Bicycle PLANNING
Make
Your Community Safe
And Attractive For Bicycling So Cyclists Can Travel With Speed And
Safety Almost Everywhere That The Road System Goes
RECOMMENDED APPROACH
- Build
roads to accommodate bicycles with 14 to
16 foot lane widths depending on motor traffic speed
- Address
hazards such as rail crossing which
are not perpendicular
- Encourage
safe cycling
- Encourage
stores to provide safe convenient
bicycle parking
-
Encourage
employers to provide secure bicycle
parking, lockers and showers
- For additional information read
Bicycle Transportation by John Forester
BIKE LANES
- Bike lanes complicate turning
movements (the
source of most bicycle - car accidents) making them more dangerous
- Cyclists must overtake cars on the
right, in
the driver's blind spot
- Two way bike lanes permit bicycles
to go in
the opposite direction from where motorists are looking for traffic
- Bicycle lanes are more likely to have
maintenance problems as well as collecting gravel glass and
garbage
MULTI-USE RECREATIONAL
PATHS
- Bicycles are not compatible with
pedestrian traffic often creating unsafe conditions for the cyclist and other
users
- In order to be safe cyclists must move at the
speed of pedestrians
- Recreational paths do not provide direct fast
routes desired by cyclists
- Recreational paths can provide an
enjoyable park experience and help beginners develop cycling skills
We Can't Say It Better.....
Adequate width is fundamental to safe, low-stress, on-street bicycling.
Though commonly overlooked, this one provision can make the best overall
improvement for bicycles on-street and also makes for
a great overall transportation system improvement (trucks, busses, right
turning vehicles etc.). Provision of adequate width, whether via
widened outside lanes or viable shoulder widths can reduce maintenance needs at the
pavement edge (where cyclists typically ride). Trying to find a place among
buses, trucks and auto traffic in narrow lanes can prove daunting for
bicyclists resulting in conflicts, fear of bicycling and the preference for other
modes of transportation. However there are roads and bike routes that are
tremendous for on-street riding, taking cyclists to places of work, commerce and
delight. Planning of viable routes by none other than experienced
cyclists with realistic expectations of facility design features, system
`bikeability' and cyclists behaviour can result in valid accommodation of fundamental
bicyclists needs"
[James P.E. MacKay, Civil Engineer , Bicycle and Pedestrian Planner -
City of Denver. Good Design/Bad Design in The
Bicycle: Global Perspectives, Velo Quebec 1992]
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