Columbus-ite Weighs in on Bikeways Plan
January 10, 2008 by Eric
If you haven’t checked out the Columbus-ite blog lately, navigate on over for a constructive criticism on the proposed bikeways plan. Here’s a sampling…
Signed Shared Roadways - I’m very concerned that streets like Summit meet this designation. A small green sign with a bike on it is not visible to cars, let alone cyclists (Table 8-1). It’s the same color as the signs with the names of the streets, which no one really notices until they are looking for a specific street, which means the bike-route signs get ignored.
Gotta agree with that one. Those little green signs are a total waste of money. I never even noticed them until I started walking to work.
Downtown - Proposed bike lanes are all on wide streets (Broad, Spring, Long, etc) which have a posted speed limit of 35mph which means cars are going faster. I know even with bike lanes I would not feel safe biking down Broad and I can imagine many cyclists getting injured or killed by cars taking high speed turns right through the right turn lanes. Physical barriers would need to be erected to ensure no last minute swerving into the the bike-lane. I’ll take riding in the middle a totally unmarked, two-lane 25mph road over a bike lane on a 4 lane, one-way 35mph road any day.
Again, I’m with Columbus-ite here. If all they do is mark a few lines on a road next to the potentially opening doors of parked cars, I’m just gonna ride in the road on another street.
And I really agree with this one…
Eric brought up a huge oversight regarding this plan, which I can’t believe I almost forgot to mention and that is the total omission of German and Merion Village. I myself bike German Village every now and then, though I have to go on Grant and a little bit of Livingston (use extra caution there) in order to get there, but once there it’s great for bikes (well, better for some than others, brick roads can be very bumpy depending on the bike) and 3rd St provides respite from the brick roads, although the speed limit is way too high at 35mph. It’s really something that this street, the heart of German Village, is about to be left out altogether with no connection to downtown. I’m hoping they will at least give 3rd St some sort of treatment and Whittier would be nice too along with another speed limit reduction.
HERE’s the link to my original comment if anyone’s interested.
Really? I’ve seen lanes just like what you’re describing in many places … I’ve spent time in Olympia, Washington, and Lewes/Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, and they seem to work well in both places. Both places have the lanes marked at the side of the road, and the right-turn-lane issue doesn’t seem to cause too many problems. In Delaware, specifically, the lane is marked at the side of high-capacity route 1, which has lots of right-turn traffic.
I personally like the little green signs, but they’re not intended to be noticed by the motorist. They’re for the cyclist’s information, especially riders not familiar with the area. I find that distances on the signs are especially useful when out for a long recreational ride.
Bike lanes are probably only on the wide roads for two reasons:
1. There’s space to put them there.
2. They’re most needed there.
Here are some tips on avoiding the dreaded “door zone:”
http://www.ci.chi.il.us/Transportation/bikemap/doorzone.html
I’ve commented in the past about why separated bike lanes are generally unsafe, even though they feel safe.
http://xingcolumbus.wordpress.com/2007/11/06/separated-bike-lane-edutainment/
I totally agree that we should reduce the speed limit in downtown. 35 mph really is unacceptably fast in an area intended to be a pedestrian-friendly environment. Of course, if cars are traveling 35 mph, we need to change more than the speed limit signs. We need to change the whole road. I would assume that adding bike lanes to streets like Broad, Spring, or Long will require fewer car lanes or narrower lanes, either of which will reduce speeds.
Adam - I guess it depends on the road. If we’re talking about 35 mph downtown streets with on-street parking, then no, I don’t feel safe riding in a bike lane adjecent to parked cars. If they moved the lane on the other side of the parked cars, and put a decorative barrier like a row of trees, or even bollards, I’d absolutely ride in it.
John - I just laugh when I see those little green signs on 6 lane, 35 mph, one way streets like Front St. And I also share Columbus-ite’s concern that many downtown streets like Front and 3rd already meet the designation of “shared sign roadways”. I’d rather do nothing and use those tax dollars where they’ll do something positive.
Oh, I was wondering what those things were called (bollards). I spoke with Greg Raisman of POT (Portland Office of Transportation, funny acronym, I know) about this and I’ll go into more detail on my blog. Basically, bike lanes are the best way to go on faster streets and they attract a lot more (new) cyclists. He lived in Columbus for awhile and mentioned a stenciling system that would be good within neighborhoods like German Village which would be visible to cyclists and not to cars for easy navigation.
While it is likely German Village will still be left out, there’s nothing stopping people from riding bikes to coffee shops, bars, etc right now instead of wasting gas and worrying about parking. The narrow brick roads keep cars moving slow and aside from the bumpiness ( and iciness in winter, which isn’t a problem since I got snow tires with metal studs) German Village is a breeze to get around by bike as is.
Columbusite,
Your “stenciling system that would be good within neighborhoods like German Village which would be visible to cyclists and not to cars for easy navigation” sounds a lot like a bike boulevard. Maybe you’ve already heard of these, but for those that haven’t, here’s a description.
Basically, you take a local residential street, remove all the stop signs to give bikes the right-of-way, add signals at major streets to aid crossing, and traffic calm the hell out of the boulevard to make sure it doesn’t turn into a major through route for cars. Bike boulevards are great for everyone, but especially novice cyclists, children, and Eric, who may not feel comfortable in a bike lane on a faster street. They are useful tools in places where there is already a lot of bike traffic, and on streets parallel and adjacent to a major street that doesn’t accommodate bikes well. There’s a good video in the second link below:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_Boulevards
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vX8wkI7CwpU
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