genec

Uh did you look at that census info? Pretty raw data, but the numbers do show some sort of pattern consistent with facilities encouraging more ridership.

I understand the flaws in the questions asked, but until there is a serious study, we just have to go with what is available.

dynodonn 

Sometimes that happens, there's a section of bike lane that was 'ground out", restriped further out, and even parts of it was completely removed. There's another bike lane locally that resembles the OP's, it make's riding more a challenge during the winter months of trying to balance the bike between a crowned roadway and a flat level gutter pan while contending with high speed traffic, wind, rain, grates, curb, and darkness. So far, this bike lane has remained intact since it's inception over fifteen years ago.

Bekologist

oh, right, you mean 'improved'. absolutely.

Crews rework and restripe roadways all the time in america. asking local officials to consider improving the accomdations there is one very viable effort the OP should consider, and also teaming up with local cycling advocacy groups to combine his voice with others in his community.

dynodonn 

My favorite bikelane is the one that hasn't been restriped since it's inception over twenty years ago, the paint has completely away in many sections of it.

Bekologist

i wonder if either of these roads the OP or dynodonn posts about would be improved by restriping and/or widening the bike lanes.

certainly if the width is 'substandard' for either of you, you should take it up with your local bike advocacy organizations to start. Remember, the five foot recomendation is soley a recomendation, Bikelanes on high speed and highly biked roads are recommended by AASHTO to be wider.

Would removing the bike lane make Dynodonn's riding in the wintertime as he describes it more pleasant? Doubtful, but widening it likely would!

dynodonn 

Bek, widening the bike lanes on both sides of the road to a minimum of five feet minus the gutter pan could possibly make my ride more to my liking, but to do so would either mean that the roadway itself would have to be widen, or the center turning (suicide) lane would have to be removed. With our roadway funding being defered to bolster our state's deficit, I do not expect to see "improvements" anytime soon. The only reason the one bike lane section, I mentioned previously, was removed was because it received numerous complaints from motorist's saying it was causing them to make a "hazardous" negotiation in the roadway. Very few "improvements" are made to our local bike lanes, and once in place, they are left "as is" for many years to come, even with advocacy measures, and the bicyclist is left to negotiate any shortcomings the bike lane may have,

Bekologist

sounds like overall poor government stewardship and upkeep of public roads coupled with poor local bike advocacy and lack of a bike master plan. our city has an active restriping program that is charted out several years, (Our mayor understands paint is cheap!) and the municipality considers bikes while designing streetscapes, as AASHTO instructs traffic engineers to do.

off topic, however. I apologize.

complaining about poorly implemented and maintained bike lanes is a local advocacy issue and reflects nothing on well implemented and maintained bike facilites. The FHWA has stated that bicyclists should be included 'as a matter of routine' in the planning, design and operation of transportation facilities. 'operation' implies upkeep and maintenence.

The Federal Highway Administration, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation officials, and The Manual for Uniform Traffic Control Devices might provide valuable resources to 'nudge' local advocates or governments to action.....

atbman

UK councils really care - see June's facility of the month on:

https://www.warringtoncyclecampaign.co.uk/

Mark Turner

I've got mixed feelings about bike lanes. I tend to agree with the posts stating they're more important when the motor traffic speed is higher. I know I appreciate a wide paved shoulder on a 50 mph road. In town, on city street with a 25 mph speed limit I don't think striped lanes are so important.

The issue is front and center in our neighborhood this month as the city is proposing to remove parking on one side of the street by our house and stripe bike lanes on both sides when they repave following a water line replacement currently underway. The street is what I'd describe as a minor arterial, with a 25 mph limit. There is rarely a lot of traffic, with a little more mornings and evenings and Sundays around church time (4 churches within 4 blocks of my house). I've been riding the street as long as I've lived here and having cars parked along the side (never very many) and no bike lanes has never been an issue. Lots of cyclists use the street as it is. There's also a traffic-calmed alternate parallel route just two blocks east.

Our city's parking commission is recommending removing parking and striping bike lanes. The city council will have a hearing later this month and make the final decision. Several of us in the neighborhood strongly disagree with the proposal. We don't think bike lanes will make the street safer. My two kids rode to school on the street starting in 2nd grade (about 3/4 mile). We're also concerned about where the parking will be forced to ... onto narrower residential streets? Some businesses on the street have no off-street parking. Our house has no off-street parking. The four churches have lots, but overflow cars park on the street. The high school has a big lot, but overflow cars for sports and other events park on the street.

There are more issues than just bike safety involved in deciding to stripe lanes on the street. Do we want to pave more land just to add bike lanes? I don't think so.

I-Like-To-Bike

Most definitely.

Are you serious? The definition of a serious accident is "$50 in damage"? What accident with any injury or any damage wouldn't be serious with such a uselessly low threshold? A scratch in the paint of a bike could be considered "serious", as well as any medical attention even if it determined zero physical damage occurred would be "serious".

I recognize that Moritz was trying to replicate the 1970's Kaplan Study of LAB (née LAW) cyclists; a simple study study made notorious by its misuse by John Forester. Several of his most preposterous conclusions about the effectiveness of vehicular cycling are based on wildly extrapolations of the skimpy data found in the Kaplan study which included no definition for "serious" accidents. Drawing serious conclusions about "serious accidents" with a $50 threshold is almost as ridiculous.

genec

Frankly we can pave less land AND add more bike paths.

A typical freeway expansion, supposedly needed to handle more traffic, usually means adding a 12-14 foot wide lane on either side of the freeway. If on the other hand a mere 10 foot bike lane was paved, it could easily handle thousands of cyclists and relieve the congestion on the freeway. So instead of 24 feet of pavement, a two way bike path can be built in only 10 feet of pavement.

The key is moving single drivers of cars to bikes for their commute, rather then occupying the space of a whole car. A whole car is a really inefficient way to move one person.

If only 10% of average commuters went by bike, that would be a heck of a relief to congestion on the freeways. 10%... that's all. Right now in the US less than 1% of commuters go by bike. Some European countries have 28% of their commuters going by bike. Even 5% would be a massive improvement here.

Mark Turner

Agreed, bike lanes take less space than motor vehicle lanes. But in the case of our street there's not going to be any widening. Still just two traffic lanes, a center left-turn lane, and bike lanes striped on the sides. Parking on one side of the street, putting bikes there in the door zone. Bus stops on both sides of the street, which means they'll be pulling into the bike lane to stop every few blocks. I still think sharing the existing traffic lanes, with occasional parked cars on both sides, is better than bike lanes on this street.