RT 309 Souderton to Chalfont Legal To Ride?
01-24-19, 08:39 PM
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RT 309 Souderton to Chalfont Legal To Ride?
Hi to all, been a while!
I'm newly retired, I'm giving up the automobile for awhile. I'll travel by foot & bike. I need once monthly commute 6.9 miles between Telford and Chalfont PA. Google Maps shows it as a relatively easy beeline ride with moderate hill, and, I know the roads, so, risks are known. What I'm not really sure of is whether or not "pedalbikes" as PENNDOT calls them, are actually legal on that part of RT 309. I do see other bikes there though not many. Partial Bus (with walk) option does exist also, but, would like to bike! Anyone out there know this corner of the world? Peace and good rides.
I'm newly retired, I'm giving up the automobile for awhile. I'll travel by foot & bike. I need once monthly commute 6.9 miles between Telford and Chalfont PA. Google Maps shows it as a relatively easy beeline ride with moderate hill, and, I know the roads, so, risks are known. What I'm not really sure of is whether or not "pedalbikes" as PENNDOT calls them, are actually legal on that part of RT 309. I do see other bikes there though not many. Partial Bus (with walk) option does exist also, but, would like to bike! Anyone out there know this corner of the world? Peace and good rides.
01-25-19, 06:56 AM
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I do know that corner of the world. I don't know whether bicycles are actually legally allowed on Bethlehem Pike; I would ask a policeman. But if you use a route planning app (I recommend www.ridewithgps.com) it will generally avoid roads that are not allowed. So just now, creating a route from the Wawa in Soudertown to the Manhattan Bagel in Chalfont, RidewithGPS puts you on 309 for about two miles, so I presume it is legal. That route, for what it's worth, is 7.8 miles.
I can tell you, however, that I would not ride that road. Traffic is fast, there is often no shoulder, and there are turn lanes that would bring the cyclist into conflict with cars, and more importantly, there are dozens of quiet roads to chose from. So if, for example, you cross 309 on Fairhill Road and take Fairhill School down to Church Road, etc, the route is 8.2 miles, a little hillier, and I'm sure a whole lot more pleasant. Full disclosure, I can't recall exactly which of those roads I've ridden, but I am confident I've ridden the ones I mentioned, and they are fine.
Another useful tool, available online, is the "Strava Global Heatmap." (https://www.strava.com/heatmap#12.94...30842/hot/ride) You can use it to see which roads are popular with cyclists who use the Strava app. That's not all cyclists (I'm sure utilitarian, commuting cyclists are underrepresented) but it's still useful. To judge from that, cyclists don't ride on 309.
I can tell you, however, that I would not ride that road. Traffic is fast, there is often no shoulder, and there are turn lanes that would bring the cyclist into conflict with cars, and more importantly, there are dozens of quiet roads to chose from. So if, for example, you cross 309 on Fairhill Road and take Fairhill School down to Church Road, etc, the route is 8.2 miles, a little hillier, and I'm sure a whole lot more pleasant. Full disclosure, I can't recall exactly which of those roads I've ridden, but I am confident I've ridden the ones I mentioned, and they are fine.
Another useful tool, available online, is the "Strava Global Heatmap." (https://www.strava.com/heatmap#12.94...30842/hot/ride) You can use it to see which roads are popular with cyclists who use the Strava app. That's not all cyclists (I'm sure utilitarian, commuting cyclists are underrepresented) but it's still useful. To judge from that, cyclists don't ride on 309.
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Last edited by rhm; 01-25-19 at 07:07 AM.
