Eric:

This situation is described on WisDOT's webpage:
http://wisconsindot.gov/Documents/safety/education/bike/bike-crossing-guide.pdf

Essentially, you follow the traffic controls as you encounter them:

- Bicyclists must stop for the stop sign (Harald is correct that stop signs
do not apply to pedestrians).
- Enter the crosswalk in a manner that is consistent with the safe use of
the crosswalk by a pedestrian (you can't jump out in front of approaching
traffic).
- When (if) a motorist stops or yields for you, proceed across.

That said, I rarely rely on motorists to yield to me, and to be honest,
once I've stopped, I would almost prefer that they just get through the
intersection rather than wait for me to get across. As for some of your
questions...

- If a car has yielded to a pedestrian, they do not have to stay stopped
for an approaching bicyclist if the bicyclist has a stop or yield sign -
the bicyclist must obey the sign, and then proceed to the crosswalk.

- If there are no traffic controls, the usual rule of the vehicle on the
left shall yield to the vehicle on the right applies. As you note, it is
often difficult to know if the other traffic has a stop or yield sign, and
because we have so over-signed our streets people assume that if they
don't have a sign, the cross traffic must.

So in summary:

- Legally, a bicyclist has the right of way as a bicyclist AFTER they have
stopped, and once they move safely into the crosswalk with crossing
vehicles having enough time to stop.

- Practically, you should assume that the cars are not going to stop.

Have a good weekend.

Kevin

---
Subject: Re: [Bikies] Cap City Trail rail crossing in Fitchburg
In my opinion that's definitely one of the unclear cases. The stop sign
should not apply to pedestrians, as traffic control devices only apply to
vehicles. What the situation for cyclists is I have no idea. Do you not
have the right-of-way at all? Do you have to come to a stop, but then you
get the right-of-way that a crosswalk confers to you? If a car stopped for
a pedestrian, do they have to remain stopped for an approaching cyclist?
And how does a person driving know whether there is a stop sign on the bike
trail and therefore the normal rules of a crosswalk don't apply?

 Harald.

On Fri, Jul 10, 2015 at 11:33 AM Eric White <[email protected]> wrote:

> Thanks Harald. That's informative. My confusion stems from what happens
> when there's a stop sign for peds and cyclists at the same location there's
> a crosswalk. Do I still have the right of way as a ped / cyclist or am I
> stopped by the sign, and therefore cross traffic can flow by unimpeded?
>
>
-- 

*Kevin [email protected] <[email protected]>*
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