Eli Goldberg from Seattle is enthusiastic about this – “a really thoughtful rebranding and presentation of standard Dutch intersections as a natural extension of protected bike lanes.”
Protected bike lanes are the latest approach US cities are taking to help their residents get around by bike. But these protected lanes lose their buffer separation at intersections, reducing the comfort and safety for people riding.
What the protected bike lane needs is the protected intersection.
This proposal for the George Mason University 2014 Cameron Rian Hays Outside the Box Competition presents a vision for a safe, clear intersection design that improves conditions for all users. Proper design of refuge islands, crossing position and signal timing can create a safe intersection that people of all ages and abilities would feel safe in.
This is the main problem with the bike lanes on Carral, that cars use the bike lane as an expanded turn lane to cut around cars turning left, or use the bike lane to sweep faster around the corner taking a right – as the bike lane effectively increases the turn radius. These issues are also present on the Richards bike lane – as there are several instances where the bike lane presents an opportunity to take corners faster, often without looking if a cyclist is coming.
As I look out my office window, and see the new curb extension on Burrard at Hastings, I wonder how long it will be before someone uses the sidewalk curb cut to make a prohibited turn.
This is really good. The Dutch quietly figured this all out awhile back and it’s really nice to see it finally being taken seriously over here. While the CROW manual was known among some cycling advocates over here for a long time, the fact that these designs are now becoming common knowledge in this continent we probably have David Hembrow to thank with his famous blog, his logical descriptions and his good analysis of Dutch cycling infrastructure.
http://www.aviewfromthecyclepath.com
An intersection like this is being planned for 27th Street in Lynn Valley, North Van. Keeping fingers crossed that the idea of making major intersections safer for people biking (and walking) doesn’t go away between now and implementation.