Create a bike lane in my town!
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Create a bike lane in my town!
I need one.. Drivers aren't fully aware of cycling in my neighborhood so I am at high risk! How to make it happen?
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Well, there's always the do-it-yourself approach. https://www.grist.org/article/2010-08...ing-world-cup/
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Well, there's always the do-it-yourself approach. https://www.grist.org/article/2010-08...ing-world-cup/
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Step 1.
Generate an awareness of cycling.
Why do you think a bike lane will change the risk you face while on your bike?
If you are concerned about your safety while riding, I'd suggest checking with the closest advocacy group to see if any LCI's offer classes in your area. Faster, cheaper and probably more effective than getting bike lanes installed.
Generate an awareness of cycling.
Why do you think a bike lane will change the risk you face while on your bike?
If you are concerned about your safety while riding, I'd suggest checking with the closest advocacy group to see if any LCI's offer classes in your area. Faster, cheaper and probably more effective than getting bike lanes installed.
#7
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Make sure it's not some minimum standard compromise, once installed the bike lane may take a considerable length of time to get any alterations made, leaving you and other cyclists to deal with the consequences in the mean time.
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Step 1.
Generate an awareness of cycling.
Why do you think a bike lane will change the risk you face while on your bike?
If you are concerned about your safety while riding, I'd suggest checking with the closest advocacy group to see if any LCI's offer classes in your area. Faster, cheaper and probably more effective than getting bike lanes installed.
Generate an awareness of cycling.
Why do you think a bike lane will change the risk you face while on your bike?
If you are concerned about your safety while riding, I'd suggest checking with the closest advocacy group to see if any LCI's offer classes in your area. Faster, cheaper and probably more effective than getting bike lanes installed.
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Good luck. Most of what I've seen when cities actually put a bike lane is poor maintenance for it. You'll find it will be more a hazard lane for you because of all the trash/debris that, for some reason, the city doesn't clean up.
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#12
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Be careful what you wish for, if your town has on street parking you'll get put in the door zone. If your town has a 25MPH speed limit you're better off getting in the lane and picking up your speed a little and learn to wave at the jerkoffs that honk. Your getting in the lane will put you in a safer place because they can't run you off the road, and you can use any road as is your right not just the ones that have painted lines in the gutter pan.
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Bike lanes aren't magic. They aren't going to change motorist behaviour or attitude. Your much much better off learning VC skills. You'll be much better off learning traffic skills even if you successfuly get your town to install bike lanes. And think about it this way, unless you can get them to install bike lanes from your house to whereever you want to go, you'll still have to ride with and deal with traffic.
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I have been thinking about this and I'd much rather have signs with bikes instead in and around where I got hit!!!
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What about trying for a 'sharrow' approach? Not a dedicated lane but some markings to help drivers be aware that they are sharing the road with non-motorized transport ?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shared_lane_marking
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shared_lane_marking
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What about trying for a 'sharrow' approach? Not a dedicated lane but some markings to help drivers be aware that they are sharing the road with non-motorized transport ?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shared_lane_marking
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shared_lane_marking
Sharrows cost much less than bike lanes to install and maintain, and they don't trigger mandatory bike lane laws in places that practice segregation.
Most motorists don't know what they mean, but if your goal is simple bicycle awareness, they do contribute to that.
Just make sure they are far enough into the lane - segregationists tend to paint them too close to the curb, like a pseudo-bike lane. They should be out of the door zone if parking is allowed.
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To the OP.
If yuo want bike lanes decide exactly what you want. Then look at what it will take, just on the physical level. Just some paint? Loss of a traffic lane? Loss of parking?
Make sure what you want will work, a bike lane that is beautiful for 90% of its length but is right hook traps and the like for the rest may do more harm than good. (I've seen soi many that are nice, until the end whey it is like the money ran out and the cyclist is dumped into traffic at teh worst possible place).
Look at what the bike lane will cost others, then decide if it is a battle you can win. If it is present a complete proposal for at least the physical part. That makes it so the easy route for the politicos is to go with what you want. Th elast thing you want is for the easy route to be somethgin crappy.
If yuo want bike lanes decide exactly what you want. Then look at what it will take, just on the physical level. Just some paint? Loss of a traffic lane? Loss of parking?
Make sure what you want will work, a bike lane that is beautiful for 90% of its length but is right hook traps and the like for the rest may do more harm than good. (I've seen soi many that are nice, until the end whey it is like the money ran out and the cyclist is dumped into traffic at teh worst possible place).
Look at what the bike lane will cost others, then decide if it is a battle you can win. If it is present a complete proposal for at least the physical part. That makes it so the easy route for the politicos is to go with what you want. Th elast thing you want is for the easy route to be somethgin crappy.
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Shared lane use markings are now in the MUTCD, though many jurisdictions have not yet adopted the latest edition.
Sharrows cost much less than bike lanes to install and maintain, and they don't trigger mandatory bike lane laws in places that practice segregation.
Most motorists don't know what they mean, but if your goal is simple bicycle awareness, they do contribute to that.
Just make sure they are far enough into the lane - segregationists tend to paint them too close to the curb, like a pseudo-bike lane. They should be out of the door zone if parking is allowed.
Sharrows cost much less than bike lanes to install and maintain, and they don't trigger mandatory bike lane laws in places that practice segregation.
Most motorists don't know what they mean, but if your goal is simple bicycle awareness, they do contribute to that.
Just make sure they are far enough into the lane - segregationists tend to paint them too close to the curb, like a pseudo-bike lane. They should be out of the door zone if parking is allowed.
'segregationists' paint sharrows too close to the curb? are you implicating the union schlubs that paint the roads, the engineers that design shared lane roadways as part of a bike master plan, or the people that sit on the MUTCD standards committee? I would expect better of my northwest cycling brethren, but vc addles. Places that "practice segregation?" Do you mean that the state of california practices segregation against cyclists? That's some wild, wacky stuff you're peddling there. Oh well.
to the OP:
you can't just get a bikelane painted to service you personally as a bicyclist, and I doubt your community and county road commission is just going to accept that one citizen would like a bikelane to their house.
What is the state of bicycling advocacy where you live? does your city or region have an existing bike master plan? has your state passed complete streets legislation?
The most likely way planning for roadway bicycle traffic is going to occur where you live is if your city or county adopts a bike master plan that seeks to identify and improve bicycle routes with roadway enhancements for bicycle traffic where warranted.
Some traffic corridors benefit from preferred class facilities like a bikelane, some from improved shoulders, others from traffic calming, some from little to nothing at all. but getting a bikelane in along a road isn't going to happen until a governing authority takes a look at the need and merit of bicycle facilities.
That is only going to come about thru advocacy and enactment of a bike master plan.
but it happens even in small communities, my hometown of 20,000 people have enacted a BMP and select traffic corridors have been improved for roadway bicycle traffic. i suspect in a smaller town it might be even easier if you can get people on board with the benefits of encouraging active transportation.
Last edited by Bekologist; 12-28-10 at 09:02 AM.
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Quite insincere, that.
'segregationists' paint sharrows too close to the curb? are you implicating the union schlubs that paint the roads, the engineers that design shared lane roadways as part of a bike master plan, or the people that sit on the MUTCD standards committee?
'segregationists' paint sharrows too close to the curb? are you implicating the union schlubs that paint the roads, the engineers that design shared lane roadways as part of a bike master plan, or the people that sit on the MUTCD standards committee?
People have measured the incorrect placements and reported them to the city, which has so far done nothing to fix the problem, but does confirm the placement meets the City's plans.
Not being a Seattle DOT insider, I have no idea whose decision it was to use sharrows as if they were marking a bike lane to the right of traffic, rather than indicating a single traffic lane shared by cyclists.
If the OP decides sharrows are a better solution, he should make sure his jurisdiction respects the specified minimum distance from the right edge of the lane, or else the sharrows will encourage dangerous lane positioning among cyclists and encourage motorists to believe this unsafe positioning is where bikes belong.
Last edited by jputnam; 01-01-11 at 03:50 PM.
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Personally, I'd rather see signage -- like "Share The Road" or "Bicycles Allowed Full use of Lane" on the same posts as nearly every stop sign and speed limit sign. Maybe a revolving plan using 60% at any one time, relocated to a new signpost 2-3x a year (but that would be labor-intensive).
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AS to sharrows and the OP's desire to get bikeway designation along this road he's describing, what if the road is a 45mph roadway? No sharrows then, joshua.....should the OP still lobby for bikeway enhancements?
Last edited by Bekologist; 01-01-11 at 08:39 PM.