Commuting - declining bike facilities

My post is not about ChipSeal so I am putting it here...


I think that the "door zone" issue is reasonably established as a "safety" issue (ie, it's suffices as a legal reason not to ride FRAP). "Must use" bicycle lane laws should have the "if it's safe to do so" exception.

Traffic circles have been springing up in our county, with bike-lane exits to the sidewalk. When I approach the circles, I move into the car lane, I can go through the circle at traffic speed much easier than I can ramp to the sidewalk and navigate the circle using crosswalks.

I am wondering if the 'bicycle exit' sign where the bike-lane ramps up to the sidewalk is a requirement or a suggestion.

For me it only comes up every month or 2, but a new traffic circle is sprouting near my house and it will soon become a twice-daily encounter.

ps-> maybe this is for A&S, in which case, nevermind.

I do tend to use facilities where they are unless unsafe like doorzone setups.

I am wondering if the 'bicycle exit' sign where the bike-lane ramps up to the sidewalk is a requirement or a suggestion.

I do tend to use facilities where they are unless unsafe like doorzone setups.

Phone your city and ask them what's up. This sounds like another ad-hoc bike facility though.

Down here in OR, I do just what you do: stay on the roadway. Our vehicle code specifies that we may use sidewalks (and shoulders) but are not required to, thus we cannot be forced to leave the road to take the slower and more dangerous pedestrian route. My city has been putting these things in with the same signage, but my city is pretty anti-bike. Also, reread your vehicle code regarding bike lanes in door zones. Ours allows bikes to leave the bike lane for hazards; door zones are specifically mentioned as a hazard to be avoided in the FRAP section. Somehow that doesn't stop our local traffic engineers from putting the bike lanes in the door zones.

Traffic circles have been springing up in our county, with bike-lane exits to the sidewalk. When I approach the circles, I move into the car lane, I can go through the circle at traffic speed much easier than I can ramp to the sidewalk and navigate the circle using crosswalks.

I am wondering if the 'bicycle exit' sign where the bike-lane ramps up to the sidewalk is a requirement or a suggestion.

For me it only comes up every month or 2, but a new traffic circle is sprouting near my house and it will soon become a twice-daily encounter.

ps-> maybe this is for A&S, in which case, nevermind.

I do tend to use facilities where they are unless unsafe like doorzone setups.

Poor design. If you do this, you are then required to cross the exit from the circle. Should you be turning left, you would have to do this twice, each time at a point where drivers would not be expecting to stop for cross traffic, either pedestrians or cyclists. It would be especially dangerous on the larger circles, where drivers will tend to be going pretty quickly.

If it's a busy one, gaps in the traffic leaving the circle will likely be small. It might well then lead to cyclists/peds taking risks to get across.

As others have said, take the traffic lane as you would in a car