See the following document on WisDOT’s website. Even with legally installed stop signs on the path, drivers on the cross street still need to yield to bicyclists in the crosswalk.
Guide for path/street crossings http://wisconsindot.gov/Pages/safety/education/bike/guide.aspx Bicyclists and motorists are often confused by who has to yield the right-of-way at the intersection of a path and a street or highway. Crosswalk markings can compound the confusion. This guide provides information about how to cross streets when on paths. http://wisconsindot.gov/Documents/safety/education/bike/bike-crossing-guide.pdf 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 From: Bikies [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Clayton Griessmeyer via Bikies Sent: Wednesday, September 23, 2015 12:43 PM To: 'Bikies' Subject: [Bikies] homemade signs on badger state trail Has anyone else noticed the foldable stop signs placed on Badger State Trail in Fitchburg where it crosses Marketplace. The signs have a construction company name on them. Homburg. I have heard it is because the drivers of the big dump drunks that take the corner at high speeds are afraid they are going to hit someone in the crosswalk. Basically, they are planning ahead for when they injure or kill someone. They want to be able to use a foldable stop sign to blame the pedestrian or bicyclist. There is a marked crosswalk where the trail crosses the roadway. I wish people would just slow and or stop their cars and trucks for people crossing the roadway on foot and bicycle rather than trying to place additional signs so when they violate the law, fail to yield, and then kill someone, that they can blame the person, and say there is a stop sign. Why do we have yield and stop signs where paths cross roadways? Are walkers and bicyclists unable to see that the path they are on is about to cross a roadway with motor vehicle traffic and the only thing that alerts them to this is a stop or yield sign on the path? Have we given up on enforcing yield to pedestrians in crosswalks and rather than try to enforce that law, just changed things so the pedestrian or cyclist is the one who has to yield? If we get rid of stop and yield signs along paths, will everyone start throwing themselves in front of motor vehicles? If we are going to have stop and yield signs to attempt to send a message that cars have the right of way, then why even have crosswalks in the roadways signaling right of way to pedestrians and cyclists. What do you think the dump truck drivers think the crosswalk at Marketplace means? When someone places a foldable stop sign on the bike path does it make the drivers of the dump trucks more careful or less careful? A stop sign on the path sends the wrong message to drivers considering there is a state law that requires drivers to yield to pedestrians and cyclists in crosswalks. Drivers in Wisconsin are already clueless regarding yield to pedestrian and bicyclists in crosswalk laws. On Main Street in Verona where Military Ridge Crosses, they recently installed flashing beacons and signs in the roadway that say state law yield to pedestrians. I recently pressed the button and began crossing. Despite facing a yield to pedestrian sign in the roadway and two flashing beacons, and seeing me crossing the road towards the front of her vehicle, a driver yelled at me and gave me a dirty look. If we can’t get people to yield with beacons and signs in the actual roadway what else is there to do? I would think the first thing that comes out of someone’s mouth after they hit someone in one of these crosswalks is, “You had a stop sign,” or “You had a yield sign.” 346.24 Crossing at uncontrolled intersection or crosswalk. (1) At an intersection or crosswalk where traffic is not controlled by traffic control signals or by a traffic officer, the operator of a vehicle shall yield the right-of-way to a pedestrian, or to a person riding a bicycle or electric personal assistive mobility device in a manner which is consistent with the safe use of the crosswalk by pedestrians, who is crossing the highway within a marked or unmarked crosswalk. Sorry for the long rant. It is very frustrating for me to see and I use this trail daily. Clayton Griessmeyer
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