Old 05-26-17, 11:12 AM
  #16  
genec
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Originally Posted by College3.0
You should have titled this thread differently, because it doesn't seem like the article is about a "busy MUP" at all.... it's about a child who fell into high-speed traffic within more-or-less 6 inches of a MUP, which had no protective barrier in between.
A road safety advocate is calling on the city to install more barriers between roadways and bike lanes after a 5-year-old boy was killed on Wednesday while cycling on Lake Shore Boulevard.
The terminology of the above quote is a bit misleading... at least to an American reader. This is an actual path not a "bike lane." It does parallel the Lake Shore Blvd as can be seen here in this google map link: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ma....4288342?hl=en

Technically it might be considered a "sidepath," except it does not just parallel the road, but leaves that proximity and goes through some parks.

The argument given in the OP and other comments is regarding children on paths being in danger. The danger here is actually the proximity to the road and that someone young and unguided might go out on the road or fall into the road. This is a completely different issue from that of speed differential on a bike path or MUP.

Now, having said all that, about a path I have never been on, and merely researched on the web... let me say this about bike paths for transportation and MUPs: Any users of any transportation facilities, be they sidewalks, MUPs, paths, horse trails, or just plain old streets is responsible for not hitting or colliding with those in front of them. It really is that simple. You must take caution to avoid hitting those folks in front of you... regardless of your mode. If you are driving, you do not hit the cars, bikes, or pedestrians in front of you. If you are cycling, you do not hit the slower cyclists, pedestrians, skateboarders, etc in front of you. If you are running, you do not hit the walking people in front of you.

It really is that simple... anyone closing on anyone else in front of them, has the responsibility to avoid hitting what is in front of them.

Now we can go on to best designs for MUPs and high speed paths and all the discussions that rise from good and bad design. I will throw in my own anecdote about a particular transportation path in San Diego. This is the route 56 path that runs from Poway area to Sorrento Valley. This path was in part designed by Cal Trans to allow transportation cyclists to commute from the east county to the area of Sorrento Valley when a farm highway was converted to a limited access freeway.

Most of the path is well designed, with two wide well marked lanes, access to traffic light signal buttons and high quality bridges that span the gorges in the area.

https://www.google.com/maps/@32.9665...!3m1!1e3?hl=en

http://www.bikeforums.net/images/attach/jpg.gif
http://www.bikeforums.net/images/attach/jpg.gif
http://www.bikeforums.net/images/attach/jpg.gif

The turns are wide, the visibility generally good and the ramps to and from this path are well laid out... right up to the street... but this is where the fail begins to happen. Where the path meets the various surface streets, there are no signs and no curb cuts. So if you happen to be on the surface street above, you may notice the path, but you have no real notification that it exists, and no easy access to it. I contacted the engineers that designed the path and asked why this situation occurred. I was told it was so "the kiddos using the path would not ride out into the busy streets..." This of course is quite counter to the original design idea, that transportation cyclists would use this path.

The path design is further marred by proximity to a condominium complex, where it does become a mommy path full of small children and wandering mothers who tend to converse in packed groups... again somewhat counter to the needs of transportation cyclists.

https://www.google.com/maps/@32.9480...!3m1!1e3?hl=en

The path is further marred in one location by crossing the top of a water weir, which at times is wet, and grows slippery algae... again, counter to the needs of transportation cyclists... or anyone, for that matter that doesn't want to slip and fall. https://www.google.com/maps/@32.9430...!3m1!1e3?hl=en

The photos below (we used to be able to embed these into the text... ) show the best parts of the path.
Attached Images
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bridge.JPG (43.4 KB, 230 views)
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underpass_freeway.JPG (50.6 KB, 226 views)
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offramp.JPG (41.8 KB, 230 views)

Last edited by genec; 05-26-17 at 11:17 AM.
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