05/28/92 Agenda & Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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• Tra •ls to Vol. 2 , No. 2 May, 1992 The 1992 Minnesota Bicycle Conference Highlights On Feb.25-26,the Annual State Bicycle Conference was held with about 350 attendees— more than double last year's. I attended both days and found them very informative and exciting for the bicycle movement. Countercurrents at work: There were quite a number of countercurrents which were apparent to me during the conference. These seemingly opposite directions do have valid justification and the challenge is to reconcile these viewpoints or at least establish a middle ground. I'd like to discuss six of these countercurrents in detail,providing my own reconcilitation of these. 1)Separate bikes from cars vs. integrate biking on roadways. The first three very troublesome conflict areas really are different angles for a broader 2) Off-road(along roadways) vs. issue;namely,"How to design safer,interconnected bikeway systems to meet the needs of on-road facilities. most of the users." The theme of "making most roadways bicycle-friendly rather than 3) Child cyclist needs vs. experi- building separate off road systems"is espoused by most cyclists and bike safety experts. enced cyclist needs. Yet much of the discussion at the conference was about large off-road systems. Any • decision to build a system based on predominantly off-road facilities will result in a very expensive system that meets the needs of children or other slower recreationsal cyclists. What is worse is that in heavily residential or commercial areas,these facilities are likely to be very unsafe because of heavy cross-traffic and turning cars. Paved shoulders and bike- lanes(paved shoulders with pavement graphics special signage),on the other hand,are not • suitable for young children. Except on low volume/speed local streets biking on shoulderless roads(with 10-12 ft travel lanes)has to be considered unsafe for most cyclists. The reconciliation of the problem is to make most roadways safe for biking,by providing bike lanes,paved shoulders,and in some cases wide curb lanes. The costs of doing this are a fraction of that required for off-road facilities. A continuous grid of bikeways is easily realized. The needs of children can be met by providing off-road paths at certain intervals,and the needs of many recreational cyclists can be met by off-road facilities on independent rights-of-way and on riparian* corridors. Areas of very high bike and/or car traffic require special consideration. Safe coexistence of cars and bikes may not be possible and separation may be the best alternative. Well designed and signed"bike- lanes"may provide a safe space exclusively for bikes,but converting a roadway to a bicycle arterial by blocking through car traffic(placing posts at one end of each block)can minimize conflicts. Such a bicycle arterial can be given right of way over cars or bicycle actuated traffic lights can be installed to allow continuous bicycle flow. In summary,these counter-currents are resolvable by providing a good mix of off-road paths,paved shoulders, bike lanes,and bicycle arterials. A visible and continuous network of these is what we should strive for. 4)A jurisdiction's liability vs. bikers' needs The liability question is typically being used as an excuse to do little or nothing to accomodate cyclists. The lawyer from the Attorney General's Office indicated that liability issues are minimal so long as a best effort has been made to make our facilities as safe as feasible for cyclists. He frequently gets asked"Give me some reasons why we can't do something"rather than"How can we build facilities to safely accomodate cyclists and • minimize liability". Bike lanes with signage can greatly improve safety in an area of heavy car/bike traffic. Although some risk remains,a city can successfully argue that without *riparian—alongside stream,lake,or ocean but extendable to any logical barrier to cross-traffic such as a mountain,forest,park preserve,or even to a military base or limited access freeway right-of-way.