Would commuters be more likely to ride a bike if they had the option to ride in a protected lane? New research led by a University of New Mexico faculty member says yes. Protected bike lanes are associated with nearly double the number of bike...
Excellent examples of that all around me where they installed a bunch of flex posts around previously unprotected bike lanes.
It’s been about a year (I think. Time is hard), and there are significantly less flex posts, some stretches have none at all anymore, because people just run them over like they don’t exist. Even on a street where the bike lane was ALREADY separated from the lane of travel by a ~5 foot section of cross-hatched pavement, people still somehow find a way to run over and destroy the poles. It’s baffling.
what’s wild to me is that they use posts that are obviously flexible, like why can they not just use hard plastic poles? it’s not gonna make jackshit difference for drivers beyond maybe scratching their paint more, but will look solid and actually discourage crossing them.
It’s not (just) that; it’s that engineers incorrectly apply forgiving design and breakaway design principles for the benefit of drivers by default without really stopping to appreciate that a bike lane isn’t a valid space space for cars and needs to be unforgiving instead.
Also, flimsy plastic posts are way cheaper than proper bollards or curbs.
Ours had this till a great organization donated the parking curb concrete things that go in between the posts. So basically a concrete curb divider. It’s so much better and wasn’t too expensive compared.
Excellent examples of that all around me where they installed a bunch of flex posts around previously unprotected bike lanes.
It’s been about a year (I think. Time is hard), and there are significantly less flex posts, some stretches have none at all anymore, because people just run them over like they don’t exist. Even on a street where the bike lane was ALREADY separated from the lane of travel by a ~5 foot section of cross-hatched pavement, people still somehow find a way to run over and destroy the poles. It’s baffling.
what’s wild to me is that they use posts that are obviously flexible, like why can they not just use hard plastic poles? it’s not gonna make jackshit difference for drivers beyond maybe scratching their paint more, but will look solid and actually discourage crossing them.
For the exceedingly rare instances when an emergency vehicle needs to access that area
but surely they could just crush the hard plastic bollards?
They’re more resilient if they’re only hit like once a year
It’s not (just) that; it’s that engineers incorrectly apply forgiving design and breakaway design principles for the benefit of drivers by default without really stopping to appreciate that a bike lane isn’t a valid space space for cars and needs to be unforgiving instead.
Also, flimsy plastic posts are way cheaper than proper bollards or curbs.
Ours had this till a great organization donated the parking curb concrete things that go in between the posts. So basically a concrete curb divider. It’s so much better and wasn’t too expensive compared.