Well I certainly wish you had more ideal commuting conditions. You need to be talking with your city engineer. I guess now the point of my post is that your solution doesn't necessarily apply in all metro areas, though perhaps it does in SD. I guess there are places where cycling just isn't the way to travel unless you are willing to accept increased risk.

You are apparently venting here since we are not going to be able to change your traffic laws. I think you are fighting a futile battle though. Your desire to bend the conduct of the motoring public to accommodate the needs of the cycling community (or perhaps just one cyclist) is likely to be seen as unreasonable. It'd be like a British immigrant trying to get us all to use the other side of the road.

Your point is well taken, and yes it does border on the edge of futility. What I have done in the meantime is request through the proper "Street Services" channels is that speed limits be lowered on those streets. At this time, the response has been "forward for advisement." On the plus side, the speed limit on the 65MPH road has been lowered to 50MPH in the area of the two cyclists' deaths; and "Street Services" are moving the bike lanes slightly to the right of the roads, AND are cleaning up the overgrowth and road trash in the area. Not a "win" per se, but at least some effort is being made.

Yes, basically these are local issues.

But the reality is that our method of metering roadways for speed limits is only going to push the road speeds up and make them more unfriendly for both cyclists and pedestrians. The idea that a road speed limit should be set to 85% of the users' who comfortably can cruise down that road does not address the issues of the design of the road and it's location... A great example of actually limiting the speed of a road due to it's use and location are residential streets, were we DO limit speeds because of the homes adjacent to the road. Yet we do not do the same thing in town for other streets... streets that are adjacent to apartments or stores. So this double standard makes no sense. By the same token we also LIMIT speeds on freeways, where there is not likely to be conflicts with merging traffic or peds or cyclists. Now that makes absolutely no sense to me...

We don't limit speed limits in towns, but we do limit speeds on wide open limited access roads between towns. Does this make sense?

That is the heart of my speed limit argument. If this is like the british trying to change the roads to left handed verses right, then perhaps it is because the double standard of setting road speed limits makes so little sense.

Not intended as a strawman. OP wants surface street speed limits adjusted to more safely accommodate cyclists. Your position is that motorists should show extra care around cyclists. My strawman would be that roadway design efficiently accommodate traffic of all types with both safety and efficiency. I am not at all certain that being hit by a careless motorist at 45 mph rather than 65 mph solves the problem. I do think it unreasonable to slow down otherwise safely moving traffic for the comfort of a few (if not just one) cyclists.



It is not a matter of being hit by a 45MPH vehicle verses a 65MPH vehicle... it IS a matter of sightlines and road design limiting how far and wide someone can see and control a vehicle. Someone may be able to drive on a particular road at 110MPH... but how well can they see down that road, how well can they judge potential hazards or accident situations on a non-controlled access road at those speeds... that IS the issue at hand. The whole issue of safety CAN be debated regarding the higher speeds assigned to roads if one looks at basic speed laws and determines whether motorists are slowing down for varying conditions on the roads... or if even the sightlines on the road at those higher speeds are safe.

I contend that motorists are not driving safely, but are just driving fast... because they are protected by the safety gear of their vehicle, and because the design of the vehicle isolates them from the environment they are in. People have lost touch with how fast they are really going.

I had this last point driven home to me the other day when I was on travel and rented a car... Toyota Corolla... basic small car. I found myself doing 55 on 40MPH roads, and 85 on the hiway... why? Because the auto so isolated me from the environment that the only feedback I had was to look at the speedometer.

Heck yes folks are driving fast... and they don't know it!