NetNews Usenet Archive 1993 #3/NN_1993_3.iso/spool/sci/environm/14823

Internet Message Format | 1993-01-25 | 2.9 KB

Xref: sparky sci.environment:14823 ba.transportation:3220
Newsgroups: sci.environment,ba.transportation
Path: sparky!uunet!nwnexus!beauty!josh
From: [e-mail] (Joshua_Putnam)
Subject: Re: Oppose Signal Synchronization Projects!
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail]
Organization: Happy Man Corp., Vashon Island, WA 98070-7399
References: <1jke6b$[e-mail]> <[e-mail]> <[e-mail]>
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1993 21:03:35 GMT
Lines: 45

In <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (William R. Ward) writes:

>In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (Jordan Hayes) writes:
>) Joe Buck <[e-mail]> writes:
>)) I think it's better to design things so that the main bicycle
>)) through-routes aren't the same as the main auto through-routes,
>)) so you can time different streets differently.

>) An excellent point.  But, even with well-designed bike routes, you
>) *still* see lots of ("too damn many") bicycles on College Avenue in
>) Berkeley during rush hour for instance.  There's a great bike route
>) system in the East Bay (particularly Berkeley-Oakland) and there's just
>) no excuse for seeing bikes on a street not designed for it.

>Well, it is possible that the bicyclists in question are accustomed to
>traveling the route in a car or bus, and so follow the route on their
>bike that they know from their car.  Or that the alternate route would
>take longer because of geographic distances; I'm not familiar with the
>area in question, however.

Most bike routes only qualify as well designed if the cyclists
involved don't need to go anywhere.  Bike paths and seaparate
bike trails almost always have miserable intersections with
ordinary roads, which is one reason bike paths are generally more
dangerous than ordinary roads.  Because of the types of riders
these facilities attract, not to mention non-cyclists, speeds are
usually much lower than on ordinary streets.  Anything over 15mph
is dangerously fast on many "well designed" bike routes.

Fortunately, most streets are designed well enough for most cycling
-- i.e. they have adequate pavement, adequate signs, signals, and
intersections, adequate sight distances, etc.  I suspect the money
for a single mile of bike lane construction could go much further
re-educating wrong-way cyclists, non-signalling cyclists, stop-sign
runners, people who ride in the gutter instead of the traffic lanes
where they belong, etc.

As a bicycle commuter, I'd only use a bike path as a last resort,
and might even give up riding to work if I had to live with the
risks and inconvenience of most "well designed" bike paths.
--
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