40 mph road. street or sidewalk?
 

I'm going to start commuting to fall on my SS bike, and have a question about the best way for me to ride. I teach at a school that's a fairly short distance away, maybe 2 miles. To get there however I have to ride on two very busy roads (especially in the mornings). The roads have two lanes going each direction plus a turn lane in the middle. The speed limit is 40mph, though I'd say the good majority of people go at least 50. There's no shoulder. Should I still attempt to ride in the street? I know it's not illegal here, as the law says if the speed limit is 40 or higher you can ride on the sidewalk. Just wanted some outside input before I made my decision.

context? alternative routes? i would need to know more before making a decision, but leaning strongly towards taking a lane given the information you've provided so far.

can you post your route in GMaps?

As long as you stay visible, you are normally safer on the street. The majority of car/bike accidents in this area are bikers on the sidewalk being hit by vehicles exiting driveways and parking lots. Intersections are also problematic on the sidewalk for a biker. If drivers check the sidewalk before they cross it, they don't look far enough to see a 15mph bike. A sidewalk with few intersections or driveways could be fine.

What is the sidewalk like? Empty or full of pedestrians? If you ride the sidewalk are you prepared to keep your speed down and check parking lots for cars going out every time you cross a drive? Are you prepared to keep an eye on the street for cars turning in? And on the sidewalk you should yield to EVERYTHING. Some sidewalks are a workable alternative to heavy fast street traffic and some are not. Riding on the sidewalk is as safe or dangerous as you make it.

Don in Austin

The problems you describe are not inherent to riding on the sidewalk, they are caused by riding on the sidewalk in an unsafe manner.

Don in Austin

Ride to Be Safe..

This is true. I use a sidewalk in on part of town that is a one way street. it is only 2 blocks long but i slow way down and just take my time.

First of all, LIGHTS, front and rear. Daytime be blinky.. IMO, lights are very important on busy roads. Lights make it possible that you are seen. On the two lanes going in one direction, if it were me, I would take the full curb lane. Stay in the middle of that lane, so nobody does one of those 1 foot or less passes at 50+mph....

Don't of if this is proper or not, but sometimes on dual double lane roads, with a center turn lane, I use that lane when possible. Again, let me stress the HIGH IMPORTANCE of good lights. You can feel the speed of something passing you at 40mph+, but most likely, they will be doing 50mph+ or even 60. That kind of speed is no joke. So, if somebody claims don't run bright lights, the alternative is, after the contact, "oh I didn't see you"...

Luck to you..,

If possible, I'd look for another route even if it were longer. If not, as others have said it depends on the sidewalk conditions. If they are empty and there are very few driveways/parking lots/et cetera I would probably take the sidewalk and be prepared, as Don in Austin wrote "to keep your speed down and check parking lots for cars going out every time you cross a drive."

It's up to you. It depends on the situation and you are the one that is there and can judge traffic, driver attitude, number of cars on the road, number of pedestrians on the sidewalk, and your own skills.

Personally I ride on roads with no shoulders with 60MPH drivers, but the traffic is generally pretty light, a dozen cars a minute or so at worst, and there is no sidewalk, so my situation is not comparable. By the time I get to town where there is a sidewalk, there's also a turn lane and drivers can use that to go around me, or just stay in the lane, the lane is quite wide.

It may sound obvious or dumb but there's a tactic that helped me which didn't occur to me for months.

I have about a half mile on a road like that, narrow with high speeds and two lanes each direction. Since you encounter two such roads in only two miles, it may be similarly short but hairy. Anyway, instead of following with traffic on the road I simply wait at the light at a right turn entering the road! I stay out of the way while waiting so that right turners from behind can go around, and only go when the cross traffic has red - I can get the whole half mile to my turnoff ahead of traffic. Even going straight through (instead of turning right onto the road) you could do the same thing by going through the intersection and simply stopping at the cross street at the right turn position.

Though to be honest I don't do that when riding a couple of miles on that street; I ride with traffic and they go around me. But always, when I enter it on the right I just wait for the red even if it's clear.

Except in most places in the country, riding on sidewalks is illegal. Most states consider bicycles as vehicles.

People use sidewalks to "walk." Depending on where you live, sidewalks can be filled with kids and elderly people. You run the risk of injuring them and yourselfs.

There's nothing unsafe about riding on a road with a 40 mph speedlimit if you are careful and seen through bright clothes and lights as it gets dark.

I ride on sidewalk only when absolutely necessary. and from the description you give of your route, it may not be absolutely necessary. Riding on the sidewalk can be done safely, but in most cases, this is accomplished by going slowly.

My problem with "40MPH" roads is the speed of traffic is usually 55-60. You do indeed have the right (and responsibility) to ride on the road - but then again, you can be dead right, and still dead.

That said, I avoid those roads entirely. You're probably thinking like a driver, who asks "what is the shortest and fastest possible route?" You should think like a cyclist - "what is the safest and most pleasant route?"

The longest leg of my commute is 2 miles on a busy two lane road with a 45mph speed limit. The real speed is closer to 50 or 55. I have no choice but to take the lane as there is no shoulder. It was very unsettling at first but I soon got used to vehicles passing me. My biggest concern is not so much getting hit, but for the vehicles passing me. They tend to try and move around me when there is a car in the oncoming lane. I've seen several close calls where the vehicle passing me came way too close to causing a head on collision. If this unthinkable event every happens right before my eyes I'm sure someone will try to blame it on me for being there.

At 16mph on a SS, 2 miles is roughly 7.5 mins. I wouldn't even worry about it and just ride in the street.

Two lanes on each side even gives the car space to pass without encroaching into the lane for oncoming traffic. In addition, the turning lane is present.

There are no stupid questions, only stupid answers but still. You need to commute 2 miles on a bicycle? Youre a grown, educated man. What's the big deal? What does look more risky TO YOU. In that, yours, particular situation, on that particular stretch of road? Know any near, longer but better roads? No? Make your choice, find what works for you.

Can you share the road without riding in the gutter? If you are three feet from the curb, and drivers can pass you with three feet clearance without entering the turn lanes, I'd ride on the road for sure. Have you tripled checked for all alternate routes? The bicycle option on Google Maps can sometimes find great alternative roads that you haven't considered yet. I'd much rather find a quieter residential road anyway than have to ride on a arterial street.

If possible, find a longer but safer route. This is a win-win. You get in more riding time, plus you ride safer. My bike commute route is several miles longer than the route I drive to work. I would much rather ride some extra miles than ride a shorter but more dangerous route.

Issue on the sidewalk, particularly if 'salmon-ing' against reaffic flow,
is they don't see you if they are looking at the oncoming traffic,
for a hole to jump into.

You may have to stop and let them go, ring your loud bell,
or slap the side of the car to get them to turn their head to see you.

Is this really true? Does anyone have any studies/articles/etc. that show this too be true in the states? I know it is not true in the states I have lived in and a quick peak at the laws of 5 states found that in none of them that I checked (California, Texas, New Jersey, New York, Virginia) is there a state-wide ban. Also, I've come across very few municipalities that ban it. I am sure that many major cities do, but I do not think it is safe or accurate to say that in most places it is illegal to ride on the sidewalk.

Mind you, I am not saying it is wise, safe, or in any other was a good idea (in most cases), but I think the idea that it is illegal in most places in the USA is an urban myth.

Regardless, the OP checked and found that it was not illegal were he asked about so in this particular case it is a red herring.

Even if it's technically illegal in many places, it is likely unenforced. I doubt police in most places would bother ticketing a cyclist on a sidewalk unless said cyclist was riding recklessly or stupidly. In situations where cars must move around a cyclist on a road, the motorists have control over how safe the situation is. On the sidewalk, the cyclist has control. Really, then, what is preferable to the cyclist? I'm not saying it's safer to ride on sidewalks all the time... if there is room for a bike on roads, roads are safer. But it frankly seems obtuse to suggest the opposite, that roads are always safer, no matter the specifics regarding how much room there is for bikes.

To the OP... you have a couple of months before you start commuting... why not go out during non peak hours on your off days and experiment with different routes. It shouldn't be hard to find one that you feel comfortable with.

Yo, Teach- care to clarify the bolded part for me??

I won't tell you whether you should take the lane or the sidewalk. Pros/cons for each, though the legallity lends itself more favorably to using the road. Just invest in some good lights- especially in the rear. You want to give the people coming from behind as much time to notice and react to your presense as possible.

I'd ride in the street if there are any intersecting roads or drive ways.

You're _much_ more likely to be hit riding across a drive way or side-street than you are from behind on the road, especially if you're traveling the opposite direction from car traffic.

Car drivers are generally oblivious to bicycle-speed traffic on side-walks (or bike paths running alongside the main road) and bikes travelling in the opposite direction from traffic are effectively invisible.

Without reading any other posts, my answer would be to take an alternate route, unless there's enough room for a bike in the lane with traffic despite having no dedicated bike lane. Riding on the expressway everyday (45+MPH -- many do upwards of 60), I can't imagine subjecting myself to the possibility of being nailed while taking the lane. I would simply avoid the whole mess if possible if I couldn't safely ride alongside traffic at those speeds.

Riding on a sidewalk filled with kids and elderly people IS riding on the sidewalk in an unsafe manner. Riding on an empty sidewalk can be done safely in many cases. Some roads with a 40 mph speed limit are NOT safe. There is one in particular I tried to ride and gave up on because I got tired of how hostile the vehicular traffic was. Everything depends.

Don in Austin

But if riding opposite from traffic, who holds a gun to the cyclist's head and forbids him from watching for cars slowing enough that they could be turning in? Its not hard to do, but i suspects its not done enough.

Don in Austin

Just pedal 40 mph :p

You know.. I have to say... I've been riding and commuting a bunch of years. A bunch. In all this time I have never seen a cyclist " take the lane". Is this TTL stuff like voting for Bush? I mean... do you know anyone who did? Somebody must have, but I digress. There isn't a four lane road (two in each direction) that can afford to have one of them tied up by a 12 mph bicycle. Where i used to live the cyclist would be killed and that would be that. Where I live now, the cyclist would not be killed, but s/he would make road traffic very unhappy. Why do that? IMO if you are afraid to be passed in a lane by cars and/or trucks(!) you should find an alternate route or take mass transit. I am not afraid to be passed at close quarters by vehicle traffic but the o.p.'s route, as described, would have me looking for an alternate. .

H

This is illegal in most places, if you're speaking of using the center turn lane as your cycling lane. The turn lane is for TURNING, and you being there is a risk to the drivers around you. You will get ticketed for that, if you don't get hit by someone trying to turn first.

On the other hand if you're speaking of taking the entire righthand lane, kudos. I'm STILL not brave enough to do that and I've been at the commuting thing for 2+ years. (yeah, young'un I know.)