[SDCBC] Gilman / I-5 interchange

[Serge Issakov]

On 2/20/07, JonIsaacs at aol.com <JonIsaacs at aol.com> wrote:
>
>
> Since the straight through lane exists as a quasi-turn right turn lane, I
> believe it is necessary to treat it as such and ride in the far left lane.
>
> Does this seem reasonable to everyone???
>
> Of course the next question is, if the proper place to ride, at least in
> heavy traffic, is the not the bike lane, then why have the bike lane??


There are some who seem believe that a poorly marked bike lane is better
than no bike lane.  I think that this might be because of the perceived
symbolic "cyclists have a right to the road too" message that many feel bike
lanes convey, and the "feel good" emotions associated with bike lanes as a
result, rather than because of any practical effectivity benefits of bike
lanes.  In that context, a lack of actual practical effectivity is moot to
the issue of whether a bike lane is "good" for cyclists, or whether it
should be removed.

Needless to say, if it were up to me, I would get rid of the bike lane, and
look for traffic calming measures (but not speed bumps) to address the issue
here.  After all, during periods of high traffic volumes, everyone is
speeding just to get in line at the ramp.  As far as I can tell, there is no
reason to have to support high volumes at high speeds at this right turn, or
the approach to it.  So maybe some really narrow lanes, 9 feet wide,
planters at the road edge, and the median, perhaps a curve or two, etc.,
would help..  I don't think that a traffic signal is the right answer,
because it doesn't help at all when the light is green.  Maybe convert the
bike lane in question to a median with planters.  Stuff like that.

Serge
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