02-12-2016, 11:34 AM
Streetsblog yesterday had a post asking "Where are the best places for protected intersections in your city?"
"Protected intersections" are something fairly new, and apparently they've only recently been implemented (under this nomenclature, anyway) a handful of times only recently in North America. If I understand correctly, they're not too complicated: at an intersection where two protected bicycle lanes or paths meet, the bicycle lane (and sidewalk) is diverted slightly so it is offset to the intersection by a couple of meters. Motorists don't have to be trusted to shoulder check to make sure they're not about to cut off a cyclist when making a right-hand turn, since the potential conflict point is slightly outside of the intersection, when the car has already made its turn, and in front of the car, where the driver is looking.
Anyway, the answer to the question posed in the headline of the article is "King at University." University Avenue needs real protected bicycle lanes, and so does King. That's a dangerous intersection for all users, and a redesign to make it friendlier to cyclists would be called for.
(Runners-up are Erb and Weber and Bridgeport and Weber, for the same reason minus the very heavy student population.)
"Protected intersections" are something fairly new, and apparently they've only recently been implemented (under this nomenclature, anyway) a handful of times only recently in North America. If I understand correctly, they're not too complicated: at an intersection where two protected bicycle lanes or paths meet, the bicycle lane (and sidewalk) is diverted slightly so it is offset to the intersection by a couple of meters. Motorists don't have to be trusted to shoulder check to make sure they're not about to cut off a cyclist when making a right-hand turn, since the potential conflict point is slightly outside of the intersection, when the car has already made its turn, and in front of the car, where the driver is looking.
Anyway, the answer to the question posed in the headline of the article is "King at University." University Avenue needs real protected bicycle lanes, and so does King. That's a dangerous intersection for all users, and a redesign to make it friendlier to cyclists would be called for.
(Runners-up are Erb and Weber and Bridgeport and Weber, for the same reason minus the very heavy student population.)