I came across the following interesting comment by Stephen Harding (harding@cs.umass.edu) in rec.bicycles.misc today:
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The state road entrance into my home town used to be four lanes with
extremely narrow shoulders. A tough ride for a bicyclist because
motorists used the straight four lanes as their big opportunity to
pass a car or two before a sharp turn and lane drop into town.
A bicyclist had to face speeding cars, and ones often pissed off because
you are now restricting their inside lane for passing, forcing them
to have to slow.
The state dropped a lane from each direction and painted in nice wide
shoulders. Not "bike lanes"; just wide shoulders. Too narrow to serve
as a lane, but nice and roomy for a bicycle.
Speed on that road has dropped, as have accidents, and the bike ride
into town on it is vastly more enjoyable!
I certainly don't have a problem with designated bike lanes along the
side of the road, but I definitely believe just providing the space
for each type of rider, without necessity of explicit markings, and
everyone will largely get along together on the same roadway.
But the space does have to be sized correctly. Too narrow and the path
doesn't help with bicyclist safety. Too wide and it becomes a de facto
car lane for impatient motorists.
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I think we ought to do more advocacy of this kind of re-striping around the Kansas City area. It probably is not appropriate for every single four-lane road in the metro area, but off the top of my head I can think of a dozen four-lane roads in my area that would be better off for motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians with the kind of re-striping treatment outlined above.
With such a treatment, cars lose the opportunity to "go fast" by zooming around slower vehicles. But this is ADVANTAGE of this plan, not a disadvantage. Lower maximum speeds make safer roads for everyone (vehicle drivers most of all). Higher speeds (especially involving this sort of "zooming" behavior) equal more accidents and, because of the higher speeds involved, accidents with more serious injuries. This goes for vehicles, pedestrians, and bicyclists who may have the misfortune to tangle with the "zoomers".
And, again on the plus side, many communities find that this type of re-striping actually increases average vehicle speed because traffic is smoothed and flows better. There is room for right- and left-turning cars (and stalled vehicles!) to pull out of the through lane, so the through lane tends to move at a much more constant, moderate speed. With our typical four-lane roads (four narrow lanes and no shoulder), right- and left-turners and stalled vehicles end up at a dead stop right in the middle of a traffic lane. This isn't a good situation for anyone.
posted by Brent Hugh at
Sunday, August 25, 2002 |
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