topic Re: Dedicated Bicycle Lanes in Community Chat

Dedicated Bicycle Lanes

Twins Mom — Wed, 09 Nov 2016 01:47:37 GMT

In our area we have some streets managed by the city and some by the county. After many years of delay a major road is finally being resurfaced. Long awaited. This road of about 2 miles connects major highways, shopping districts, has subdivisions, two churches, community center, two schools, and is used by buses from two school districts. With less than three weeks notice the county advised the city it would reduce driving lanes from 5 to 3 to give bike lanes in two directions. What are your feelings about (1) sneaky way county made decision without public input (2) providing bike lanes at expense of driving lanes? FYI most bikers on fair weather days for sport. Just wondering... my opinion is that county officials are pulling rank and kidnapping needed roadway just because they can. I don't think this is way to promote good will between drivers and bikers. (Bikers are given right of way on roads. Drivers can't drive in bike lanes.

Re: Dedicated Bicycle Lanes

ALRATIBA — Wed, 09 Nov 2016 01:54:57 GMT

I'm in favor of bike lanes. I don't drive. We have them on all the major streets.

Re: Dedicated Bicycle Lanes

libbyannE — Wed, 09 Nov 2016 01:55:50 GMT

Bike lanes are safer, especially because, as you say, there are two schools along that road. I would rather have bicyclists in bike lanes versus slowing traffic when they have no choice but to pedal along in lanes with cars.

Re: Dedicated Bicycle Lanes

Its Me LuLuBelle2 — Wed, 09 Nov 2016 02:07:22 GMT

Here in NY we have thousands of miles of bike paths throughout the state. Several years ago a law was instituted whereby motorists must "share the road" with bicyclists. My issue with this is many times we the car driver are forced over solid yellow lines on blind curves as there are no shoulders and we have to move to accomodate cyclists. I have written to all of my local representatives and two different governors stating that if we have to "share" the road with cyclists, then I think they should be paying their share of road taxes too (that's part of what registration fees go towards). Cyclists should have to take a road test, be licensed and registered if they are going to drive on public roadways. They, by law, are supposed to follow all traffic laws and sadly many don't. I almost creamed a guy about 2 years ago. I was on a major 4 lane road, had a green light and a cyclist blew through his red light in front of me. I was standing on the brakes not to hit him. This at times has gotten to be one of those hot button issues for me with some of my cyclist friends. They feel the motorist is responsible for THEIR safety and I say they're responsible for THEIR safety.

Re: Dedicated Bicycle Lanes

Mz iMac — Wed, 09 Nov 2016 01:59:22 GMT

"Bikers are given right of way on roads."

If there are dedicated bike lanes, bikers are suppose to stay in them.

Also, weither in bike lanes or in the street, bikers must follow the same traffic laws as automobiles. Instead of having turning signal lights, they must BY LAW use hand signals.

If I am not mistaken, I think the above laws are the same in all 50 states.

Re: Dedicated Bicycle Lanes

deepwaterdotter — Wed, 09 Nov 2016 01:59:27 GMT

Madison, Wisconsin has dedicated bike lanes on most urban streets. I suppose the fact that many university teachers/students commute by bicycle made bike lanes an urban planning priority. I have never had a problem sharing the streets with bicycles when driving in Madison.

Re: Dedicated Bicycle Lanes

Jacie — Wed, 09 Nov 2016 02:04:37 GMT

I am totally in favor of bike lanes. In Minnesota we have a great selection of bike trails and lanes all over the cities and state.

However, the bad behavior exhibited by bicyclists in this area make me want to scream.

They have totally taken over the trails, don't obey traffic laws and are a problem for motorists and pedestrians.

Sharing the road doesn't seem to sink in with some of them.

Re: Dedicated Bicycle Lanes

cherry — Wed, 09 Nov 2016 02:28:44 GMT

I live in a totally university dominated area. One is a big 10 school. The students really scare me. They not only, don't follow the norms, for riding in traffic, we also get skateboarders using the road as well. It's is scary

Re: Dedicated Bicycle Lanes

Peaches McPhee — Wed, 09 Nov 2016 02:38:07 GMT

I am in favor. The fewer cars on the road, the better. The safer, the better, too.

Re: Dedicated Bicycle Lanes

occasionalrain — Wed, 09 Nov 2016 02:54:36 GMT

I'm in favor of bike lanes. There are those who would rather ride than drive but are concerned about safety riding in traffic. The more bike riders, the fewer cars and the less air pollution which benefits all of us.

Re: Dedicated Bicycle Lanes

truffle — Wed, 09 Nov 2016 03:03:53 GMT

@twins mom wrote:
In our area we have some streets managed by the city and some by the county. After many years of delay a major road is finally being resurfaced. Long awaited. This road of about 2 miles connects major highways, shopping districts, has subdivisions, two churches, community center, two schools, and is used by buses from two school districts. With less than three weeks notice the county advised the city it would reduce driving lanes from 5 to 3 to give bike lanes in two directions. What are your feelings about (1) sneaky way county made decision without public input (2) providing bike lanes at expense of driving lanes? FYI most bikers on fair weather days for sport. Just wondering... my opinion is that county officials are pulling rank and kidnapping needed roadway just because they can. I don't think this is way to promote good will between drivers and bikers. (Bikers are given right of way on roads. Drivers can't drive in bike lanes.

I'm guessing that there have been fatalities over the years as bicyclists tried to unsucessfully share the road. Yes, it's a big nuisance when lanes are taken away from motorists as it just bottle necks traffic and yes you and others in your area were blindsided by not being allowed to vote on it or at least allowed to voice your opinion. But fatalities on a bicylce is a big thing,,someones child, teen or adult has lost their life and their loved ones voiced their opinion maybe even sued your city and county.

Where I live, there are wide roads and narrow roads so the city added bike lanes but only to the wide roads. Our narrow roads intersect the wider ones and so this obviously has become a big problem with biclyists taking up a whole lane on the narrower roads and if you get stuck behind them you have no choice but to travel 1 or 2 mi per hour until you can safely make a lane change. I've seen motorists just go nuts and wildly honk their horn but so far the city has not intervened and the bicyclists are not using the sidewalk though they see that there is a problem.

Honestly, the problem has increased since bike lanes were added to the wider streets. There is no way our city can reduce the number of lanes from 3 narrow ones to two as there is a lot of traffic and it moves fast - it was only about 5 years ago that a it went from 2 lanes to 3 and it was much needed.

Re: Dedicated Bicycle Lanes

RoughDraft — Wed, 09 Nov 2016 03:01:50 GMT

We've had dedicated bike lanes in our city for decades. I think I've seen bikers use them less than a dozen times. I've never seen car traffic lessen because of them. All it does is make traffic lines longer and slower.

Re: Dedicated Bicycle Lanes

Noel7 — Wed, 09 Nov 2016 03:08:58 GMT

There are A LOT of bike lanes in SF and the Bay Area. Plus, we have many, many bike messengers traversing the city, especially the financial district.

That said, there are also a lot of accidents caused by bike messengers and others on bikes who never stop at a stop light or stop sign. They think they own the roads, including summer get-togethers where they stop traffic in the downtown area so a hundred or more of them can ride together.

DH and I used to bike all over the area, including to classes and visiting his parents. It's sure not the same anymore.

Re: Dedicated Bicycle Lanes

SaRina — Wed, 09 Nov 2016 03:34:00 GMT

This is a really sore point for me. Where I live in a highly populated area with heavy vehicular traffic, I have never seen any bicyclist obey the rules of the road. Not only do they not use hand signals, they race down roadways and through red lights, and ride the wrong way down the street. Their attitude is arrogant, rude, and downright hostile if you are in their way. I am extremely angry about this and have written to the media and to our lawmakers with no response. A lot of people feel as I do. It is perilous for anyone to not only drive a car, but to be a pedestrian as long as these bicyclists think they own the roads.

Re: Dedicated Bicycle Lanes

sandraskates — Wed, 09 Nov 2016 03:39:18 GMT

This has been happening in my city for years. The cutting down of lanes like the example of 5 down to 3 is called a "road diet." Sometimes it's used to add bicycle lands, sometimes it used for "traffic calming" as vehicles will be slowed down.

The goal is to get people out of their cars and into alternative transportation options. Mostly, it just backs up traffic.

Re: Dedicated Bicycle Lanes

ALRATIBA — Wed, 09 Nov 2016 03:47:12 GMT

@Noel7 wrote:
There are A LOT of bike lanes in SF and the Bay Area. Plus, we have many, many bike messengers traversing the city, especially the financial district.

That said, there are also a lot of accidents caused by bike messengers and others on bikes who never stop at a stop light or stop sign. They think they own the roads, including summer get-togethers where they stop traffic in the downtown area so a hundred or more of them can ride together.

DH and I used to bike all over the area, including to classes and visiting his parents. It's sure not the same anymore.

@Noel7

SF does have the best bike lanes.

We lived there in the 70s and 80s ... Richmond District.

We used to bike out to the ocean, down to Stern Grove ... the zoo. Great bicycling city!

Re: Dedicated Bicycle Lanes

PINKdogWOOD — Wed, 09 Nov 2016 13:21:36 GMT

Yes bikers are supposed to obey traffic laws just like those of us in 4-wheeled vehicles but they don't. They ride their 2-wheelers through stop signs & red lights. They don't even slow down.

We have dedicated bike lanes on streets here too. The city has turned some 4-lane roads into two lanes now, very busy heavily driven roads. They've taken away curb lanes for 4-wheeled vehicles to park. They've taken away lane space and turned a 5th lane right in the middle of the of the streets for 4-wheeled vehicles to park in this new middle lane.

The city is now moving onto street that are 2-way, have 4 lanes with 2 each traveling both directions. They are now planning to take away one lane each direction and turn into bike lanes. This will prove to only back up traffic even more than these busy streets are already.

When 2-wheeled 'drivers' learn to obey ALL traffic laws that 4-wheeled drivers obey (or should be) then and only then should the city be taking away lanes from auto drivers and turning them over to bikers.

It's become even more dangerous for auto drivers to be 'sharing' the same road space.

Re: Dedicated Bicycle Lanes

PINKdogWOOD — Wed, 09 Nov 2016 13:25:44 GMT

@cherry Do you live in my neighborhood? I live in exactly the same situation. It's no more safer here with dedicated bike lanes popping up than it was without them.

People on 2-wheeled bikes are even less abiding laws of the roads than they were before.

Re: Dedicated Bicycle Lanes

millieshops — Wed, 09 Nov 2016 13:32:19 GMT

Overall, I favor dedicated bike lanes.

Are there bikers who violate laws? Of course there are. Is there a greater percentage of bikers who violate laws and common sense than there are drivers who do that? I doubt it. Not so many bikers ride drunk or stoned and not so many text while biking, so take away those and you just don't have nearly the percentage of illegal bikers compared to drivers.

Re: Dedicated Bicycle Lanes

Suziepeach — Wed, 09 Nov 2016 14:00:50 GMT

Bike lanes are fine... ever see a biker texting while biking or cutting off a vehicle at a light? I've see several bikers that don't obey the rules of the road..

We live in the county.. two lane road with a double line.. you can't move over 3 feet to give them room, talk about a back up with traffic and dangerous for the biker.. Lots of us think they should be insured and have tags on their bikes.