Originally Posted by
noisebeam
Barriers should not be used for the ~100' approach of any intersections or driveways. Separated/buffered lanes only make sense on longer stretches of intersection-less roadways. At intersection approaches cyclists may need to merge left and motorists right. A barrier inhibits the needed awareness and communication between motorist and cyclist.
In an ideal world, yes.
But consider a "block" of an NYC avenue is only 264 feet between cross streets, and commercial driveways on suburban "strips" can be more dense than even that.
And if the "protection" is street parking (with the bike route outside it) that kind of "re-establishing mutual awareness" zone would consume 40% of the distance between intersections.