HAWK signal at N. Blair / E. Mifflin.> The problem is, if we installed loops here then cars would trigger the Ped/Bike Hybrid Beacon as well. While we can set the sensitivity for a loop to detect bigger vehicles but not smaller vehicles, we can’t do the reverse. For example, there is a loop on Jenifer Street to detect a bus turning from the Jenifer Street cul-de-sac onto Williamson Street, but there is a push button for bicycles to trigger this signal. We can set the sensitivity to detect a bus, but not a car or bicycle. Another issue with a loop at Mifflin/Blair for bicyclists is that the Ped/Bike Hybrid Beacon would be triggered every time a bicyclist approached Blair on Mifflin. I ride this regularly and rarely find I need to use this beacon at the times of day I am ride through there. Grant Foster wrote < Parr/Park desperately needs this> This should be marked, in both lanes. 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 _______________________________________________ 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
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