Advocacy & Safety - Bicycle Street?

When I have read some threads about bike accidents, I wonder: Do we need some streets just for bicycle only ? Thanks .

When I have read some threads about bike accidents, I wonder: Do we need some streets just for bicycle only ? Thanks .

If you get rid of the intersections with motorists, sure - in which case, just get rid of the motorists in the first place. Problem solved.

-Kurt

Yes, intersections are the greatest problem. In cities with well-interconnected street grids, one can make a case for "bicycle boulevards," which are traffic-calmed streets on which cars are permitted, but which through motorists will often avoid in favor of faster adjacent streets. This still does not address the intersection problem, although properly designed bikeways along railroads and rivers can have few, if any, intersections with the street system, but they also do not necessarily go where one wants to.

The trouble with bicycle streets is that cyclists think they are safe, so they forget to watch for other cyclists, dogs and pedestrians.

And most "bicycle streets" go nowhere. Well at least around here.

One of the last thing this world needs is more pavement.

you don't add pavement, you prioritize existing pavement to better facilitate bicycle traffic.

google 'streetfilms Berkeley bike boulevards' and i think you'll get some good hits.

New York Bike Path System Expanded Dramatically

Miles of Segregated Bicycle Lanes Will Be Paved by 2010
By Mede Sivrac - New York Times

NEW YORK — Officials from the Department of Transportation today opened the 9th Avenue bike lane, which now extends the entire length of Manhattan. The festivities were then moved to 2nd Avenue, where ground was broken on a similar path to extend the full length of the island.

Over the next two years, every other avenue will also receive a full bike lane, blocked off from traffic, while every fifth crosstown street will be opened exclusively to bicyclists and pedestrians beginning next month.

Mark Blair, a transit worker from Queens, was busy re-timing traffic lights for bicycle speed. “Riding your bike up or down the avenue, the traffic lights are going to change in sync,” explained Blair. “You ride 10-15 miles per hour, and you’ll be hitting all greens.”

“Now that our country is taking its rightful place among the world’s developed nations,” said Mayor Bloomberg, “it is time for our greatest city to take its place among the world’s great cities.”
...
http://www.nytimes-se.com/2009/07/04/new-york-bike-path-system-expanded-dramatically/

the trouble with bicycle streets is that cyclists think they are safe, so they forget to watch for other cyclists, dogs and pedestrians.+1

The trouble with bicycle streets is that cyclists think they are safe, so they forget to watch for other cyclists, dogs and pedestrians.

+2

There is another problem with these streets, you'll still have accidents and road rage. Some cyclists think they are never at fault when they either crash, cause or have an accident. One of the main ingredients that is lacking in quite a few stories posted on this forum is personal accountabilty.

It would be refreshing to hear even one of those stories that also incorporates the phrase, "I f*cked up", rather than something along the lines of "had an accident and it was everyone elses fault but mine, even though I ran a stop sign, rode the wrong way up a one way, and didn't bother with a light even though it was pitch black out.", which is all too common.

Thanks for all inputs clear my mind . Thanks again .

...rather than something along the lines of "had an accident and it was everyone elses fault but mine, even though I ran a stop sign, rode the wrong way up a one way, and didn't bother with a light even though it was pitch black out.", which is all too common.

I can't recall ever reading any personal confessions even remotely related to such bad cycling combined with blaming everyone else for an ensuing accident on BF. Can you point out any recent examples of such responsibility shifting posts?

Likethe other thread your bicycle streets will quickly include strollers, dog walkers, skaters, and then have a 10 mph speed limit before you know it.

Likethe other thread your bicycle streets will quickly include strollers, dog walkers, skaters, and then have a 10 mph speed limit before you know it.

Can you point out an example of where that's occurred?

AFAIK, the bicycle boulevards in Berkeley (http://www.streetfilms.org/archives/berkeley-bike-boulevards/) have been very well received, with none of the hypothetical conflicts that you seem to fear. Their bicycle boulevards already include sidewalks, so there would be no need for peds to be using the streets.

When I have read some threads about bike accidents, I wonder: Do we need some streets just for bicycle only ? Thanks . Who's "we". I could see in some cases people not wanting a pedestrian mall in front of their house/business. If you want to increase bicycle usage you really need to increase housing density, after that bicycles become the preferred solution for local transportation naturally.

Can you point out an example of where that's occurred?

AFAIK, the bicycle boulevards in Berkeley (http://www.streetfilms.org/archives/berkeley-bike-boulevards/) have been very well received, with none of the hypothetical conflicts that you seem to fear. Their bicycle boulevards already include sidewalks, so there would be no need for peds to be using the streets.

Almost every place that I have been with a bike path. I have not been to Berkeley.

DO a search, it is not hard to find anecdotes of problems on bike paths.

Santa Rosa, ca recently (last two weeks) got a street converted to a bike blvd as an experiment. Most of the 4 way stops were turned into roundabouts w/ yield signs all around. I have been told they will get "bike boxes" at the two traffic lights. There is also big painted bikes in the road and lots of signage.

I ride this pretty regularly. I have seen problems with the roundabouts as some cars now blow through w/o regard to 15mph limit of a yield sign. Seems many americians can't figure out the roundabout thing. Another big difference between Berkeley and this one is there are no car barriers. This street is a residential that parallels a major, often clogged street, and gets quite a bit of traffic. In Berkeley they will put a barrier in that doesn't make the street go though for cars to discourage car traffic.

I have a friend that lives on the new bike blvd and she has gotten flyers of misinformation about what this was going to be. There are quite a few people in the neighborhood opposed to the change.

I think the berekely system works well. If there is a parallel route to keep cars and bikes away from each other it really seems much better than a bike lane on a major street. I hope this works here. It will need some tweaking IMHO.

I heard a while back that Atlanta was in the process of designing and funding pathways that were for bicycles or atleast a multi-purpose paved trail (But not super curvy like at a county park). If I remember correctly they wanted to pave over abandoned rail lines and connect all around the city.

For example these tracks here are abandoned...
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=atlanta,+ga&ie=UTF8&split=0&gl=us&ei=aoF7StPRCZeRtgef67HvAQ&ll=33.794199,-84.342642&spn=0.034594,0.076818&z=14

Midtown Promenade features a Trader joes, Mellow Mushroom, bars, restuarants, a movie theatre and is a short ride to Piedmont Park. Then take that up a little farther and you can stop in on Cheshire Bridge Road and hit up some strip clubs and sex shops and then finish off by getting your doctrite at Emory University. It's a win for everyone.

But I think a lot of cyclists opposed it for some reason (critical massers I think) and it has been shot down.