Comments on: Stupid, but for different reasons

By: justin

justin — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 02:44:05 +0000

I live in portland oregon. there’s a bike lane here that’s even more stupid. it might be 20 yards long, on a two lane street that allow parking on both sides – with the exception of the aforementioned 20 yard segment. good intentions – the road to hell is paved with’em, in portland, so is the road to the hospital.

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 00:05:35 +0000

Dunno, I thought the Infiniti ad at the bottom was even stupider.

By: Ed W

Ed W — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 23:11:54 +0000

There was one in eastern PA, I think, that had a bike lane stripe wandering on and off the pavement, and it varied in width from about 2 feet down to nothing. I tried to find some photos but came up empty.

By: Karl McCracken

Karl McCracken — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 21:34:08 +0000

Gateshead, Tyne & Wear, UK. 10 metres long. Has to be seen to be believed.

By: Mauricio Babilonia

Mauricio Babilonia — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 20:38:45 +0000

Not to toot my own horn too loudly, but I've seen stupider.

By: MikeOnBike

MikeOnBike — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 19:55:03 +0000

It’s not just a “failure to properly mark the end of the bike lane”. All bike lanes end eventually. Lots of bike lanes end *between intersections* simply by dropping the stripe. The need to merge left is implied by the ending of the stripe.

The problem here, one that’s (thankfully) less common, is that the bike lane continues all the way up to the intersection. But on the other side, it’s simply gone. The implied merge, assuming the cyclist notices in time, is *within* the intersection.

That’s simply not how intersections work. It’s certainly not how they work with ordinary travel lanes. If that bike lane were an ordinary travel lane, it never would have been drawn that way, and certainly never been painted that way. (I never use absolutes, but I’ll make an exception in this case.)

Merges happen away from intersections, not *in* intersections. Destination positioning at intersections requires there to actually be a destination (a receiving lane) on the far side of the intersection.

By: Nicole

Nicole — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 19:31:28 +0000

From the context, I think the “a nice painted bike lane like this…” statement was meant for bike lanes in general, not specifically that bike lane. Off the top of my head, I can’t think of more than one local bike lane that is completely out of the door zone (though usually the left side of the lane is). There typically just isn’t enough space on old, established streets to allow for this.

By: andrew

andrew — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 19:22:58 +0000

Check out the wide variety of high quality British cycling facilities showcased by the Warrington Cycle Campaign at http://homepage.ntlworld.com/pete.meg/wcc/facility-of-the-month/index.htm

By: william

william — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 18:30:55 +0000

most bike lanes I’ve seen are in the door zone.

By: wtf

wtf — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 18:26:48 +0000

I saw plenty bike lanes just as short, ending without notice in America’s heartland. I never saw a door zone bike lane. that just looked dangerous! the first time i saw it i was half expecing the bike lane stupidity to be a door prise!