Awhile ago I wrote that I had spent a few days in Boulder, CO, and was amazed at how bicycle-friendly it appeared to be. My son took some pictures so that I could share them, but they were waylaid for awhile. I finally received them and now I can share them.
This intersection has three bicycle related signs at just one corner. No one is going to miss the warning that there are bicyclists!
These two pictures show how they use a broken stripe to designate the bike lanes where there are right and left turn lanes. Wish they would do that around here!
It’s a little hard to read these two signs, the chartreuse ones, but they show a bicyclist and a pedestrian, and say “2-way crossing.” They have these at many intersections, and also where bike trails intersect with roads.
When you see all the signs and other infrastructure, it gives the message that bicyclists are an important part of the transportation system. I can’t help but think that even motorists that might be a little hostile to bicyclists will get the message.
By the way, we at SVBC are planning a campaign that will focus on aspects of road safety such as dangerous intersections and hostile or dangerous drivers. There will be more on this later.
Comments
MikeOnBike
September 1, 2011 - 3:27pm
Permalink
For the bike lanes next to
For the bike lanes next to turn lanes, there's another feature that's perhaps even more important: The bike lane is straight, and remains parallel to the through lane. It's the turning traffic that has to merge across the bike lane, not the other way around.
This sort of bike lane placement is recommended but not mandated in California. From the MUTCD http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/traffops/signtech/mutcdsupp/pdf/camutcd2010/Par... "Bicycle lane markings on Class II Bikeways (Bike Lane) should be placed a constant distance from the outside
motor vehicle lane."
All too often, I see bike lane stripes veer back and forth, as if they were painted by a drunken sailor. Cyclists should not be expected to slalom along the road if the motorists in the adjacent lane don't have to.
Sometimes, traffic engineers will add more paint to these bike lane zig-zags, but that's just lipstick on a pig. Instead, they should follow the examples in your photos.
Anne Fisher
September 3, 2011 - 8:35pm
Permalink
You make a very good point.
You make a very good point. The straight-through bike lanes are much better. Around here, too often they are not. Or the bike lane just stops altogether before the intersection, which is a pet peeve of mine. The bicyclist may know where he or she should be positioned, but does the motorist?
Add new comment