Saturday, March 19, 2011

What's the idea behind this curb?



I assume it's "traffic calming." This has to be one of the least bike friendly features in the city. It makes bikers swerve uncomfortably close to cars. You can see that they actually ripped up part of one of the new "sharrows" to put the curb extension in. Lame.

8 comments:

  1. I assume you're talking about the way the curb is bumped out at the intersection--kind of distant in the photo.

    If that's what you mean, the intent is to shorten the distance pedestrians have to travel in order to cross the street. Not so much traffic calming as pedestrian empowering.

    I'm not taking a position--this is how it was explained to me.

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  2. I find it strange that the sidewalks around this intersection are often lower than the road just a foot or two away. When they were rebuilding this area last summer/fall I wondered if they were going to level the streets, but it honestly seems to me like it was exacerbated.

    I don't know if it makes a difference either way except possibly in the large puddling that occurs.

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  3. Thanks for the info Tom. You are correct in assuming the picture is of a curb bump. I need to get better at taking pictures while biking.

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  4. Dude, TAKE THE LANE. You shouldn't be over in the gutter anyway. Bulb-outs are good for cyclists.

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  5. @Allan I worry that if I take the lane, the fragile peace between bikers and drivers in this town will be broken.

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  6. I couldn't agree more. I ride past that bump out every day during my commute. I hate it.

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  7. Beyond the bump-out, isn't it a parking lane? Shouldn't be encouraging the road engineers to push bikes into parking lanes...

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