Traffic Planning...pretty accurate.

[erfalf]

Saw this and thought this was the most accurate representation of traffic planning around here.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wv/6962709575/

[jacobi]

So true.

[vanlue]

Thanks for posting a link to my design!

If you want to see how I came up with the idea you can go here:
http://theprudentcyclist.com/2012/03/traffic-planning-guide-copenhagen-vs-north-america/

Ride safe!

-Will Vanlue
ThePrudentCyclist.com

[erfalf]

Thanks for posting a link to my design!

If you want to see how I came up with the idea you can go here:
http://theprudentcyclist.com/2012/03/traffic-planning-guide-copenhagen-vs-north-america/

Ride safe!

-Will Vanlue
ThePrudentCyclist.com

I about fell out of my chair when I was reading it.

[Ed W]

I once did a tour that seemed to include every back street, side street, and alley in a local town.  The route was laid out by someone with a paranoia about riding in traffic.  My son and I finally got tired of mucking about and turned onto an arterial street to finish the ride.  Rather than meandering all around, we rode directly to our destination.

And don't get me started on Copenhagen or Amsterdam.  Our so-called 'bicycle advocates' cite them as cycling utopias without admitting that the underlying causes of high mode share have more to do with economic factors, like high real estate prices, motor vehicle prices, and fuel prices.  When you start looking at some of the crash statistics, their separated bike facilities look worse.  Sure, they feel safe but that's not the same as being safe.

[vanlue]

I once did a tour that seemed to include every back street, side street, and alley in a local town.  The route was laid out by someone with a paranoia about riding in traffic.  My son and I finally got tired of mucking about and turned onto an arterial street to finish the ride.  Rather than meandering all around, we rode directly to our destination.

And don't get me started on Copenhagen or Amsterdam.  Our so-called 'bicycle advocates' cite them as cycling utopias without admitting that the underlying causes of high mode share have more to do with economic factors, like high real estate prices, motor vehicle prices, and fuel prices.  When you start looking at some of the crash statistics, their separated bike facilities look worse.  Sure, they feel safe but that's not the same as being safe.

You know Ed, I'm interested in where you're getting your crash statistics. When I looked, the CDC cites motor vehicle crashes as the #1 cause of death for anyone under something like 33 years old. If you have some graphs showing there are more fatal crashes in the Netherlands than in the US I'm curious to see it.

Also, I totally agree with you that it's quicker to take arterials. One route I normally travel takes me about 30 minutes if I stay on arterials or it takes me 90 minutes if I stay off the streets and on trails. I hate that it takes me an hour longer on the trails and normally I chose to take the arterials (clenching a little bit for the full 30 minutes).

I think my ideal situation (for me personally - feel free to disagree) would be safe facilities for bikes on an arterial. That way the route is direct but I don't have to worry about people driving 45MPH inches away from my children.

I'm also curious: have you personally ridden a bike in Amsterdam or Copenhagen?

[erfalf]

Didn't really know where to put this so...

I know many people would like bike lanes. I understand that in some other cities they have separated lanes, although they seem to be next to higher speed roads. In urban areas, they seem to consist of no more than some paint on the street. However, it is ever discussed that bike lanes may not be needed.

For example, in pretty much every street around central Bartlesville (except Adams, Cherokee & part of Frank Phillips) the speed of traffic is extremely slow. We have small street (3 lanes/1 turn) and angled parking downtown. Outside of that the street are unmarked and are no more than 3 lanes wide (usually people park in the outer leaving literally one lane to get through many times). Once I crossed Adams or Cherokee (at least Adams has stop lights ever block) I would feel perfectly safe on a bike moving throughout downtown. There are stop signs on virtually every intersection to also slow traffic even more. I just can't imagine a scenario where bike lanes would be necessary in Bartlesville.

Now in Tulsa, downtown streets are still pretty dicey. They are built for traffic they will never bear, so drivers have alot of room to speed along. Plus everyone tries to catch the lights so they don't have to stop, leading them to zoom through intersections. When they changed from lights to stop signs in Bartlesville, everyone moaned and groaned at the time. But I don't think anyone does now. It is much safer for the many pedestrians.

Anyways, just a thought. It just think it is good to try to find out what the problem really is before we address it. Otherwise we will just create more problems.