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Share the road with bicyclists - ha, ha, just kidding!
By adamg on Mon, 11/26/2018 - 11:35am
What better place to put a sign urging motorists to "share the road" with bicyclists than in the bicycle lane? Liam Sullivan spotted this sign on Western Avenue in Allston this morning.
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Comments
Simply stunning
Not sure if trolling, or...
Arms broke?
Get off your bike, pick up the sign, and move it a few feet to the right (ha!) or left (oh yeah!) so you can still have your precious bike lane.
I imagine that
you're being purposefully obtuse via feigned humor, but just in case: the point is more that this kind of thing is a common occurrence (dumping shit in bike lanes), not that this one instance is an egregious offense. And yes, bike lanes are precious to the extent that they save lives.
I'm truly not trying to play "devil's advocate", but...
can you please provide some hard data, collected within Massachusetts over at least a few years, which undeniably shows bike lanes "save lives"? That comes off as one helluva generalization.
I can't tell if you're being flippant
You need evidence that adding space for bicyclists outside of the travel lane of motor vehicles would be safer?
As opposed to what? Waiting in traffic with cars inhaling emissions? Going to slow in front of a speeding automobile? Squeezing over to the side while vehicles pass them with less space, traveling at much higher speeds?
Do you need someone to prove to you (with "hard" data, collected within Mass, over at least a few years) that sidewalks are safer for peds than walking in the middle of the road too?
They save lives, they save money, and they save everyone's time. Here's a study: https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/10.1289/ehp.1307250#t1
That's why I said
"to the extent." I don't work in transportation, so I can't give you hard data, but I think it'd be a pretty far-fetched argument to say that sharrows or no bike infrastructure at all is somehow better than having bike lanes or cycle tracks. My point there was his use of the word "precious" in a manner clearly meant to diminish the concerns of cyclists.
Precious
I think that would define someone who has to take a giant climate-controlled bubble everywhere lest they melt, and then demand that everyone and everything make way for it.
I think your dog whistle has made you tone deaf.
Why such a carefully specific request?
Its almost like you are truly trying to play devils advocate because you know how absurd it would be to prove bike lanes prevented deaths because well, what exact data point would prove that in your mind? Be specific.
Here's a lawyer speaking about it in Massachusetts, not specific data but whatever:
https://www.bikeaccidentlawyersblog.com/massachusetts-bicycle-safety-bil...
https://www.bikeaccidentlawyersblog.com/bike-lane-safety-improvements-co...
Heres some specific data from outside Boston:
https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2018/01/more-bike-lanes-could-sav...
https://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/bicycle/index.html
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3708009/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4504332/
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/livable-city/la-ol-livable-data-prevent-...
Thank you!
I do appreciate the links. It will help me better understand how bike lanes are impacting local safety.
Some specific type of metric I was hoping to find out is, number of deaths prevented through bike transit as opposed to vehicle transit, measure of potential emissions decrease in relation to bike travel increases, etc.
Vision Zero
has an extensive research and resources component to the program and the local websites.
https://www.boston.gov/transportation/vision-zero
https://www.cambridgema.gov/traffic/sustainabletransportation/visionzero
https://www.somervillema.gov/visionzero
Good to see...
a genuine specific request, aimed in helping me understand the legitimacy of the statement made & the supposed resulting impact of "saving lives", met with a bunch of hostility. Now I know, don't expect better than Facebook-like interactions on Uhub. Keep it classy folks.
What you don't know
What you haven't seen is how tired people are of answering this question when a search of the archives would show plenty of response in the past.
You may have asked in good faith, but there are traffic-addled carheads who do not ask in good faith and "vehicular cycling" borg who cite someone's ancient cherrypicked blog post analysis as "proof" that bike lanes are Of The Devil. The facts are out there.
Nah you came into the thread with a clear intent
No reason for the scare quotes or anything there, nope not at all.
Great idea.
Next time I come across one of these 'Share the Road' signs I'll just move it to the middle of the travel lane in front of cars.
Thanks for the tip, Roman!
Please don't
They'll swerve around to the right and kill a cyclist and have to spend an entire five minutes explaining to a cop that it was unavoidable before being sent home in time for supper
And when the contractor puts it back?
What then? Rinse and repeat?
The cute part is that this very construction site has trucks routinely blocking the bike lane when I ride by soooooo I'm really scratching my head here, what message are they trying to send? You wouldn't condone something like illegal parking or blocking the sidewalk, being all about rule of law, right?
If the bike lane is closed due to construction
then this sign is not unreasonable - although the current phrase should be "on roadway", not "share the road".
Its not being blocked by construction
Its being blocked by illegally parked trucks that are part of a project on private land, not public roads. Thats unreasonable.
And to expand upon that
There's actually a new kink in the road here to give Harvard extra room for this project. Western Ave used to be a straight shot from North Harvard to Soldiers Field (and even beyond to Central Square, really). There's no reason for them to be blocking the bike lane with vehicles, signs, or anything else.
This stretch of Western is also perpetually littered with ride share cars blocking the bike lane on both sides of the road. Harvard Business School added a new pickup/dropoff area in their parking lot, but it seems many drivers are either unaware of it, or they just don't care.
The removal of all the
The removal of all the parking on both sides of Western Ave came just in time for the boom in Uber and Lyft usage.
The people in charge seem to have thrown up their hands and said, "Parking is illegal -- deal with it". But that doesn't help people driving or biking by the illegally parked cars, nor does it help the Uber/Lyft drivers and passengers.
Last year they had a sign: Do Not Block Bike Lane
And sure enough, during my morning commute I routinely saw a school bus parked in the bike lane, just a few feet away from the sign. The driver seemed to be chilling before going to his next scheduled pick-up. I have since changed my route, so I’m not sure whether he still parks there.
You're right
And all too often the bike lane is the first thing to be sacrificed to a construction site. On my short 4 mile commute I think I pass by four large sites, all taking the bike lane in some degree (one of which being Comm Ave's never ending project to put a lane in the sidewalk).
This sign means "share the road, because we're blocking the bike lane". It really should say "Cyclists use full lane" though..
Too big
if this was on the sidewalk, it would block strollers and wheelchairs. It would be safer to remove the sign and put up some reflective bollards.
I'm no cyclist...
and I don't have to be one, to know that's a douchey statement to make (or a really bad attempt at humor). Why would it be the cyclists' responsibility to move that?
If someone were to stick a wood/aluminum sign in the middle of the roadway, would you want the same expectation placed on you (stop your car, hope no oncoming cars crash into you, get out to move the sign & then proceed)? I sure wouldn't.
That really depends, doesn't it?
If I have to stop my car anyway, should I just sit there and block traffic while I wait for a cop to show up to remove the obstacle that I can remove by myself? If it's a sign that says 'lane closed' or 'detour' then no, if it's a sign that says 'bunnies are cute and fluffy' or something else that doesn't actually merit taking up space in a travel lane, then yes.
I tried this last year
They had one of those variable message signs in the bike lane telling people something about traffic and Boston calling. Turns out those are real heavy.
Bike
Just jump the curb, it's fun. I've did it 1000's of times with my Huffy.
Near BU
Is a large electric sign mounted on a very heavy tripod in the sidewalk. The sort of sign that would have to be towed Away by a truck and which is too heavy for young Romaine-type frat boys to move even when drunk and in full republitard strength.
The sign says: CYCLISTS USE FULL LANE
Remember, Romaine is just a monkey that liberal democracy taught to type.
Fun story
That signage used to say "Cyclists use bike lane" sometime last year. This is part of centuries-old cycle-track project MassDOT is building. Parts of the new cycletrack and parts of the old lanes started to fill with snow so naturally, people complained on Bos311.
Bos311 refused to enforce snow plowing, saying it was MassDOTs job. MassDOT said it was the contractors job.
So then the signage was changed to "Cyclists use full lane" and all was resolved apparently.
Fun corollary
After the state had finished replacing BU Bridge and the Pike overpass, they painted the lanes and from the top of the hill there, it looked like the bike lane was open for use going west.
So, I started down it and halfway down the hill there was a cement truck parked on Comm Ave with its slide stretched head high across the bike lane to where they were pouring new concrete to extend the sidewalk out to meet the bike lane.
No warning. No blocked off bike lane up before the new curb keeps cars from parking in the bike lane. I had to stop, lift my bike up over the curb, and then say "hey, you really need to block off the bike lane up at the intersection if you're going to do this". I mean, come on, guys...some forethought would be nice.
Then later, the bike lane was open again...but some numbnuts had put two pallets of pavers at the end of it like a brick wall, so you had to come to a complete stop to turn 90 degrees to get out to the road.
Thus, I gave up on the westbound bike lane until they're done.
Uggggh its terrible honestly
I did the exact same thing there, no signage saying its open but nice inviting entrance and bike lights that have directed plenty of us down that path.
Its really frustrating how this project has snailed along, how it seems like portions could've been opened vs. waiting for the entire project to finish. They've refused to do anything in terms of snow removal because "its not finished yet" or interim bike lanes because god forbid parking being impacted.
Agreed
I've been worried that someone's going to be injured or killed on this stretch of road before they finish. I don't bike it daily, but whenever I do it's a pretty tough stretch to navigate. And I run by the area frequently so I can't help but notice how long it's taking. I don't see them finishing it up this year either, so it will probably be in this state for a while yet.
That's why a bike lane should
That's why a bike lane should be a lane in the street. Sometimes bikes need to merge left out of it. And sometimes a major delivery like a cement truck needs to pull into the rightmost travel lane to be adjacent to the curb, which would be trivial for cyclists to pass.
If the bike lane is a track on the sidewalk, none of that is possible. An obstruction in the bike lane becomes a major problem for cyclists, and construction trucks need to bridge it somehow.
well that isn't smart
A delivery of cement would be some kind of construction that would require permits to block the street. It is not at all trivial to go around a large truck in the lane, it can be very dangerous.
There should be loading zones for trucks, and there should be restrictions around taking deliveries during peak traffic.
I bike around parked trucks
I bike around parked trucks all the time. Before getting close, do a shoulder check, signal, merge left. It's not that hard. A mirror helps.
I don't really get peak parking bans, unless you want to add a peak travel lane hard against the curb, which is no fun for bikes or pedestrians.
Just go around it?
Just go around it?
Then I suppose you won't mind
if I take a dump in front of you, and tell you to go around it.
That's the ticket
Perhaps we should have signs everywhere, in the sidewalk, in the middle of the road, in parking lots, on railroad tracks, all saying "Just go around this sign". What could be simpler?
Signs in the way
In the suburbs, I've seen homeowners put those hi-vis green turtle "slow down" signs on the side of two-lane streets. That puts them directly in my way when I'm riding a bike. Those ones, I WILL move off the street, but they're a good deal smaller and lighter, and I'm moving them onto a lawn, not a sidewalk.
That's Borg, with an
That's Borg, with an uppercase B.
Oddly enough, VC seems to allow for more useful behavior and choice in dynamic situations (such as signs appearing in one's travel path) than merely staying between the lines of paint.
The sign placement is idiotic and inconsiderate, but so common as to be almost expected.
If you can't just go around it without much fuss, maybe reconsider blowing off that street cycling skills class you intended to take.
I mean, there's a buffer lane, AND a sidewalk with a sloped curb, for goodness' sake. Slow down and navigate the streets with The Borg!
Nah thats garbage
I ride through here frequently and motorists take this turn recklessly, using both the buffer zone and sometimes part of the bike lane.
So no, its not a matter of cycling skills and a really a matter of poor infrastructure and reckless driving.