Went to the on-bike education class hosted by SVBC and the City of Mountain View and taught by John Ciccarelli, a very able LCI (League Cycling Instructor) and transportation planner. It was so worthwhile. I had taken a similar class a few years ago when I was just starting out with street bicycling, and that was very helpful, but it was good to have a brush-up and pick up some pointers that I had missed before or forgotten. I urge anyone who can to take this type of class. From what I have observed out there, many people could benefit.
So back to the bike lanes in Campbell. I ride up Winchester in south Campbell fairly often. There are some puzzling aspects to the bike lanes. Going north, the bike lane starts under the San Tomas Expressway/Camden overpass, just before the cars come down the ramp from Camden and merge onto Winchester. But where the merge occurs, the bike lane suddenly takes a vacation. I haven't been sure the best way to negotiate that, even though I know I have the right of way, as cars come down the ramp pretty fast. What I learned from John is that I should take the lane in the right hand through lane. But I still think it would be better if the bike lane were striped all the way through.
After going through the intersection at the bottom of the ramp, the bike lane reappears again. But here, cars are allowed to park in the bike lane, all the way to Campbell Avenue, a distance of over one mile. So the bike lane here doesn't mean much. By the time you are out of the door zone, you are in the car lane. My guess is that they wanted to increase parking for the Winchester light rail station, and it was at the expense of bicyclists.
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bobs
July 7, 2011 - 1:09am
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On Winchester under the
On Winchester under the expressway overpass, that's a shoulder, not a bike lane. The benefit is this: a shoulder is not mandatory for cyclists, but a bike lane is mandatory (unless you can prove you met one of the exception conditions). So you're free to not use the shoulder without worrying about your decision being second-guessed.
Bike lanes aren't striped through intersections - whether those merging areas or any other intersection - because that would be a particularly hazardous place to ride. Cyclists are often lulled into illusory feelings of safety by the presence of bike lane stripes, and they're not much worse than plain pavement in areas with few intersections, such as on Winchester under the overpass. But cyclists need to wake up and negotiate with traffic at intersections, which is what John instructed you to do by participating in the flow of traffic in the travel lane.
You're right, north of Camden you find bike lane signs and stencils, so there it's a bike lane, not a shoulder. So you're required to use it unless you can prove the situation met one of the conditions in CVC 21208(a). Is the door zone a "hazardous condition"? We all know it is, but the MV police's traffic sergeant has said explicitly it isn't, unless the door is already open.
There's no "car lane" - that's a "travel lane". It's designed for travel by all lawful roadway users, including cyclists. You're not intruding on anything when you travel there, no matter what you're driving - whether a car or a bicycle or a bus. Don't reinforce the misunderstanding by using incorrect terminology.
In a door zone bike lane situation like you describe in that area (http://tinyurl.com/3hjusyf) you're certainly correct to avoid the hazard and use the travel lane. Since the travel lane is so narrow - not of safely shareable width per CVC 21202(a)(3) - you should be sure to ride far enough left to make it clear to overtaking drivers that you're not offering to share your lane with them. As a safety bonus, you're making yourself more visible to the driver of that maroon minivan pulling out of the driveway.
MikeOnBike
July 7, 2011 - 11:02am
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Is that really a bike lane?
Based on the street view link Bob provided, I don't think that's a bike lane:
A bike lane with parking needs to be 12 feet wide, with a 6" stripe and a white bike lane sign. (Never mind that 12 feet still puts the cyclist in the door zone, but that's the standard that was conceived in the 70's.)
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