Protected bike lanes: no me gustan

[fiamme red]

Many "protected" bike lanes in NYC have always been treated as extended sidewalks by pedestrians, and I've felt that riding faster than 10 mph in them isn't safe. But now we have electric bicycles operated by a throttle that are legally going 25 mph in these lanes (sometimes at night without lights). Pedestrians are not used to it, and a few days ago one was hit in the Amsterdam Avenue lane. Fortunately he wasn't killed, but both of his legs were broken.

https://www.westsiderag.com/2021/04/...enue-bike-lane

At around 1 p.m. on Saturday, a 71-year-old man was struck by an electric bike operated by a 39-year-old man, traveling north on Amsterdam Avenue, about 15 feet from the intersection with West 78th Street, according to an NYPD spokesperson.

“The victim stepped out into the bike lane between two vehicles,” the spokesman said. He was transported to Mt. Sinai West hospital with trauma to his arm and head. He is reported to be in critical condition. The tipster who told us of the incident, said police were diverting people around the scene.

We will provide more information as it comes in.

Update: According to an NYPD spokesperson on Tuesday morning, the injured man “has two broken legs, but is not likely (to die.)”

[pdonk]

I have a "bad" reason for not liking them, they mess up two really fun descents on one of my loops. I don't feel safe going 70km /hr when I am boxed into a 1.5 m wide lane with a jersey barrier on one side and a curb on the other with driveways and streets to cross. They are also not swept so there is lots of grit on corners

I also don't like the lanes were I have to worry about passenger doors opening, once again being boxed in by a car and a sidewalk.

This is coming from someone who sat on his City's Bicycle Planning Committee and was a project manager on a Pedestrian and Bicycle Master plan exercise for a former employer.

[fiamme red]

I was riding the other night in a "protected" bike lane in Manhattan, separated from traffic by plastic bollards. There was a car parked in the "protected" lane, so I tried to get around it, but I misjudged and my rear wheel hit the bollard. Fortunately I was able to stay upright.

Here's a story about a cyclist in Encinitas who hit a "wheel stop" (meant to keep cars out of the bike lane). He later died from his injuries.

https://www.cbs8.com/article/news/cy...4-25365f381eee

ENCINITAS, Calif. — Some North County cyclists say change needs to happen on a stretch of Coast Highway 101 in Encinitas after a fellow cyclist was killed over the weekend.

The crash happened near the 2700 block of Coast Highway 101.

Shaun Wallace told CBS 8 the problem is the protected bike lanes. He said the bollards and wheel stops are to blame for crashes.

"Any time you put an immovable object next to a highly used bike lane, some cyclists are going to end up crashing into them," he said.

Wallace, a 2-time Olympic cyclist, said he and other cycling advocates warned the city four years ago not to install them. He said before they went in, there were no crashes in the area where the cyclist died. He said since they went in, he and others have been tracking the numbers. He said there have been more than 30 since 2020...

[Turkle]

Originally Posted by pdonk

They are also not swept so there is lots of grit on corners

There's a bike lane I regularly ride by that is absolutely full of broken glass, all year round. It would be suicide to ride a bike in there. But of course motorists absolutely lose their mind when they see a bike in the road there, consistently punish-passing, honking, and yelling when I ride in the street there.

No way to win here.

[tellyho]

I think others have made the point, but I think the main culprit here in the states is ad hoc / piecemeal cycle infrrastructure without a bigger plan. Laws that require the addition of a bike lane when repaving a road just lead to lanes that magically appear and then disappear. You can see the priority clearly - plenty of room for bike lanes until we need an extra turn lane, then cyclists are on their own at the most dangerous location: an intersection.

I'm sure many of us have ridden in places where there is actually planned bike infrastructure (Amsterdam, Vancouver for me), and it's amazing! Even my skittish wife can feel safe using a bicycle as transportation. We are a long way from that state in most of the US.

[benb]

There's another weird aspect that I've vaguely become aware of in the last few years.

This is a cause the far left has taken up and they have weirdly conflated it with social justice and oppressor/oppressed and all the other things.

I think a lot of people in this group are not cyclists at all and this is just another way for them to score political points, so any rational critique of a bike lane design is irrelevant to them.

They discount a lot of traditional cycling knowledge/wisdom/science because they think too much of the sport has been too dominated and catered towards certain demographic groups that they think are oppressors. The way they cheered John Forrester's death was gross and a perfect example.

Cars are the tools of the oppressor and drivers should be inconvenienced, but people who bike too much or have bikes that are too nice are not them either and are viewed as oppressors and are also not to be listened to.

From one of the articles:

“Most people, including me and my kids, would not, in the past, ride to Solana Beach or the Del Mar Fairgrounds,” said Encinitas Mayor Catherine Blakespear, who championed the coastal lanes last year and was reelected in November on a pro-bike platform. “Now it’s barrier protected, and you feel safe, so you do it.”

Almost certainly the Mayor is not riding to the beach/fairgrounds and is taking the kids in a giant SUV.

[benb]

Woah.

This one seems like a whole new level of insanity that will just piss everyone off and make it more dangerous.

Take a bunch of road space away from the drivers AND make it far more likely the drivers can't see the cyclists ahead of time before they take a right. This completely goes against the idea of putting yourself in a place where the driver sees you as far ahead of time as possible.

And the cyclists all have to slow to a crawl before the intersection.

Ironic they still have a painted on bike icon out in the traffic lane for cyclists traveling straight who don't want to play chicken with the right turning cars!

[Gummee]

Originally Posted by benb

Woah.

This one seems like a whole new level of insanity that will just piss everyone off and make it more dangerous.

Take a bunch of road space away from the drivers AND make it far more likely the drivers can't see the cyclists ahead of time before they take a right. This completely goes against the idea of putting yourself in a place where the driver sees you as far ahead of time as possible.

And the cyclists all have to slow to a crawl before the intersection.

Ironic they still have a painted on bike icon out in the traffic lane for cyclists traveling straight who don't want to play chicken with the right turning cars!

If I still lived in Sandy Eggo I'd completely ignore that crap and ride with the cars.

Probably aggravating a bunch of drivers, but my safety trumps the 'safety infrastructure' that isn't actually safe.

I used to get my rear end handed to me by Shaun Wallace on a regular basis. That guy is/was remarkably fast

[fiamme red]

Originally Posted by benb

Woah.

This one seems like a whole new level of insanity that will just piss everyone off and make it more dangerous.

Take a bunch of road space away from the drivers AND make it far more likely the drivers can't see the cyclists ahead of time before they take a right. This completely goes against the idea of putting yourself in a place where the driver sees you as far ahead of time as possible.

And the cyclists all have to slow to a crawl before the intersection.

Ironic they still have a painted on bike icon out in the traffic lane for cyclists traveling straight who don't want to play chicken with the right turning cars!

Those "bend-outs" are a good example of overly complex infrastructure drawn up by people with graduate degrees in urban design who never ride a bike. Not only will they make it harder for drivers to see cyclists at intersections, but they'll also increase the likelihood of a cyclist-pedestrian collision.

I agree with you that the agenda of the "protected" lane advocates is much more about taking space away from the abominable four-wheeled vehicles than about cycling safety.