I agree. Bike lanes are absolutely the last thing any cyclist should eve r want. In Houston, probably one of the more bicycle-hostile cities in t he country, the only saving grace is that there are almost no bike lanes. In other citise where I have observed bike lanes, they are routinely fi lled with parked cars and strewn with broken glass and other debris. Yet they encourage motors to force bicycles off the main road onto these mine fields. The safest places to ride in Houston are on bike paths routed th rough an extensive system of public parks. These are realtively well iso lated from motor traffic, usually including underpasses under busy roads. So one only has to deal with walkers, joggers, skaters and dogs.
Bike lanes might be OK in places where the culture respects bicycles and will mantain the lanes and punish violations by motor vehicles, but if you have a culture like that, then you don't need bike lanes.
Jerry Moos
now Big Sring Texas, USA, formerly Houston
From: M-gineering <info@m-gineering.nl> Subject: Re: [CR]Bike Lane Thoughts? To: Cc: "CR" <Classicrendezvous@bikelist.org> Date: Wednesday, December 3, 2008, 1:37 AM
Sadiq Gill wrote:
> Dear Lists:
>
> I live in a City with no dedicated bike lanes in the City or elsewhere.
I
> have somewhat of an ear with some City planner people and am pondering a
> bike lane initiative.I am soliciting comments from members who live in
bike
> laned cities.
Al my serious roadaccidents have been while riding on a bikepath and with cars turning right. Turning traffic into two separate systems only works untill they meet
-- mvg
Marten