Edge Lane Roads a.k.a. Advisory Bike Lanes

Post by tremon » Sat, May 14, 2022, 7:01 PM UTC

wyager wrote: post #43

calderra wrote: post #31

ITT: People who've never done any research on this issue making very American conclusions. Confusion about how these roads work is actually good. It may seem paradoxical at first, but easy to understand roads with ample signage actually breed high speeds, congestion, complacency, and dead pedestrians. Many dangerous intersections have found that removing signage and leaving it up to drivers drastically reduces speeds…

There exist optimization criteria besides "reduce the number of deaths". In particular, the enjoyment of drivers is an important optimization criterion.

Post by cowmoo728 » Sat, May 14, 2022, 7:07 PM UTC

blenderdt wrote: post #27

cowmoo728 wrote: post #9

I recently did a few consecutive full day bicycle trips around the Netherlands and rode on many roads like this. I felt safe and drivers were respectful and patient when passing. I would never ride on one of these in the US. I can already imagine the Amazon delivery van or work truck parked in the bicycle section, forcing me into the center. I can also imagine the impatient drivers accelerating way beyond the speed l…

I don't know the rules in the US but in the Netherlands the car is always at fault in case of an accident, unless it is proven the cyclist was at fault. This makes the roads a lot safer for cyclists. When this law was introduced years ago the Dutch also made fun of it: https://youtu.be/ivY06w83fKU

Post by kyleee » Sat, May 14, 2022, 7:16 PM UTC

rufus_foreman wrote: post #53

notatoad wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the only reason the "share the road" signage is accepted in america is because drivers interpret it to mean that cyclists should give way to motorists. "other road users should share with me" rather than "i need to share with other road users" try going to a community meeting and suggesting that a "share the road" sign be replaced with a "cyclists may use full lane" sign and see how much pushback you get.

My experience has been the opposite of yours. In the last city I lived in they had "sharrows" on some of the streets, and cyclists would get angry when people drove on those streets. Apparently when cyclists suggest that you share something with them, they mean they get to use it and you don't, which isn't my understanding of the term.

Post by alistairSH » Sat, May 14, 2022, 7:26 PM UTC

occz wrote: post #56

californical wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All you need is a curb or even small cement blocks with a marker every 50ft, and no cars are going to drive in that bike lane anymore

This design kind of relies on there only being painted edge lanes, as drivers are expected to yield out to these edge lanes when encountering cars from the opposite direction. Unless I've fundamentally misunderstood the concept.

Post by cameldrv » Sat, May 14, 2022, 7:40 PM UTC

samatman wrote: post #57

Freak_NL wrote: post #12

> This roadway configuration originated in the Netherlands where they have over 50 years and many hundreds of road-kilometers of experience with this facility. Well yeah, but we use this specific configuration with the shared centre lane only on the lowest tier of rural roads where traffic is limited and the speed limit is 60 km/h (roughly 40 mph), and some select urban streets where they act as a traffic calming mea…

As an American it was immediately clear to me the sort of road this website is suggesting we replace with edge lane roads. They are two lane, dotted-white divided, and limited to 45mph. Very common rural and exurban pattern. This might not have been as clear outside of the North American context.