Commuting - Two Questions: What's an MUP? and making a left turn on a multi-lane road

I've been on here for a while, and I keep meaning to ask, what the heck is an MUP? I keep hearing people use the term, but what is it? a bike path? I keep trying to figure out what M, U, and P could stand for but to no avail.

Secondly, on my commute, I have to make a left turn to get onto a side road to continue.

Traveling East on the sidewalk, I gently move over to the road (never had a problem)

but I don't know how to get over to the far left lane to make the left turn.... the cars are plentiful and rarely do I find breaks in traffic. Often, i'm waiting on the side of the road and when I can, I dart across...or i'll keep going until a break occurs (but then i'm making a left on another street that is a few blocks down).


1. What's an MUP?
2. How do you cross a multi-lane road with cars traveling at 60-65km/hr. (37mphr)

MUP= multi use path (walking,cycling, horseback riding, jogging roller blading etc...). As for making a left if it is at a "T" intersection I just look for a break in traffic and move over, at an "+" intersection you have more option as you can use the crossing lane. Either way it is easier if you ride on the paved road with traffic and do not have to enter from a side walk.

Multi Use Paths are generally constructed to connect neighborhoods, retail centers, churches, schools and recreation areas, using tunnels and bridges to safely cross major thoroughfares. Wish we had more of them in our area.

ahhhh.... thanks for that tip. We have some of those here, but they are to far north of me to be of any use. thanks for that clarification.

Are there crosswalks at this intersection? Could you dismount and walk the bike across? Barring that, maybe starting to merge left sooner and being a little more assertive about your intentions? Not having a better picture of the situation, those are my general, generic suggestions. I have a tricky spot like that on my route, and I try to move left early, staying on the inside of the left lane. If I can't get over, I'll go station-to-station via the crosswalks.

mstrpete

In fact, that is what I end up doing sometimes...i'll dismount at the crosswalk and wait for the lights to turn green. The problem with that, is when it's bitterly cold, the last thing I want to do is stop riding. I just don't know what other people do. I didn't know if it's okay to just start merging left and making the cars wait behind me.

Making a left turn on a multilane road requires doing something that many cyclists refuse to do. That is to get the attention of motorists by clearly signalling your intentions from a visible spot on the roadway, watching for them to yield to you, then moving over one lane at a time. Obviously, on a busy road this may take quite a distance as it's not always the first vehicle who yield to you. If you search in Advocacy and Safety you'll find many threads talking about making a turn like this. The book "Effective Cycling" by John Forester also gives a great description about how to make a left turn. I was amazed when I first tried it at how responsive motorists were when I did things the right way.

Forester does not go into any detail about how to use a mirror though and I find one very useful for crossing lanes. It allows you to monitor for gaps in traffic so that you don't have to worry about getting a motorist's attention to move left. But, in very heavy traffic, a mirror doesn't tell you anything you didn't know already so you'll need to be looking back, signalling, and watching for reactions.

Too, some places legally permit using a bicycle/vehicle on sidewalks, some tolerate it, and some actively do not allow it. It is not all that safe in the long run. I have lived in areas where sidewalks were just places for the plows to push snow. Don't know about Toronto.

Forester does not go into any detail about how to use a mirror though and I find one very useful for crossing lanes. It allows you to monitor for gaps in traffic so that you don't have to worry about getting a motorist's attention to move left. But, in very heavy traffic, a mirror doesn't tell you anything you didn't know already so you'll need to be looking back, signalling, and watching for reactions.

I fully agree that the mirror is very useful for crossing lanes.

On my daily commute, I have to cross 2 lanes of traffic for left turns.
I use a helmet-mounted mirror to first check for gaps in traffic before I approach the intersection.

If there are no cars behind me, then I may not have to signal, but I still do it for good practice, unless there are potholes/strong wind that require 2-handed steering.

If there aren't any gaps, I signal and wait for the cars in the adjacent lanes to slow down and give me room. This maneuver requires lots of heads turning.
The critical part is to make sure those cars slow down and give me room.
Sometimes the driver ignores my signal. I can't do much about that except to continue to signal and hope the next car behind will yield to me.
Usually, drivers yield to me when I signal because they are scared of hitting me(or my extended arm). Maybe they slow down because they are trying to figure out why my arm is extended.

Every time I change a lane, I have to repeat the signal-and-check-for-gap maneuver. The mirror isn't as useful for the 2nd lane change because the car behind is in the way.

It takes experience(and a mirror) to know how far from an intersection to start lane changing.
If you start too early, you might see cars pile up behind you and become pressured to pedal faster and faster.
If you start too late, then you might not be able to reach the left-turn lane in time.
It all depends on the amount of traffic, the speed of the traffic flow(the flux?), the state of the traffic light at the intersection, and if there are any super long trucks/trailers.

In my opinion:
For a multi-lane road, if there is an advance left-turn signal, then it is worthy to go to the left-turn lane.
Otherwise, I would simply dismount at the crosswalk.

I remember i was travelling on Eglington and wanted to go in the left turn lane, but there wasn't a break long enough for me to do so. What i did was go straight as if i was going through the intersection, but instead steer and stop in the lane of the intersecting street, and go when we had the green. Almost the same as being n the left turn lane :P

Making a left turn on a multilane road requires doing something that many cyclists refuse to do. That is to get the attention of motorists by clearly signalling your intentions from a visible spot on the roadway, watching for them to yield to you, then moving over one lane at a time. Obviously, on a busy road this may take quite a distance as it's not always the first vehicle who yield to you. If you search in Advocacy and Safety you'll find many threads talking about making a turn like this. The book "Effective Cycling" by John Forester also gives a great description about how to make a left turn. I was amazed when I first tried it at how responsive motorists were when I did things the right way.

Forester does not go into any detail about how to use a mirror though and I find one very useful for crossing lanes. It allows you to monitor for gaps in traffic so that you don't have to worry about getting a motorist's attention to move left. But, in very heavy traffic, a mirror doesn't tell you anything you didn't know already so you'll need to be looking back, signalling, and watching for reactions.

Of course this all depends on someone yielding to you... in each lane, while you move along, in heavy, fast, traffic.

Funny thing is that motorists in southern California don't yield to each other, even with turn signals on. (in fact the local belief is that if you want to change lanes, DON'T signal, you'll just screw yourself if you do.)

And you expect motorists to slow down for slow moving cyclists. :rolleyes:

It depends on how brave you are and how non-homicidal traffic is. I don't have to turn left on multilanes, only on single-lane each direction roads. I used to pull onto the shoulder and wait (sometimes a couple of minutes) until there was a break in both directions.

Now I start looking about 150 feet early for any chance to get into the traffic flow. Once I do, I move far left just about 2 feet from the yellow line, signal left, and if there is no oncoming traffic, I'll cut the corner a bit to allow the traffic from the rear to pass me. If there is oncoming traffic from when I hit the center of the road until I'm up to the turn, I'll stop and wait to turn left. Traffic behind me either passes on the shoulder to the right or waits. This is exactly what they do for a car turning left there, and I've not been hassled for it, but I live in an area where traffic is very kind to cyclists.

Even if they hassled me though, I'd still do the same thing. They're getting held up by me for way less time than if I were driving a car; I'm easier to pass on the right and I'll turn left in less of a gap in oncoming traffic than if I were driving a car.

I make several of these turns during my commute and just as was mentioned above, signal, make eye-contact, wait for an opening and merge left. If no cars yield, I procede to the intersection and use the crosswalk, (if the light is red, I will just walk it over the the left-hand turn lane and remount my bike to await the green arrow).

Keep in mind, I am doing this from the right-hand lane and not the sidewalk.;)

I make 2 left hand turns a day like the one described. If you can go traffic speed of close to it, do it. Then signal and move, signal and move until you are ready to turn. Signal aggressively. People stay away from you if you look crazy. Act like you belong on the road, take up space, be aggressive, and assertive. No problem.

And you expect motorists to slow down for slow moving cyclists. :rolleyes: Yes, actually. I am surprised how well it works, but it does. I noticed that despite being generally unaware of cyclists' rights and too often aggressive, they are, on average, more likely to yield to a cyclist than to a driver. In Toronto anyway. My theory is that they're afraid that you're going to dart left right after signalling, and in general most of them don't want to squash you. Some of them may even think they're legally obligated to yield to you - not surprising, since they're generally ignorant. Usually that means they assume you have fewer rights than you actually do, but in some cases it's the opposite (e.g., many seem to think cyclists have the ROW at stop signs).

Of course, if you think this method does not work well in your situation, there is always the tried-n-true pedestrian crossing (at least if there is a light or a crosswalk).

Traveling East on the sidewalk, I gently move over to the road (never had a problem) Riding on sidewalks is illegal in Toronto unless you bike has wheels that are under 24 inches in diameter. However, if you are aware of dangers of sidewalk riding, I am not about to point fingers and call you a criminal. I perfectly understand why some people feel safer on the sidewalk.

However, you're unusual in that you even consider a vehicular left turn - most sidewalk cyclists won't dream of attempting any such thing. :)

If you decided that riding the sidewalk on that stretch works for you, is there a place earlier where you can cross the road at a light, and then continue on the sidewalk until the sideroad comes up? Out of curiosity, which intersection is it anyway?

Edit: I just remembered that you actually ride in Mississauga. I don't know the legalities of riding there for sure, but I think it actually is legal.

Turning left on a multi-lane road is a matter of timing. I'm scoping out the traffic behind me at least a quarter mile before I know I'm turning. When traffic allows, I signal and try to keep up with traffic. I only move when within sight of the turn, and take the lane until I hit the left turn. Never had a problem, not even a honk.

It takes experience(and a mirror) to know how far from an intersection to start lane changing.
A glass or helmet-mounted mirror is mandatory for me to do effective lane merge.


If you start too early, you might see cars pile up behind you and become pressured to pedal faster and faster.
As wy29 says, it is best to get to the multi-lane left turn in time and take the lane. My experience in case you need an early merge is that you can always tuck to 90cm/2ft off the LEFT side of the left most lane and let cars pass you on your right. Double advantage: no pressure of car pileups, and motored traffic flow. I know that Forester advocates to the take-the-full-lane in this situation, but my experience in several years of doing that (which recently I found to be backed by Robert Hurst in "The Art of Urban Cycling") have taken me to feel pretty safe in that position for as long as I need to.

Of course you have to adapt to motorists' reactions. In my area, no one has ever complained nor given me a start in that situation.

You eventually learn to adapt to each particular case, and you will usually be quite precise to reach to the left turn at hand. But if traffic is too heavy and I foresee a difficult lane merge ahead, as soon as I spot a gap with a 45º mirror-sweep, I make a lane-by-lane merge to my desired lane and end up taking the lane for the last leg before the left turn.

Funny thing is that motorists in southern California don't yield to each other, even with turn signals on. (in fact the local belief is that if you want to change lanes, DON'T signal, you'll just screw yourself if you do.)


In the LA area, it's not a belief, it's the God's honest truth. I discovered that the first week I lived in LA, which was a bit surprising as I had been bred with decent Southern manners. So I have to agree with you - if anyone lives in an area where the drivers are courteous enough to actually respond to a turn signal by letting the rider change lanes, consider yourself lucky. Where I live now, it's about 50/50, and I can live with that. Many areas are far worse, and no theory of VC will cause the drivers to respect you, because they simply don't care.

To OP: If traffic's particularly thick and the drivers especially rude, trying to get into the left lane could actually be fairly dangerous. Because the guy behind you is probably waiting for a break in the left lane to go around you, he may accelerate to the left while you're moving left as well. If the guy behind you doesn't see or ignores your signal, he could hit you.

If the street's just too thick to get left, I'd either go with the crosswalk method mentioned, or find a smaller cross street, turn right, make a U-turn, and come back in traffic and go straight. I do the same at a particular left turn on my commute - sometimes I can't get over in time, so I turn right instead. You'll still have to stop, but you won't have to deal with the crosswalk.

As far as getting cold when you stop...wear warmer clothes, do what you have to. It was 8F today for my commute (about -13C), and I wore oven mitts for gloves, but I was warm.

Signaling a turn or lane change is just passing advance information to the enemy. Even here in Tucson, which is more bike-friendly than a lot of other places, I often find it impossible to make a left turn from the four- and six-lane roads in heavy traffic. Traffic is simply too closely spaced and traveling too fast - they couldn't safely yield to a bike if they wanted to. The first to slow would get rear-ended, and the cyclist would get crushed by two or more cars, not one.

My usual solution is to change my route to avoid or eliminate the turn. I'll make the equivalent turn "pedestrian-style" at the closest light before the street I want to end up on. I cross that intersection with the light, but when I get to the spot where I'd be waiting if I were on the cross street, I swivel the bike to the left, and wait for the green. Then I cross and use a side street on the other side to get to the street I want to end up on. This strategy puts me onto a lot of residential side streets, which is just fine with me and my loved ones.

First of all, you really shouldn't be riding on the sidewalk.

That said, I have a major left turn on both my ride in to work and my ride home, one is 40mph and the other is on a section with a 50mph speed limit and 2-3 lanes each direction with a dedicated left turn lane. Both have traffic lights so I take advantage of them and just signal my intent and move over to take the lane when traffic is moving slow due to the light. I can almost always time it so that I can get over either in a break in traffic or when traffic is moving slow enough for me to take the lane without causing traffic to back up behind me. I've been riding this route for over 2 years now and I've been caught at the light and couldn't get over exactly once.

Signaling a turn or lane change is just passing advance information to the enemy. Even here in Tucson, which is more bike-friendly than a lot of other places, I often find it impossible to make a left turn from the four- and six-lane roads in heavy traffic. Traffic is simply too closely spaced and traveling too fast - they couldn't safely yield to a bike if they wanted to. The first to slow would get rear-ended, and the cyclist would get crushed by two or more cars, not one.

In Phoenix, which is often said to be less cycle friendly and have more aggressive and faster drivers than Tucson, I find that the majority of motorist respond clearly and quickly to left outstretched hand signals. It is rare to have difficulty in merging across multi lane roads for a left turn. Start early, signal clearly and look back. By far the hardest merge to negotiate is the initial merge out of the bike lane, but once in vehicular travel lanes, then nearly every motorist will respond so one can merge across smoothly.

It most rush hour traffic would be near impossible to merge left without using arm signals.

Al

First of all, you really shouldn't be riding on the sidewalk.

Knowing what I know about Mississauga, I would not say this.

The mayor went on the record last summer saying bikes did not belong on roads. I could be mistaken, but I think the comment was in response to a cyclist being hit from behind by a truck.

That's not to say that road riding out there is some kind of needless risk, I just think it takes more experience to be comfortable. The OP should be aware of the potential hazards of all types of riding and make a judgment call based on local conditions.

Knowing what I know about Mississauga, I would not say this.

The mayor went on the record last summer saying bikes did not belong on roads.

And this in friendly, peaceful Canada? That sounds like something you'd hear form your backward southern neighbors. Where exactly does he think they belong, then? Sorry to hear that, for your sake.

ETA: "The Art of Urban Cycling" YES! Great book.
http://www.amazon.com/Art-Urban-Cycling-Lessons-Street/dp/0762727837

And this in friendly, peaceful Canada? That sounds like something you'd hear form your backward southern neighbors. Where exactly does he think they belong, then? Sorry to hear that, for your sake.

ETA: "The Art of Urban Cycling" YES! Great book.
http://www.amazon.com/Art-Urban-Cycling-Lessons-Street/dp/0762727837


haha...actually..he is a she. She's in her 80's, (84 i think) and has been in power since the 1970's. She's never lost a term, and in fact some years has even been acclaimed....

AND THAT... in a democracy.... and we thought Fidel was bad....lol

Making a left turn on a multilane road requires doing something that many cyclists refuse to do.

Yeah -- like stepping off the pedals for a couple minutes and acting like a pedestrian.

I'm willing to bet that one main reason motorists allow a persistent cyclist to move in front of them is because they don't want to kill anybody.

If I can move across several lanes and not cause drivers to make unpredictable decisions to avoid me, I'll do it. If I have to use the lights to help me out, I'll do that instead.

I'm willing to bet that one main reason motorists allow a persistent cyclist to move in front of them is because they don't want to kill anybody. And what's wrong with that? Would you prefer them to want to kill somebody or what?

And what's wrong with that? Would you prefer them to want to kill somebody or what?

My point is that they're not "being courteous" or any of that utopian nonsense -- they're sitting there going, "Oh, dammit... okay, go ahead, better get over before you get run down... damned bikers, always getting in the way..."

haha...actually..he is a she. She's in her 80's, (84 i think) and has been in power since the 1970's. She's never lost a term, and in fact some years has even been acclaimed....

AND THAT... in a democracy.... and we thought Fidel was bad....lol

All the cycling will keep you healthy enough to outlive her, then ;)

My point is that they're not "being courteous" or any of that utopian nonsense -- they're sitting there going, "Oh, dammit... okay, go ahead, better get over before you get run down... damned bikers, always getting in the way..." Well... that's their problem. The outcome for you as a cyclist is the same, and why should you worry about what exactly they are thinking? Your goal is to make an efficient left turn, not to please everybody.

I'm willing to bet that one main reason motorists allow a persistent cyclist to move in front of them is because they don't want to kill anybody.

I always have assumed that's the only reason many car driver tolerate cyclists on the road at all; they just don't want to deal with the paperwork involved with killing one.

Another option, in case traffic is intense, is to stay on the sidewalk/mup and cross the intersection and wait at the crosswalk for the signal. I rarely do this but sometimes it's called for if cars are whizzing by and you happen to lack courage that day.:o

<SNIP>

1. What's an MUP?
2. How do you cross a multi-lane road with cars traveling at 60-65km/hr. (37mphr)
Others have already explained a MUP soI'll get to question 2.

As others have pointed out the general rule is to ride like your would drive a car, I'll call this Plan A. Signal and move over to the left and turn with traffic. Most of the time this works, but there is one road around here near a Mall that has 45 MPH traffic where this could be near suicide most of the time. Plan B is to stay on the right side of the road and go through the intersection. After crossing the intersection loop around to the right (270 Degrees) and pull into the right lane. You will now be lines up to cross the road you needed to get accross. Yes this takes 2 changes of the light, but there are some places where this is the only sane way to go. In the case of the road I mentioned above, I am able to loop through a gas station at the corner to make my right loop and line up at one of the very few official bike lanes in town. Ofcouse it is only officially a bike lane April 1st through Nov 1st, but they can kiss my hiny:p... I will use it ANY day of the year:D.

Plan A takes some getting used to. It helped that I grew up in Holland and anytime there wasn't a bike lane that is how you were expected to cross. Here you deal with cars that don't understand WHY you are on the road, let alone give you the proper right of way.

Happy riding,
André

Well... that's their problem.

Their problem becomes our problem when they rant at City Hall (figuratively speaking, most of the time) about spending tax money for pathways, racks, and whatnot to accommodate us.