Advocacy & Safety - Bike lane = Debris lane?

Anybody want to know what my #1 complaint about the bike lane is?

Well if the title didnt give it away I shall explane. On my commute to work I have to go down a super dangerous busy road (fowler ave) its full of hudreds of shoping coplexes (including the mall) a college campus and loads of resteraunts. So I never really planed to bike it in the first place but after doing it a few times I feel safe from the cars but not the road!

This bike lane is littered the whole way down with glass and car parts to display just how dangerous this road is, because there must be 3 car wrecks a day here. I just dont feel safe on that, its asking for a flat tire, its totally legal to ride on the sidewalk here in Florida and 99% of the people do on this road but I dont really feel safe on the sidewalk because I like to have speed and high intensity and not slow down every 20 feet to look for a car entering or leaving a parking lot.

Thats my rant, and I dont know how to fix it. Street sweepers do go thru but they just get the car lanes and push it all into the bike lane, the lane seriously looks like some sort of crystal candy as its just shinny from all the broken bits of glass. So far no flats, those 120tpi kevlar tires I have are really good about this stuff but there will come a day.

Funny thing, I made the trip at dark the other day and for obvious reasons I cant see the ground as well, atleast 3 times I heard a "ding" or "pop" noice come from the back of my bike and I thought eather a part of my bike had fallen off or I poped my tire because I ran over somthing that I couldnt see. My tires still have air and I think all my bike parts are there so I must be ok.

That sucks. Perhaps you can work through your local bicycle advocacy group to advocate sweeping the bike lanes. That's what is done in Portland. Here, there is a hotline you can call and the bike lane will be swept the same night.

From bike point of view, tufo makes tubular-clincher tires and has a sealant that I hear works pretty good.

From bike point of view, tufo makes tubular-clincher tires and has a sealant that I hear works pretty good.From the biker's POV, avoiding the debris areas* works even better.

* gutters, shoulders, pseudo-shoulders (aka BLs) , etc.

With the God-awful, tract-housing boom here in Victor Valley area of SoCal, I have to deal with construction debris of all shapes and sizes.
My worst enemies are stucco-netting nails, roofing nails, construction-grade staples, scaffolding components, broken ladders, and occasionally, Hilti cartridges that sound like a 9mm when I run over them.
If car-driving maniacs aren't enough, it's dumb$h!t contractors that don't know anything about proper load securement.

Is it a marked bike lane or just a wide shoulder?
Do you know who is responsible for maintaining the road? The state or the local jurisdiction?
Find out and complain. Ask them why the bike lanes are in sucy bad shape.
Let us know what they say.

From the biker's POV, avoiding the debris areas* works even better.

* gutters, shoulders, pseudo-shoulders (aka BLs) , etc.

So his other choice is high speed multilaned road where motorists are hitting each other... some choice.

I have no clue who maintains the roads, they are bike lanes (atleast I belive they are) not marked but very wide area between the curb/grass and the white line.

so I dont know who to call, I heard from a bicycling friend it has been complaned about before, so I wonder if my voice will change the matter.

if it is a two lane street take one of the lanes. i know this isnt the safest solution but its one.

I have a similar problem in my town, the only difference is that I e-mailed the local roads maintenance manger with the complaint ... he replied and said the road is cleaned every 2 weeks... so I checked the road after they cleaned it and guess what ?

They just sweep the dirt from the road into the bike lane.

The cars that park next to the bike lane are 2 close for the road sweeper to get right on top of the bike lane...

So they basically just sweep the dirt from the road onto the bike lane...

I e-mailed this to the guy and he said " they clean the road and the bike lane " and thats all he would say.

Sucks.

Anybody want to know what my #1 complaint about the bike lane is?

...This bike lane is littered the whole way down with glass and car parts...

...Street sweepers do go thru but they just get the car lanes and push it all into the bike lane, the lane seriously looks like some sort of crystal candy as its just shinny from all the broken bits of glass....

...Funny thing, I made the trip at dark the other day and for obvious reasons I cant see the ground as well, atleast 3 times I heard a "ding" or "pop" noice come from the back of my bike and I thought eather a part of my bike had fallen off or I poped my tire because I ran over somthing that I couldnt see. My tires still have air and I think all my bike parts are there so I must be ok.
It never ceases to amaze me how some local governments can think that by simply painting a stripe and some stencils of a stick man on a bike is all they need to do with the money they set aside for bicycle transportation. Some of the examples of bicycle accomodations I've seen border between comical and hideously grotesque.

Unfortunately, we have to put the pressure on locally to make sure we get what we like, or we will have to simply like what we get.

In the mean time, protect yourself. Use an alternate route, or learn to ride outside the debris; also, I highly recommend getting a powerful light to help you see the road.

Ride safe, bro.

In North Carolina, nearly all the useful through roads are maintained by the state. My city is responsive to requests to maintain local streets, but not the thoroughfares, which are the responsibility of the state. And unfortunately, the state is not very responsive to local complaints, and the state does not sweep roads. So, the only way to keep the right edge of a thoroughfare in NC swept regularly is to make sure there is no bike lane or shoulder stripe, so that the cars will sweep it automatically.

In North Carolina, nearly all the useful through roads are maintained by the state. My city is responsive to requests to maintain local streets, but not the thoroughfares, which are the responsibility of the state. And unfortunately, the state is not very responsive to local complaints, and the state does not sweep roads. So, the only way to keep the right edge of a thoroughfare in NC swept regularly is to make sure there is no bike lane or shoulder stripe, so that the cars will sweep it automatically.

And you believe that will work well on 50 and 65 MPH streets? While the roads will be swept clean of trash, they will also be swept clean of cyclists too.

How for instance would you suggest riding on the road in the attached pic...

The bike lane BTW is relatively clean, the right tire track tends to be broken in various areas from heavy traffic, the far shoulder tends to be full of trash. The speed limit is 65MPH. This is no trick of photography... it is how things are here in San Diego. My route for instance is all 45 and 50MPH roads, and a short section of freeway. The last thing I am going to do is take a lane in these cases.

Bike Lanes make these roads minimally usable for me, and if they were swept clean the usability would improve... but removing BL... Ha! What a joke. Rather like opening the flood gates to prevent high water.

Even if they cleaned BLs on a daily basis, they'll have more debris than the other lanes, since cars blow debris to the right every time they pass. If you live in a snow area like I do, that's another problem. On city streets, the plows just push the snow into the bike lane. Also, pavement at the edge of roadways wants to crumble before the other pavement.

The real solution would be to put bikes in the center and relegate cars to the edge. Fat chance!! Bike lanes exist to get us out of the way, not for our convenience.



In North Carolina, nearly all the useful through roads are maintained by the state. In Michigan the state contracts maintenence of federal and state highways to either the city or county through which they pass. So you usually deal with the local government on these issues. It's not so hard to find out who to make your complaints to. Here they are real good when you complain about potholes, not so good about debris complaints.

I have been seriously tempted to sweep my 6 mile commute

I wonder what the powers that be would say if you went down the road running a gas or battery powered blower?

I have no clue who maintains the roads, they are bike lanes (atleast I belive they are) not marked but very wide area between the curb/grass and the white line.

so I dont know who to call, I heard from a bicycling friend it has been complaned about before, so I wonder if my voice will change the matter.
Start by calling the town. There should be a transportation or public works department.
Ask if it a bike lane or just an edge for them to sweep their junk into.
If the town has a bike map, see if they list that road as having a bike lane.

Your voice does matter. If you don't say anything you are accepting the existing conditions as ok.
You may not be sucessful, but you should at least try.

Unsecured construction trucks are my pet peeve as well. You should see the nails and other things constantly strewn across my residential street. We have speed humps for traffic calming, but all they really do is cause unsecured loads to fly out the back of construction worker's trucks.

You need ADVOCACY not avoidance. You know, squeaky wheels. Sweeping the debris into the bike lane every 2 weeks is not an adequate answer from the powers that be. Avoiding the bike lanes is equally a pitiful response from bike advocates. Get to your advocacy group and start making noise. Change the policy so that they will actually sweep the bike lane, not sweep INTO the bike lane.

How for instance would you suggest riding on the road in the attached pic...

The bike lane BTW is relatively clean, the right tire track tends to be broken in various areas from heavy traffic, the far shoulder tends to be full of trash. The speed limit is 65MPH. This is no trick of photography... it is how things are here in San Diego. My route for instance is all 45 and 50MPH roads, and a short section of freeway. The last thing I am going to do is take a lane in these cases.

Bike Lanes make these roads minimally usable for me, and if they were swept clean the usability would improve... but removing BL... Ha! What a joke...
If I rode where you do, Gene, I'd want a significant degree of separation, especially from those big trucks, unless I were to try draft one at 65 + mph.!

This is exactly why you cannot overgeneralize about bike lanes and such. Out West, for example, it seems there are not always alternate routes for cyclists to take, so you end up on a freeway, more or less.

If I rode where you do, Gene, I'd want a significant degree of separation, especially from those big trucks, unless I were to try draft one at 65 + mph.!

This is exactly why you cannot overgeneralize about bike lanes and such. Out West, for example, it seems there are not always alternate routes for cyclists to take, so you end up on a freeway, more or less.

Exactly... one has to look at each and every situation as it exists to make judgement on the efficacy of a BL.

It never ceases to amaze me how some local governments can think that by simply painting a stripe and some stencils of a stick man on a bike is all they need to do with the money they set aside for bicycle transportation. Some of the examples of bicycle accomodations I've seen border between comical and hideously grotesque.

Unfortunately, we have to put the pressure on locally to make sure we get what we like, or we will have to simply like what we get.

In the mean time, protect yourself. Use an alternate route, or learn to ride outside the debris; also, I highly recommend getting a powerful light to help you see the road.

Ride safe, bro.

Ive seen some good ideas for bike lanes. Like one proposal of a bike lane the same width as a vehical lane about 1/3 of it was covered with little speed bumps. They wouldnt prevent a bike from useign the lane but by god it sure would stop cars from driving in it. Thing with those bumps is they would only effect a single side of the car (drivers side) So they would make the car want to pull left.
Another example is a bike lane with a raised lip like thing vs a simple stripe. Corse noen have ever been put in place that ive seen personaly or read about.


Hell here there is no bike lanes realy just roads with wide shoulders some times. Best roads for bike lanes are ones with soft shoulders and no side walks or parking. When you have that trash glass etc doesnt tend to acumulate.

Exactly... one has to look at each and every situation as it exists to make judgement on the efficacy of a BL.

Exactly.

We actually do a ride where a portion of it is on the 101 Freeway (well, it's not freeway on this portion, but people are still driving 80 like it was the freeway.)

Boy oh boy you ride waayyy over to the right as far as you can in the bike lane. Even over there you can still surf the wake of trucks and RVs that go by. You can watch your mirror all you want to, but as soon as anything becomes visible in your mirror, but the time you look up again, whatever it was has already passed you.

At one point there is a right turn lane. It would be suicide to ride your bike to the left of it. Nope, you ride in the right edge of the right turn lane and hope for the best.

There are no blanket absolutes in navigating by bike systems designed for autos.

In situations where there is no alternative to the freeway for cyclists, it seems that advocates should be going for an alternate route rather than a bike lane on the freeway. I wouldn't mind riding on the shoulder or bike lane of a rural interstate, but I would hate to ride on a congested urban freeway!


Like one proposal of a bike lane the same width as a vehical lane about 1/3 of it was covered with little speed bumps. They wouldnt prevent a bike from useign the lane but by god it sure would stop cars from driving in it.
We have a bike lane (K'zoo Av) with speed bumps. The problem is, once you get in the bike lane, you're almost a prisoner--it's very difficult to get out of it unless you're going slow on a mountain bike. This is both inconvenient and dangerous for cyclists. Not a good approach unless they've found a new type of spped bump (rumble strip, really) that stops cars but permits bikes.

In situations where there is no alternative to the freeway for cyclists, it seems that advocates should be going for an alternate route rather than a bike lane on the freeway. I wouldn't mind riding on the shoulder or bike lane of a rural interstate, but I would hate to ride on a congested urban freeway!



Nice thinking, but that is basically demanding a new road... not very likely.

I do know that some alternatives are in the planning stages, but the acquisition of property and the environmental reports along with the long term planning will take upwards of 10 years for one of these projects.

Another one (a second bridge for access at the surface street level) has been in planning and debate for well over 10 years with folks entrenched in their homes where the long planned road now ends. The odd thing is these folks moved there with the road clearly dead ended with temporary signage and plans to continue the road over the canyon... now they are some of the loudest voices against the change. Simply because that road that was supposed to go through from the begining has no traffic on it now... so the NIMBYs** have a nice quiet corner.

Of course this is roughly equivalent to folks moving near an airport and then lobbying and complaining about the airplane noise... Duh!

Bottom line is that there are no alternatives right now, and everything "in the works" is years and years off. I will be willing to bet I am long retired before I ever get to commute on an "alternative" route.

** NIMBY = Not In My Back Yard.

I wonder what the powers that be would say if you went down the road running a gas or battery powered blower?

Bingo.

http://www.jaysmarine.com/Bikelanesweeper2.jpg

;)

-Kurt

This is one of the complaints about bike lanes that I feel is legitimate. In many instances, they become "Deposit areas", for debris. This Debris includes all the stuff mentioned already, including broken glass, bent nails, very sharp pieces of twisted metal, and assorted car parts. The most unusual item I've actually seen in a bike lane: A sledge hammer. No joke, a very large sledge hammer, probably about 12 pounds or more. I stopped and put against a tree, hoping whoever lost it would come back to claim it.

All the advice here is good. Contact you advocacy groups. Public works departments must realize that the bike lanes are not dumping grounds.

Enough cars drive partly (or completely) in the bike lanes around here to at least keep the outer third of it swept free of glass (and other wreckage from their frequent accidents). Generally on my road bike I will ride just inside the bike lane line and not have too many problems.

As usual though, what works in my hood might not work in yours.

Since most of the posters on this thread are from the southern U.S. here, I wont bring up the issue of "where they plow the snow to" around here...

Here in Fl it seems to be the road kill lane. But thankfully there's plenty of turkey vultures that clean allot of the nastiness up. Yesterday I hit a 5 gallon bucket lid in the middle of the bike lane, luckily I cruised right over it. I'm not sure how I didn't notice it coming. But afterwards realized how lucky I was since it was on a high traffic 55 mph road. I was much more focused on what was in front of me after that.

PS- I need me one of thems blower bikes, cudak888.

Here in Fl it seems to be the road kill lane.

^
+1


PS- I need me one of thems blower bikes, cudak888.

I can build one up for you for a reasonable price, you supply the bike, I supply the rest :p

Take care,

-Kurt

I find the absolute worst place for BL deposits in the last 15ft of the BL when situated between a thru lane and a RTOL.
Al

Helmet Head was making the point of "BL are Debris lanes" to me one day on a ride... in the BL was a starter motor and later a good sized chunk of exhaust system... and of course all the minor debris; glass and other junk.

Of course while he was making his point, we also easily rode around and past all the debris.

To me it simply says that you need good tires when commuting in the BL on a daily basis, and to avoid the big stuff... simple practical solutions.

Whine about all you want, but the municipalities are not going to make it # 1 on their list of things to do as long as the local mayor drives a big car.

As far as the advocacy groups... sure they can try, but I think keeping the roads open and perhaps widened is a bigger concern.

Too bad the local businesses don't show a bit of concern for the roads in front of their places.

Locally, right in front of the Marine Air Base is a real pit... what ever happened to military pride? In my day there were at least a couple of "special duty" enlisted that could be charged with some sort of cleanup. (I know I did my share... )

I did my share too, Hell I had to rake the f'n desert!

anyways I have pretty good tires for the job, no flats yet. The suggjestions of actually blowing the stuff myself is pointless as there are so many fine pieces of glass and car ingraned into the road that it would definitly have to be swept out air wont move it.

not to mention no way in heck your gonna catch me in the florida heat (or rain of the late) doing a job like that for free :P

I will talk to Jim my officer friend that eats dinner with me at work and ask him what the first step should be and try to go from there. This is a busy road 45-50 mph speed limits but average speed is more like 55-65 so there are no parked cars on the road its a main road 3-4 lanes wide.