asmac

Much as I appreciate these nice new protected bike lanes our city has installed, I'm not too thrilled that sections of the guardrail have been left in this condition. It's wonderful that cars are protected from excessive damage if they leave the road but unfortunate that I'll be ripped open like a can of tuna should I do the same. There's some seriously bad judgment amongst the people who implement these things or maybe they just don't care. Is this common elsewhere?

mr_bill

Before
After

Detail from the path
Though as soon as there is any buffer the knives come out

Is that a two way or a one way path? (Is there a buffer between the bike lane and the guardrail?)

-mr. bill

BobbyG

Yikes!

wschruba

Nah, standard OP with a rail like that that divides traffic lanes is to put a face on both sides (in fact, you can see that the posts are fabricated for just such a thing.

I would bring it up to whatever body is in charge of maintenance for that road, and make sure you tell them that 1) someone could get seriously hurt, and 2) they could be held liable for damages.

coominya

I don't see any issue here? Better a guardrail to prevent cars and cyclists colliding than no guardrail at all. If you think the rail looks unsafe I would suggest you are cycling too fast for the pathway. Slow down and it won't look so bad.

CB HI

Cyclist speed has little to do with the risk that the I beams present to a cyclist. Even at 0 mph, a cyclist failing to unclip and just tipping could get their head split wide open.

But I am not surprised by your response to the OP.

asmac

Two way. There is no buffer. What you see is the edge of the bike path.

Most of the path has a guardrail on both sides. These sections extend about 20' or so on each side of a gap in the guardrail (e.g. at an intersection or other crossing. These sections are intended to deflect things so that if a car that hits the guardrail head on, the vehicle occupants are not impaled by the guardrail itself.

Even covering the posts with a metal or plastic cap would be a big improvement.


And thanks for the great Soldiers Field Path examples. I'm going to pass them along.

canklecat

Looks unfinished. Sometimes our road crews do this stuff in phases. A recent road repaving project in my neighborhood took a couple of months to finish. First they stripped the surface for miles, leaving a curb-like difference in depth which was pretty rough for cycling but motivated me to learn a little bunny hopping. Then nothing for weeks -- very rough crossings. But when they repaved the road it was all done in a couple of days, mostly working overnight.

Check with the local government authority to see whether they plan to finish the inside and what the schedule is.

We're pretty fortunate in Fort Worth. When there's construction and maintenance affecting the MUP we usually get updates and notifications -- recently even from the construction project manager.

Chris0516

Hmmmm....A concrete divider would be better than that metal mess.

coominya

Probably cost the same too. Perhaps the council had some orl Armco rail they needed to get rid or.

SHBR

I hate fences or any divider that isn't well designed.

Around here we have all kinds of barriers, which only benefit motor vehicle traffic.

That also looks to be a fairly narrow path, if there is less than 2 meters of width, I'd prefer if there was no divider at all.

Just my $0.02

mr_bill

It's the Paul D. White bikepath. The DCR (formerly MDC) is responsible for the Charles River Reservation.

It took half-a-dozen years to get the original I-beams covered with a single narrow wood board back in the 80s.

When the old guardrails and I-beams were replaced with Trinity guardrails (same as what you have) - it took another year or so before the plastic lumber boards (semi-custom solution) were in place.

Good luck.

-mr. bill

Amitoj

That's a Final Destination scene waiting to happen!!

OBoile

What street is that on?

asmac

Bayview across from Brickworks.

CB HI

No, they use the metal guard rails because they give some (bend) when hit compaired to jersey barriers, thus saving motorist lives.

rumrunn6

now they're strapping google cameras to bikes? amazing

ItsJustMe

You want really cool and nerd points, they put street view cameras in a backpack and had someone walk McMurdo station in Antarctica a couple of years back:

Maps Mania: McMurdo Station, Antarctica on Street View

rumrunn6

very cool

Paul Barnard

I don't know why some of you invest time in posters that obviously post to feed their need for attention. The screen name should be a dead giveaway that the poster isn't to be taken seriously