need some advice on tactics for a specific situation - freeway interchange
 

Need some advice on tactics on this locaton - northbound on John Young at the 528 interchange: http://goo.gl/maps/JfgM8
Situation and Time of day - 7am rush hour - cars following each other quite closely, 45 - 55 mph. My speed about 18-20 mph. Traveling on the shoulder northbound.

Tried these three things:
1. staying far right on shoulder, even under the bridge
2. staying in far right lane (the merge lane for off loading and on loading traffic)
3. staying in the right through lane (to continue northbound)

Observations:
1. I'm out of the circus, but dangerous crossing the merge lane to the right shoulder, then back across the merge lane to the northbound continuing right shoulder.

2. I move to the right 1/3 of the lane because the cars follow each other so closely, that when they move right to the merge lane, the farther right I am, the sooner they see me (due to their driver's side being blocked by the car in front of them).

3. sometimes not possible to get in this lane due to fast moving traffic. However, if I do see a good break and do take this lane, worried about situation where a line of cars come up quickly behind me, the car directly behind me quickly goes into the right merge lane, and the car behind him not seeing me in time to not cream me.

So far, what seems to work best is to move to the right 1/3 of the merge lane, and then when traffic is slower here and I can see who is merging and who isn't, then signal and move left to the the right through lane.

Hope this is somewhat clear -

How would you do it?

Thanks a lot!

I'd stay on the shoulder until the merge lane comes in, and then ride the line between the merge lane and right thru lane, signaling a move across the merge lane to the right shoulder with my arm. Keep up speed and move predictably and confidently to the right as soon as a car seems to acknowledge your intentions. Same procedure in reverse on the second merge lane crossing.

More likely though, I'd find a safer alternate route.

Is this what you're trying to describe? Your google map link doesn't seem to point to what you're describing.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=344852

I have to navigate a cloverleaf but likely, no where near as complex or as busy. However, if safe passage across an off- or on-ramp is not easily found, I stop, turn my head to face traffic and wait for a safe opportunity to cross.

I stay on the paved shoulder and only cross lanes when I get close to an off- or on-ramp.

What alan s said....
the more shoulder at those vehicle speeds the better imho

I had a similar set of interchanges to deal with (though not nearly as complicated) when riding the highway on my morning commutes. No amount of shoulder checking was sufficient, and making a full stop to wait for a break just meant I wasn't confident I could actually cross the lane fast enough to avoid traffic I hadn't even seen yet. As a result, I gave up on that route and added 4km to my trip to stick to non-highway bike-laned roads - even though it meant losing the longest free descent stretch anywhere on my trip. I could just see so clearly that a fatal disaster was inevitable if I kept trying to cross those merge lanes and off-ramps; it was only a matter of time. Your interchange looks even hairier than the ones I was dealing with. If you have an option to ride a different route and avoid that mess, I'd take it.

edit: Looking more closely at the map, I notice S. Orange Blossom Trail paralleling S. John Young Parkway a kilometer or so to the East, with a full bike lane as far North as Central Florida Parkway. Knowing nothing about the traffic patterns on those roads, I can only speculate, but maybe that could be an option?

I used do do an exchange like this in Boston, now I do one like this in Dover NH. Not a cloverleaf, but a high-speed merge, with traffic coming from the right off a highway in a dedicated lane, traffic flowing fast in my travel direction.

I will usually ride a shoulder if there is one and it is not full of crap. As I approach this kind of intersection, I'll hug the fog line so that I am riding the dividing line between two lanes as traffic comes together.

Then it depends -- if it's like my former commute where there is not an immediate right turn for an on-ramp, I will signal to get right and do so when there's a break in the traffic. Drivers don't really want a cyclist in the middle of traffic, so once I make my intention clear, usually cars will allow a merge. On my current commute, the lane merging from the highway turns into a right turn only lane -- like a cloverleaf situation -- so I will stay in the travel lane, either right on the lane divider or in the right travel track of the right-most lane going straight through.

My generic term for street situations like this is "meat-grinder."

Yes jrickards - that's exactly it. Thanks for the input!

Funny! That's about how I feel! Well stated! :)