Quote:
Originally Posted by EndoftheBeginning
My work day view is Pembina Hwy. What's up with cyclists refusing to use the bike lanes and riding in the traffic lane? I see that pretty much everyday. What would be the reason for making that choice?
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I'd say the following might be reasons:
1) the bus stop islands
the bike lane on pembina loops around bus stops. this isn't necessarily a bad design idea, if you create a small 'island' for those waiting for the bus (
eg). but on pembina, the "bike lane" is at the same level and made of the same materials as the sidewalk. if there's any sort of crowd waiting for a bus, you're likely to ride your bike into a bunch of people standing around. (for example, at the tip of the bus stop 'island'
here, it could work -- different height, different materials. but where the bus stop is actually located, the sidewalk and bike lane are indistinguishable.)
2) debris.
a lot of debris gets pushed into the bike lane and doesn't get cleared out. if you're riding a mountain bike with underinflated tires, that's probably fine. if you're on a road bike with thin tires, that may be a problem.
3) continuity
the pembina bike lane basically appears and disappears several times. for instance at crescent, the bike lane just randomly ends at an intersection. no signage, you just get spit out into the intersection into a lane that no longer exists and you have to merge into traffic. i can understand people feeling like it's safer just to take a lane.