sidepath danger education?

We have some wondeful trails near our house
http://www.indianatrails.org/WL_trails.htm
and I enjoy using them daily.
http://lairds.org/Kyler/photos/disk0...g/image_viewer

Recently I started taking the dogs on longer bike rides.
http://lairds.org/Kyler/photos/disk0...g/image_viewer
After a couple miles we transition from the Cattail Trail which
winds around inside a park to the Northwest Greenway Trail which
cuts across a lot of streets.

The end of the Cattail Trail is the worst part. It parallels a
busy road that cuts across entrances to Wal-Mart and terminates
at a four-lane highway. The shoppers I encounter typically roll
into the crosswalk before looking around and stopping. I've been
"overly cautious" (I thought) about stopping and waiting for them
to stop or clear.

The highway has crosswalks but the only visible effect of using
the "push to cross" button is to get a couple flashes of "walk"
right when the vehicular traffic also gets a green light. This
leads to me hurrying through the intersection just as cars are
launching into right turns. Worse, as I approach the end of the
crosswalk there are often cars rolling through the crosswalk into
right turns. A few days ago this happened right in front of me.
(Parked traffic blocks the right-turning traffic's view of anyone
in the crosswalk.)

Following that close call I started rethinking my use of the
trails and crosswalks. I'm fairly comfortable cycling on streets
most anywhere but this situation struck me as unreasonably
dangerous. The city pedestrian/bicyclist safety group met the
next day and I decided to attend in order to see if anyone had
thoughts on this situation. There I discovered that the purpose
of the "push to cross" button is to guarantee a minimum amount of
time to cross the highway. It does not alter the lighting
sequence.

After that I decided to investigate trail safety a bit more. I
learned that the problem I've noticed is already quite recognized
and it's primarily an issue with "sidepaths"
http://www.massbike.org/info/dilemma.htm
A bicycle path immediately adjacent to a roadway but
separated from it ("sidepath") is increasingly recognized
as a dangerous type of facility. Cycling on such a path
has most of the dangers of using a sidewalk. When the
path is on one side of the road only, half of the
bicyclists will be riding against traffic, making
intersections even more hazardous. The AASHTO Guide to
Bicycle Facilities presents a long list of the problems
of sidepaths but stops short of recommending against
them.
Here I was trying to be "safe" by taking advantage of the trail
system and I was really putting myself at increased risk.

The next day I switched to riding in the street as soon as the
trail intersected other streets. It felt *so* much safer and
more natural to be back in traffic. It was also much more
convenient to not have to hit the crossing switch and I can now
make the left turn without having to go through two crosswalk
cycles.

So I've gone from ignorance to fear to understanding and now I
am careening toward vexation. As a kid I spent a good portion
of my time touring by bike in Indiana (and in Europe). I should
have more quickly recognized the dangers of biking in this
situation and just stopped using the sidepaths. I suspect there
are many less experienced cyclists being lured into putting
themselves at increased risk by using the sidepaths.

I would have appreciated someone suggesting to me that I should
consider using the street instead of the sidepath. Perhaps I
should do that for others? Here's someone who apparently went
through this.
http://boulderbicyclecommuters.org/d...h_cycling.html
There's certainly good information on the subject readily
available.
http://bikexprt.com/bikepol/facil/sidepath/
Perhaps it would be worthwhile to compile some of the information
in a simple flyer and distribute it in local bike stores. Has
anyone done that already?

Any ideas?

--kyler

Kyler Laird wrote:
We have some wondeful trails near our house
http://www.indianatrails.org/WL_trails.htm
and I enjoy using them daily.
http://lairds.org/Kyler/photos/disk0...g/image_viewer

Here I was trying to be "safe" by taking advantage of the trail
system and I was really putting myself at increased risk.

I would have appreciated someone suggesting to me that I should
consider using the street instead of the sidepath.


Perhaps it would be worthwhile to compile some of the information
in a simple flyer and distribute it in local bike stores. Has
anyone done that already?

Any ideas?


It's a very controversial subject (Google the archives of this NG if you
doubt it). Sidepaths and bike lanes have been heatedly debated many
times. It's frustrating in that it's a very divisive issue, and one that
puts otherwise co-supportive bicycling advocates into vehement
opposition. Truth is, it's a complicated question with many sub-issues.
Perhaps you should do some more research before composing pamphlets.