http://utilitycyclism.blogspot.com/

I'm currently living in Christchurch in New Zealand where the restrictive conditions for cyclists
inspired me to write this description of cycling in Kyoto to bring about an awareness that urban utility cycling is already well established in environments,societies and economies very similar to our own.

Alan Preston.

I could see implementing dartley's central lane concept on Park Ave. by putting a buffered bike lane in the place of the current left lanes of both the northbound and southbound roadways. Cars could still have what are now the center and right lanes of each roadway, but would be kept out of the left lanes with a row of highly attractive plastic bollards, each of which was mounted at the top with a photo of a Revolutionary War hero or other suitably historical personage. Then you would have a two-way Class I bike lane more or less up the middle of middle of Manhattan to complement the Greenways along the sides. Install similar bollard-protected Class I lanes river-to-river on 125th Street, 72nd Street, 42nd Street and Houston Street (without the median in the middle, of course), and you would have the bulk of an arterial Class I network for Manhattan.

I wouldn't want to see a center lane elevated, because that would be dangerous to negotiate for cyclists--hitting a bump straight on is okay, but angling into one, like a cyclist would with an elevated center lane, can cause wipe-outs.

I really think the only way this thing would work is if the center bike lane was at least raised 4 inches from the ground. Otherwise, motorists will monopolize the space to pass other vehicles.

It doesn't necessarily need to be walled off with jersey barriers (which may pose to be a problem with fire trucks and ambulances)...

I'm thinking that to really make this work then you've got to convert some of Manhattan's one-way avenues back into two ways and create center medians that function as bus/bike lanes running right down the middle in each direction.

I don't think that this is Dartley's plan, however. I'm just riffing...

Yeah, I don't know what to say about that. I wish the design was unassailable, but I must admit it could be 1)annoying and 2)possibly scary to stand in a lane between car lanes waiting for the light to turn red AND THEN turn green again.

I suppose it really is a sort of "bike highway," not for lots of turning and neighborhood exploring, but to provide a safe place for cyclists to drive THROUGH to a distant destination, like so many cars do in our city. The reason I'm attached to the design is because that's how I ride--mainly as a commuter. And it is, undoubtably, safer to ride *in a straight line,* and visibly. That's what this kind of dedicated lane would provide.

I suppose the solution to the "waiting to turn" problem is a bit chaotic, or, unfortunately, better suited to the courageous: If ALL lanes have a green, and a cyclist in between moving car lanes wants to turn off, they can a)wait, as already discussed, or b)just cut across the one or two car lanes as needed, cautiously. Scenario "b" does not introduce any more chaos to the picture than what currently exists. (Of course, I was aiming higher than that, but maybe "design team streetsblog" will fix it.)

Also, if you want to turn you stop at a green light and wait for it to turn red: 1, who's going to do that? 2, if you do, how will you feel about standing in the middle of a high-speed avenue while 2000-lb vehicles rush past you on both sides, and, possibly, bear down on you from behind? How long do you think it will take for one of these patiently waiting bicyclists standing prone in the center of a moving avenue to get hit at a very high speed?

Now, there may be a price to pay environmentally, since traffic patterns would become more convoluted without having a left turn (thus burning more fuel). However, I think that making it much more difficult to drive in NYC would help to convince these people to use public transit...

Paris now has a few of these center median bus/bike/taxi lanes and while I didn't really delve into how they function for bikes, they are far and away the best BRT lanes in the city right now.

If done in conjunction with MuniMetering there may not even be a lost of spaces considering its increased efficiency.

On a different note: as they roll out MuniMetering, Bloomberg and the DOT should take the opportunity to give every block a loading zone. The # of spaces will be a wash but the LOS on the street should go up as double parking decrease: everyone's a winner!

I'd like to see injury statistics but my understanding is that a bike lane separated from traffic by a row of parked cars helps prevent a type of accident that rarely occurs: the motorist overtaking the cyclist. However, it appears to me that it would greatly worsen the much more common types of accidents at the intersection because the cyclists will be hidden from view by the SUVs.

I agree that it may feel safer to have a steel buffer between you and traffic but perceptions of safety can be deceiving. (as is brilliantly noted in the Malcom Gladwell piece on SUVs that was posted on a recent thread)