Does your city only allow you to use perfect bike lanes?

For some reason, my city likes to keep bike lanes closed during construction until they are 100% completed. Yet, driving lanes and sometimes sidewalks remain open during construction. If my city was actually following its own policies, sidewalks and bike lanes would be opened as soon as it was feasible, even if this meant keeping some or all driving lanes closed.
edmonton.ctvne...
www.edmonton.c...
#cycling #mobility #urbanism #urbanplanning

[@Nhkg17]

In my city, the bike lane simply closes and no one addresses any detour for cyclists, even when the bike lane goes through a place that is virtually impossible to get around. So cyclists ignore the bans, move the barricades, and ride through the construction. I live in central Europe, we have a habit of ignoring any traffic regulations. :D

[@GaigeGrosskreutzGunClub]

Even in a "pedestrianized" tourist city (St. Petersburg FL) sidewalks were just closed and didn't have detours forcing people onto the road, which were mostly 3 lane one ways. Like God forbid they block off one of the three lanes to make sure cars and peds stay separate

[@c.s.4273]

Tear the closure/blockade down in an act of self defense!

[@firiel2366]

My city just completed a massive overhaul of the street I live on. Months-long project. The entire time, with the exception of a couple days, there was always at least on lane of traffic open for cars. There has never been a sidewalk on our side of the street (until now), and as part of the project, they tore up the sidewalk across the street and then didn't replace it for at least a month. When I walked to work, it was bad enough. As an able-bodied person I was still just able to clamber around closed lanes, over piles of rubble, etc. Not the safest, but you do what you gotta. A wheel-chair user would have found the street impassable, as would a bike, due to the narrowness of the lane and the roughness of the road. The fact that the city was able to make concessions for cars (like I said, there was always a lane through the construction) but didn't bother for anyone /not/ in a car sadly shows where their priorities are.

[@The2wanderers]

When the downtown grid was being built, I used to ride a few block of 100 Ave every day. Once the cycle track was installed but still "closed," due to lack of paint in the intersections, it became much more dangerous to mix with traffic than it was before. For about a month, I stopped twice a block to move the wooden barriers every afternoon. Presumably the city paid someone to come back every day and put them back up, even though there was no one actually working on that section.

[@micosstar]

city sus for putting back the barriers

[@DizzyDiddy]

We recently had the road in front of our house redone, as well as the multi-use pathway. The road took about a week and a half to complete, while the pathway took two to three months. It definitely felt like motorized vehicle traffic was prioritized above everything else. Those few days where the road was missing were actually really nice because it reduced and slowed down traffic. I wouldn't mind if our two-lane asphalt road were downgraded to a one-lane gravel road. There's too much car traffic without viable alternative routes for such a suggestion to ever be seriously considered, but I do think it would improve safety. The experience really increased our appreciation for the pathway though. It's such an important piece of infrastructure and has an outsized impact on our quality of life.

[@highway2heaven91]

At least they’ll actually build bike lanes and separate them with protected infrastructure. It took a while for many American cities to even build bike infrastructure’s. My city finally did it but most of the lanes are either painted or have plastic sticks.

[@samueldufault9933]

It's kind of the same situation right now in Montreal on Avenue Christophe-Colomb! Fresh new bike lane, but signs are not final, so the lane is closed even if it is perfectly safe. And people parking their car hesitate ; some park in the "new" parking lane, others park straight on the closed bike lane, and I don't blame them...

[@ikelom]

Nah this happens in Montreal too. They'll put up a sign saying "Voie fermée" (Lane Closed) for several days or even weeks after construction is pretty much finished. Sometimes, I can just go around the sign and bike on the new path normally. Other times, not so easy.

[@Frostbiker]

You nailed it. How often do you see construction signs meant for cars placed on the sidewalk, blocking the way to strollers, wheelchairs and the elderly? Why are those signs not placed on the road?

[@JustClaude13]

That's what the bike lane is for.

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

I've literally never seen that. The thing I see a lot of though is when a sidewalk is closed, but the sign is put right where the sidewalk is closed rather than next to the nearest crosswalk.

[@derekmiskiman1847]

Thank you for this. I road by this today and could not figure out why it is blocked off. I am excited for this project to be done it is going to be awesome . I would love your take on 106 Street . Great content

[@lisabrown8772]

Rode through this the other day with my toddler to get to Kingsway Ave. Coming home, we took a much longer route so we could be on a MUP as it felt safer.

[@brycebundens6866]

Yes, DC does this too. New protected bicycle lanes, such as those newly installed on Pennsylvania Ave SE, are closed with cones and signs before ribbon cutting. People are forced into high speed traffic lanes when the incomplete facilities would be a huge safety improvement. Bicycle lanes don’t have to be perfect to open them - immediate relief and safety improvements are necessary, even with incomplete facilities, so long as they are not under active construction.

[@knarf_on_a_bike]

Here in Toronto in construction zones, typically the bike lanes are closed and we merge with motor traffic. Super dangerous on busy roads. And we have a couple of roads with those plastic poles in the middle. I hate them. Makes motor vehicles come even closer to us! 😬

[@johnshellenberg1383]

I ride on the MUP on the south side of 137ave between 156st and 170st on a regular basis, and it's under construction now, and shockingly to me, the city closed a regular car traffic lane on the eastbound section of 137 and made it a temporary MUP. While this is their explicit policy, I was still suprised, as usually all cyclists and pedestrians get is the middle finger.

[@NAUM1]

This is a good example of bureaucrats running the show and not having any incentive to follow what people want. Clearly bike lanes are wanted and should be open. Bureaucrats should have their job on the line for being this moronic or evil. And other cities definitely do it also.

[@janieblack]

The sidewalk was littered with hazard signage as well…

[@vijayramachandran3559]

"SUV lane" ha ha that needs to be mainstream 👏🏽👏🏽

[@ttopero]

Denver is a carbon copy of Edmonton! Before it allowed ‪bicyclist‬s to use the new “protected” bike lane, it allowed cars to park on it for 4 weeks without ticketing or changing signs while it had signs blocking access to the lanes by bikes at intersections-cars took care of the rest of the barriers to using the lane!

[@michaelvickers4437]

"SUV Lane." I like that! 🤣 Although in Alberta isn't it more like the pickup truck lane?

[@bikebikenudgenudge]

Maybe I should switch to a term a friend used long ago when SUV- (and pickup truck) dominance was just starting: Urban Assault Vehicle.

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

I remember from flagging course that basically you see a bunch of unnecessary signs and protections for peple on two wheels because the people designing the temporary traffic control patterns don't understand how 2 wheels operate. So, if somebody falls down, there's a sign added and if they aren't completely sure that it's safe there'll be a CYA sign to deal with it. The big difference is that if you're on 4 wheels, you're not going to fall over, they mostly just need to ensure that there's nothing there to pop the tires and sufficient warning is there so that people slow down. 2 wheel vehicles can have issues like getting trapped and downed by an abrupt lane edge preventing the vehicle from balancing.

[@RamblingJosh]

My street has had tons of construction for years, and the last part of it is installing new bike lanes. It wasn't bad, but I thought it was so silly how long the bike lanes were closed, I guess because they weren't "done yet". You would see more and more signs every week, and people were clearly just going around them. They'll rip up the sidewalk without a detour for non-cars, but when the infrastructure is there nobody can use it

[@eugenetswong]

I'm not surprised that you are from Canada. Your city's policies and your accent seem Canadian.

[@johnklein338]

Regina has a similar problem

[@TheTroyc1982]

Why do you say my city instead of naming the city???

[@gdemorest7942]

I enjoy kicking the blocking barriers over in my city Vancouver Canada.

[@micosstar]

GAHAHAHAHAHAH i love your channel name bike bike nudge nudge came from youtube home mobile recommend!

[@baddriversofcolga]

My city doesn't really have bike lanes. 🤷

[@c.s.4273]

Take matter in your own hands. Do what has to be done! Some may call it anarchy, some may call it self defence. Break what breaks you! Honestly, there is a war going on. Time to take the battle to the streets. Warriors on two wheel unite, this fight is for our future! Rules and regulations, politics and policies don’t apply to us as long as they don't take into account our needs, as long as they disregard us.

[@buddy1155]

I am Dutch, we love to complain, unfortunately we can't join the complaining here.

[@bikebikenudgenudge]

That's okay. You can just do what my Dutch cousins do when they're here, laugh at what is considered "good bike infrastructure" around here.

[@guessundheit6494]

The solution is to move those signs into the car lane. Repeatedly, every day, until the city pinheads stop doing it. Nothing will change until road raging carbrains get pi$$y and feel inconvenienced.

[@JoshuaB-p8c]

The odd specifications of bike lanes are only suggested by suburbanites who move to the city and are having a hard time riding a bicycle in a city environment as they are used to riding on dedicated trails in the suburbs. those of us who live and grew up in the city tend to have a easier time riding bikes. and will completely avoid the newer bike lanes as they are usually placed in very odd spots where car traffic is the highest.

[@SmallSpoonBrigade]

Around here the bike lanes are often used as an excuse to remove lanes of traffic. And there will frequently be a side street that's just as good, and already safer, just a block to the side, but they'll install the bike lane anyways. The bike lane will often times wind up petering out at some point or involving some new traffic control devices that are confusing and require motorists to pay attention to the illegal signage rather than the cyclists.

[@derekjolly3680]

You keep mentioning the "people driving SUVs" like that's the only choice. What about the guys driving VW Beetles or old Datson B210s? Are they on the same level as the SUV drivers to you? I don't know but sometimes the bike guys who are big on improved road safety for bicycling, have this kind of irrational contempt of anyone in a car, or any kind of car. Since I have a Toyota pick up truck and I've been legally driving since I was 15, I can't really be like that. Specifically bad drivers or bad driving, yeah I can curse at those guys, especially the drivers like this one old goat yesterday making a turn where I was making a turn without the slightest indication he noticed me or cared if he ran me over on the bike. But that's behavior, not simply existence.

[@bikebikenudgenudge]

It doesn't make sense to say "car" in North America anymore. Trucks and SUVs are by far the most sold type of vehicle in NA. The "Big 3" don't sell cars at all in NA due to the perverse CAFE standards and the profit margins on Trucks and SUVs.

[@derekjolly3680]

I know you see a lot of them, but there's still actual cars out there imported or not. Mid-sized pick-ups are quite a lot more sensible, practicable, and gas efficient compared to full sized ones or SUVs. Like a Tacoma compared to a Titan. The whole deal with wiping out the smallest sizes for the pick-ups, like the old Japanese ones they used to make, was a bad deal for everyone.

[@derekjolly3680]

I meant to add, good points about the bike lanes. Personally I'd rather make use of an unfinished one compared to having to be in the regular car lanes. More of a problem for guys on pure road bikes though. Not really for a hybrid with some degree of dirt tires.

[@radishpineapple74]

@@derekjolly3680 "I know you see a lot of them, but there's still actual cars out there imported or not." The writing is on the wall. SUVs and pickup trucks are by far the biggest sellers overall, and this has been the case for many years now. Domestic manufacturers don't even offer cars and this has been the case for some time. The current presence of cars is merely the fading after-glow of the production from years past. The average weight of vehicles has been increasing rapidly as the few remaining cars go to the scrapyards, with this being augmented by the rapid increase of weight within the pickup truck class. As bikebikenudgenudge said, it doesn't make sense to call automobile infrastructure "car" infrastructure due to this replacement. Sure, people can still buy and drive cars, but they are already a rarity, and they will only become more irrelevant in the future. It's best to acknowledge the facts on the ground, or in this case, on our streets.

[@derekjolly3680]

What gets me is how people who don't have the need for SUVs or huge trucks buy them automatically anyway. I guess some of what happened is that the SUVs took over for what families got from Station Wagons. I can see how men didn't want to drive those, but they were suited well to mothers. You can have a need for a pickup truck of a reasonable size if you get out on dirt roads or the desert a lot, like to go out to hike or shoot. That's why I bought my 2012 Toyota Tacoma which has been a really good vehicle for me especially where I lived before in Tucson, which had more dirt roads. It was great for the last time I moved, and it works very well if you have to carry a bicycle. But it's not huge and doesn't even have 4x4 drive or even very large tires. But I mean good grief, the monsters these people buy. Do the Jiff Moms who have two kids need an SUV that large with that much space inside for kid drop offs or shopping? No way. Are they on dirt roads? Practically never. So I think a lot of this is the result of salesmanship and marketing. You hear it a lot on the radio especially.