Advocacy & Safety - If bikes were allowed to use freeways, would that give cycling culture a boost?

There are some urban areas where the freeway is the only direct route to get through certain barriers such as railroad yards, culdesaacy suburban developments, over other freeways, and over railyard areas.

Freeways are also the most well known routes and people site them constantly when giving directions to places. They are usually the simplest way to get from one big city to another.

They are also the fastest route to get through any area and sometimes can be safer than congested arterial streets with no bike lanes.

If pedestrians and cyclists were all of a sudden allowed to use the America's freeway system in every state and city, what affect would that have on bike culture? Would pedestrians and cyclists not be able to handle it and get killed left and right when trying to use these facilities? Would they even choose to use these facilities? Would there be numerous pileups?

It seems interesting that America believes so much in freedom, and this was one of our founding principles back when the nation was first created, but now we've made it so hard to get places that it essentially requires us to use a car, drivers licenses, and license plates to do so.

Cars are basically treated as higher respected transportation over bicycles when they are given these special free-flowing facilities to get anywhere in the U.S. whereas bicycles are not given this.

I personally believe that allowing pedestrians and bikes to legally use all freeways would create a huge boost for cycling culture and it would really help kill car culture. I know more people would die as a result of it from accidents, but think of how much healthier our nation would be if biking was seen as fully supported by the state and cyclists were allowed to use every road? It would also encourage the states to build safer freeways and lower the speed limits on freeways if they knew that pedestrians and cyclists were allowed to use them.

Thoughts?

youre more than welcome to just dont go *****ing to the government when you get nailed with one of these from a truck doing 70mph
http://www.dasselaw.com/images/TF_FX.jpg

Bikes are allowed on many freeways around here...

Why do you assume that freeways would be deadly to cyclist. several western states have sections of freeways open to cyclist without the huge imagined death rates .

Hawaii only has three short freeways (all on Oahu) opening 2 well designed freeways to cyclist would only improve cycling safety in Hawaii. The original freeway was poorly designed, even for motor traffic and would detract from cyclist safety.

I don't think so, but not because of safety.

If you live outside a major metropolitan area, traffic is going to be pretty quick, 60-80 miles an hour depending on the location of the country. That would turn 10 minutes of driving into 50 minutes of biking. Most people wouldn't turn to biking as a legitimate form of transportation under those circumstances.

If you live inside a major metropolitan area, chances are that bike infrastructure exists, and legalizing the freeway use would be moot. (Excluding, of course, Atlanta which seems to have no infrastructure =P) For instance I could bike the freeway here to church... but the bike trail runs parallel to it.

I don't have experience riding on freeways so I can't comment on their safety. I'm sure they vary widely in that regard, though.

I wouldn't mind riding on rural freeways, but I wouldn't do an urban one. Merges are just too frequent and congested on urban freeways for my comfort.

Curious--what do you do if there's a stopped car blocking the breakdown lane on a freeway?

I wouldn't mind riding on rural freeways, but I wouldn't do an urban one. Merges are just too frequent and congested on urban freeways for my comfort.

Curious--what do you do if there's a stopped car blocking the breakdown lane on a freeway?

In Arizona we use Interstates because that is the only route. Really sucks when there is construction. Take the lane and use a mirror or pick the bike up and walk around the blockage.

Urban Freeways will never work as the on/off ramps would require you to go up and back down. Of course stopping for the light your going to get. Merging through the ramps on a rural interstate is hard enough with traffic going 75 mph. Very good lesson how fast one approaches you though.

If you live outside a major metropolitan area, traffic is going to be pretty quick, 60-80 miles an hour depending on the location of the country. That would turn 10 minutes of driving into 50 minutes of biking. Most people wouldn't turn to biking as a legitimate form of transportation under those circumstances.

Are you in Arlington, Va? If so, I'd say that those figures are reversed. Anywhere that you can get to in 10 minutes by bicycle will take you 50 by car in Northern Virginia.

Are you in Arlington, Va? If so, I'd say that those figures are reversed. Anywhere that you can get to in 10 minutes by bicycle will take you 50 by car in Northern Virginia.

Which is why I said outside a major metropolitan area. ;)

I was thinking rural America or even some really for outlying suburbs.

I routinely (legally) use the shoulder of I-5 between Gilman and Roselle, because that is the only direct route from Sorrento Valley to UCSD. I enter on one ramp and exit on the next ramp, without having to deal with any admittedly very dangerous weaves, merges, or diverges on the freeway itself. The shoulder is 8 feet wide, marked by a fog line, and well-maintained.

I have long argued that we should open a parallel stretch of I-805, from Mira Mesa Bl. to La Jolla Village Dr., because that is the only direct route between Sorrento Mesa and University Towne Center. I would propose restricting bicycles to enter on the last available southbound ramp and to exit at the first available opportunity -- likewise for northbound cyclists. Again, this would eliminate the one big safety issue, having to deal with merges, diverges, and weaves.

Bicyclists also have the right to use the I-5 shoulder enroute between San Diego and Orange Counties, because the only alternate route, an arguably far more pleasant ride through Camp Pendleton, is not always open for us.

My first choice is a physically separate bicycle freeway parallel to the restricted access motorway, such as we have parallel to SR-56 in Carmel Valley (the one in the northern portion of the City of San Diego, not the one on the south side of the Monterey Peninsula), but these are expensive to build, and the right-of-way simply is not always there. My second choice is to open all of the shoulders / breakdown lanes, even with the requirement that we exit and re-enter at each offramp.

To me, the greatest single access issue is the typical freeway bridge over a bay or river, such as the Coronado bridge or the various trans-bay bridges in the greater San Francisco area. There are no direct alternate routes for these.

Bikes are allowed on many freeways around here...
Yeah, and it creeps me out. On the other hand, it's good for training because I find myself riding rather fast just so I can get the hell off sooner!

I don't know if I'm ever going to want to spend much time on a freeway. I think I'll just live in places with good cycling infrastructure.

You can go on a pretty long stretch of freeway in the Camp Pendleton area north of San Diego, if you don't want to go through the base. I don't think it's any less safe where I bike on La Costa Avenue, where the speed limit is 50, but just about everyone is going 65, and there is barely a 3 foot wide bike lane.

i don't know if i'm ever going to want to spend much time on a freeway. I think i'll just live in places with good cycling infrastructure.

+1

No desire to ride them around here. Shoulder is strewn with debris and many have rumble strips cut all the way across the shoulder.

It seems interesting that America believes so much in freedom

1) While technically public, most people your behavior on a freeway can be limited by the operator, usually the government. Presence on a freeway is considered some combination of a right and a privilege.

2) If absolute freedom is what you really want then the highways should be privately owned and operated without those silly government rules.

3) Any nation that tolerates no fly lists does not believe in "freedom".

If you want to ride on the freeways in your area then get a group of people and start doing it.

$10/gal gas will be a boost for cycling culture.
The freeways will have more room then.
When fuel prices drop, cycling culture takes a hit.

No desire to ride them around here. Shoulder is strewn with debris and many have rumble strips cut all the way across the shoulder.

Shoulder rumble strips are a huge problem on many non-freeway roads, as well.

... I don't think it's any less safe where I bike on La Costa Avenue, where the speed limit is 50, but just about everyone is going 65, and there is barely a 3 foot wide bike lane.

We're nearly neighbors, Chaco. PM me if you want to ride sometime -- I have been cycling with the YMCA's MasterFit group on Wednesday and Saturday mornings and with various MeetUp groups at other times.

I routinely (legally) use the shoulder of I-5 between Gilman and Roselle, because that is the only direct route from Sorrento Valley to UCSD. I enter on one ramp and exit on the next ramp, without having to deal with any admittedly very dangerous weaves, merges, or diverges on the freeway itself. The shoulder is 8 feet wide, marked by a fog line, and well-maintained.

I have long argued that we should open a parallel stretch of I-805, from Mira Mesa Bl. to La Jolla Village Dr., because that is the only direct route between Sorrento Mesa and University Towne Center. I would propose restricting bicycles to enter on the last available southbound ramp and to exit at the first available opportunity -- likewise for northbound cyclists. Again, this would eliminate the one big safety issue, having to deal with merges, diverges, and weaves.

Bicyclists also have the right to use the I-5 shoulder enroute between San Diego and Orange Counties, because the only alternate route, an arguably far more pleasant ride through Camp Pendleton, is not always open for us.

My first choice is a physically separate bicycle freeway parallel to the restricted access motorway, such as we have parallel to SR-56 in Carmel Valley (the one in the northern portion of the City of San Diego, not the one on the south side of the Monterey Peninsula), but these are expensive to build, and the right-of-way simply is not always there. My second choice is to open all of the shoulders / breakdown lanes, even with the requirement that we exit and re-enter at each offramp.

To me, the greatest single access issue is the typical freeway bridge over a bay or river, such as the Coronado bridge or the various trans-bay bridges in the greater San Francisco area. There are no direct alternate routes for these.

I just finished up at UCSD last August and used all of the routes you mentioned at one point or another. I would rather have some sort of elevated or otherwise protected bicycle highway but I would use the freeways if I was allowed to in come places.

I would never. Ever. EVER ride my bike on I-95 here in good old central NJ, where people swerve in and out of merges with a cell phone in one hand and a coffee in another. The general flow of traffic is around 85 mph, though the posted speed limit is 60 mph

http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/22/p1030472rqr.jpghttp://img10.imageshack.us/img10/22/p1030472rqr.jpg (http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/22/p1030472rqr.jpg)
I80 outside Rocksprings, WY Eastbound

Perfect road. (earplugs)

I15 northbound Cedar City Utah
http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/3935/p1010991c.jpg

In my part of Cali, all roads, including freeways, are open to bicycle traffic. Speeding traffic is not a huge concerning factor since our local highway patrol is thick as a den of thieves, thanks to extra monies allotted to patrol our area.

Sorry when I think of Freeway, I think of...

http://i.treehugger.com/images/2007/10/24/njturnpike.jpg
http://blogs.phillyburbs.com/news/bct/wp-content/blogs.dir/3/files/2008/_09/wk_of_09.07/0908_Turnpike_Tolls.jpg

I'm barely caught dead driving on that god forsaken road, much less cycling, rofl

cuz I'd totally ride on what you posted, wheel.

youre more than welcome to just dont go *****ing to the government when you get nailed with one of these from a truck doing 70mph
http://www.dasselaw.com/images/TF_FX.jpg

We call um road gators!

We call um road gators!

Ah, a Friedstone Recall radial and nicely converted to a transit disease ribbon!

Freeway use in Calif is allowed for long distance cycling when no other alternative exists.. Based on the number of flats, i've expereinced on the freeway'; I 'd be seeking out the alternatives.

youre more than welcome to just dont go *****ing to the government when you get nailed with one of these from a truck doing 70mph
http://www.dasselaw.com/images/TF_FX.jpg


The chances of getting actually hit by one of these?


The motor is going 55 -75 it won't be behind you for very long.
Then to time the moment, the exact time it passes you (ya right).

Two lane roads would be worse.

Actually, in the state of Oregon cyclists are allowed to ride on the shoulders of most all interstate highways. I was a little skeptical until I moved out there and saw this done. I asked a local cyclist about it, and he said that he had no ambition to do it himself. Also, I've seen a few cyclists doing it, but they look semi-stressed (no pun intended) when trucks pass by. I'd be stressed too. On the bright side, it does open up avenues of travel for cyclists in the state. What I would love to see is a cross country bike path, like something those rails-to-trails guys would cook up- just one that would enable fun, pleasant travel. I think it would be idyllic if there were camping grounds and coffee shops along the way. Actually, if you had more than enough free time on your hands, you could get a Starbucks or any other business which cyclists would use and get them to fund it. That's just me dreaming- but haven't you ever wished that scenic bike trail you are riding on would go on forever?

The chances of getting actually hit by one of these?


The motor is going 55 -75 it won't be behind you for very long.
Then to time the moment, the exact time it passes you (ya right).

Two lane roads would be worse.

It's not so much the problem of getting hit by one of these things as it is hitting one of them, especially in the dark. Not so much a problem for cars and trucks, but they are really bad juju for our friends on motorcycles. Imagine hitting one of those at 60 mph on a Harley...

http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/22/p1030472rqr.jpghttp://img10.imageshack.us/img10/22/p1030472rqr.jpg (http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/22/p1030472rqr.jpg)
I80 outside Rocksprings, WY Eastbound

Perfect road. (earplugs)

I15 northbound Cedar City Utah
http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/3935/p1010991c.jpg
Sorry, but where I come from, that's called a highway. Pezzle has the picture of what we call a freeway. umd is probably taking about the handful of 2-5 mile sections of the 101 freeway in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties - with 4-5 lanes in each direction - that allow cyclists due to no alternate route.

The few times I have ridden on interstates, I-5, etc; occasionally the Mass Pike between exits 2 and 3, just to make a point; and parts of I-94 in Montana, of course I loved the ride because the shoulders were luxurious. Everything that riding on other roads could be, if we spent the money on shoulders/bike lanes instead of separate bike paths, mass transit and similar harebrained schemes.

Not that shoulders have to be as wide as they are on interstates to be useful...most of the rural roads I ride on have shoulders only a few feet wide, at best. But they are invaluable.

The problem of course on Interstates is crossing an exit ramp if you are continuing straight on, when the traffic is heavy. I had the best luck just getting off the bike and running across when I had the chance; and the problem is repeated for on ramps. On my world tour, then I took the highway from the airport to Bangkok, this drove me batty...and the 110 degree temperatures were no fun either!

roughstuff

Chalk me up as yet another person whose freeway is I-95. It's nowhere near as bad here as it is in NJ or the NYC metro area, but we still get fairly heavy traffic at 80-90 mph here. I drive 75 on it and people usually blow past me like I'm barely moving. It's also poorly maintained in terms of debris, has rumble strips on the shoulder (and at many sections has no shoulder), and has those great big signs at all the entrances that say: "No pedestrians, cyclists, motor scooters, or mopeds".

That being said - I'd rather focus on getting places to legalize us going on highways first. Freeways, at least in populated areas, make sense for being off-limits. I wouldn't bike on I-95 anymore than I'd bike on the autobahn. However, there are plenty of places here where bicycles are banned on roads that are classified as "highways" and shouldn't be. Parts of Route 1 (Boston Post Road / Post Road, depending on where you are) ban bicycles, as does a series of smaller highways that make a square around where I currently live.
The real slap in the face to me was a little road called King's Highway, which is a no-lane residential street in a small neighborhood. I received a ticket there from a police officer citing that I was "cycling on a highway".

Let me on other roads and I won't CARE that I can't get on freeways.

It's not so much the problem of getting hit by one of these things as it is hitting one of them, especially in the dark. Not so much a problem for cars and trucks, but they are really bad juju for our friends on motorcycles. Imagine hitting one of those at 60 mph on a Harley...

Somehow, being hit by a tire is a far less concern to me than being hit by a motorist drifting over the fog line since I see that happen far more often than tires/tire debris on the side of the road.
Locally, it's rare to see tire debris on the side of the freeway since it is quickly picked up by the district road crews, even quicker if it's in the middle of the freeway.

The problem of course on Interstates is crossing an exit ramp if you are continuing straight on, when the traffic is heavy. I had the best luck just getting off the bike and running across when I had the chance; and the problem is repeated for on ramps.
roughstuff

This right here. I see the entrance and exit ramps (especially exit) as deathtraps. Not such as big of a deal where you have an exit every 10 miles in the rural areas, but a huge deal when you have an exit at least every mile in the more populated areas (with more cars too).

I wouldn't mind riding on rural freeways, but I wouldn't do an urban one. Merges are just too frequent and congested on urban freeways for my comfort.

Curious--what do you do if there's a stopped car blocking the breakdown lane on a freeway?

Ummm, lemme see...

Slow down and go around? :rolleyes:

This is correct. I see the entrance and exit ramps (especially exit) as deathtraps. Not such as big of a deal where you have an exit every 10 miles in the rural areas, but a huge deal when you have an exit at least every mile in the more populated areas (with more cars too).

Yes...on the Thailand airport access road, I just got off at every exit and got back on, with the inevitable traffic light (and 7-11 store) at each crossing. I made it though. I almost blew off Bangkok, because large cities to me are always such a huge disappointment, but on balance i'd say Bangkok was an exception.

roughstuff

Ummm, lemme see...

Slow down and go around? :rolleyes:

Are you sure about that? If a stopped car is blocking the shoulder/breakdown lane, I should slow down and go around it? Should I go around it on the 70 MPH traffic side or on the weeds and broken glass side?

Are you sure about that? If a stopped car is blocking the shoulder/breakdown lane, I should slow down and go around it? Should I go around it on the 70 MPH traffic side or on the weeds and broken glass side?

I would leave that decision to you. Navigating "weeds and broken glass" for 30 feet is not the end of the world- pick the bike up and carry it. Cyclocrossers do it all the time.

But if this (purely hypothetical) situation poses too much of a challenge, perhaps you should be riding the bus?

Freeways are designed for high speed travel even though on peak hours, the aren't. Anyway, I don't recommend using freeways because dude unless you can potentially travel at 100km/h to go with the flow of traffic, you're just being an annoyance and a danger to everyone.
Besides I find most freeways boring.

<Flamesuit on>