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"Protected" bike lane on Church Street in Evanston

Sorry, I don't have a picture, but there is a new "protected" bike lane on Church Street in Evanston.  Some of it is fine, but there is one stretch near Maple where they retained the parallel parking, but moved it away from the curb.  So you have: curb, bike lane, narrow painted buffer, parallel parked cars, traffic, center line.

I see two huge problems with this.  One, we have a hard enough time with bikies getting doored while passing parked cars on the left.  Does anyone think passengers are going to be more thoughtful when exiting their cars on the right (where there is usually a curb)?  Not to mention that people exiting said cars will have to navigate through bike traffic to reach the curb.  Two, what the heck happens when the bikie reaches an intersection and a moving car wants to turn right?  What are the chances that said driver won't even know the bikie is there because parked cars obscure her?

Am I completely missing something?

Skip Montanaro

wondering what's wrong with Evanston's "traffic engineering" department, in Evanston

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Permalink Reply by Skip Montanaro 0mi on October 19, 2012 at 9:58am

Again, thanks to all for the thoughtful responses.

Not meaning to beat a dead horse, but on the topic of right-side egress, I will note a few things:

  • I have been nearly nailed by kids dropped off by their parents in traffic - using the bike lane as if it was the sidewalk.
  • While every car has a driver, and not all have passengers, my thinking is that a fair fraction of those passengers will be kids (young children, teenagers, whatever) who are going to be even less likely than their parents to look before opening doors, will more likely be wearing headphones (and thus insulated from the sounds of the city), and are less likely to respond appropriately to a bell, whistle or shout (by closing their door or stepping back) than an adult would be.
  • There's the higher probability of two doors opening on the right side if one does, and also that more people will exit said door(s).

So, while the number of door openings on the right side might be less than the left, I think the odds per opening of a problematic encounter increase.

Skip

Permalink Reply by Thunder Snow on October 19, 2012 at 10:23am

And the beautiful thing is, as cyclists, we can choose whether to ride in the cycle track or ride in the travel lanes with the motorized traffic, wherever we feel most comfortable.  Most places don't give us any choice at all.

Even with all the faults that you correctly perceive in the right-side cycle tracks, I think I would still rather see my 8-year-old riding to school, or my 85-year-old father on his recumbent, in the protected lanes, than mixing it up with the motorists in the travel lanes.  Even having that choice is what's good about all this.

Permalink Reply by BruceBikes on October 19, 2012 at 11:43am

Also, most protected bike lanes have a buffer between the parking lane and the bike lane, so compared to a conventional bike lane, you're a lot less likely to even be riding in the the door zone in the first place.

Permalink Reply by Bill Savage on October 19, 2012 at 1:17pm

Just checked this out on foot--for all the complaints about the lane, Evanston did put in lots of cool metal thingees to lock bikes up to after you get doored by kids exiting the passenger side.  The parking meters are gone, though, so this area will be parked up all the time as people try to avoid paying to park.  To continue the thread of speculation about odds of getting doored, your odds are much lower when people park their cars for the entire day since they don't have to pay.

Permalink Reply by David Barish on October 19, 2012 at 1:55pm

Well said.  I saw the lane a few weeks ago and thought to myself that it was uncessary.  I always saw Church as an easy streeet to ride. However, not all riders have the same experience that I do.  Younger, older and novice riders may be encouraged by the protected lane.
 
Thunder Snow said:

And the beautiful thing is, as cyclists, we can choose whether to ride in the cycle track or ride in the travel lanes with the motorized traffic, wherever we feel most comfortable.  Most places don't give us any choice at all.

Even with all the faults that you correctly perceive in the right-side cycle tracks, I think I would still rather see my 8-year-old riding to school, or my 85-year-old father on his recumbent, in the protected lanes, than mixing it up with the motorists in the travel lanes.  Even having that choice is what's good about all this.

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on October 19, 2012 at 2:08pm

I'm not so sure that parking is free there just because the meters are gone.  Doesn't Evanston have the pay slip boxes now like we have in Chicago?  That's probably irrelevant in relation to how much the area gets parked up.  There's never been any shortage of demand even with the meters.

Bill Savage said:

Just checked this out on foot--for all the complaints about the lane, Evanston did put in lots of cool metal thingees to lock bikes up to after you get doored by kids exiting the passenger side.  The parking meters are gone, though, so this area will be parked up all the time as people try to avoid paying to park.  To continue the thread of speculation about odds of getting doored, your odds are much lower when people park their cars for the entire day since they don't have to pay.

Permalink Reply by Tricolor on October 19, 2012 at 2:36pm

As long as you still can park for free after nine PM I'm not going to complain.

Permalink Reply by Bill Savage on October 19, 2012 at 3:32pm

Didn't see any pay slip boxes.  Might've missed 'em, but all around there are still meters.

Anne Alt said:

I'm not so sure that parking is free there just because the meters are gone.  Doesn't Evanston have the pay slip boxes now like we have in Chicago?  That's probably irrelevant in relation to how much the area gets parked up.  There's never been any shortage of demand even with the meters.

Bill Savage said:

Just checked this out on foot--for all the complaints about the lane, Evanston did put in lots of cool metal thingees to lock bikes up to after you get doored by kids exiting the passenger side.  The parking meters are gone, though, so this area will be parked up all the time as people try to avoid paying to park.  To continue the thread of speculation about odds of getting doored, your odds are much lower when people park their cars for the entire day since they don't have to pay.

Permalink Reply by John Wirtz on October 22, 2012 at 9:10am

The meters were removed temporarily for sidewalk work and have now been reinstalled.  Evanston does not have pay boxes, except inside the library parking garage.

Bill Savage said:

Didn't see any pay slip boxes.  Might've missed 'em, but all around there are still meters.

Anne Alt said:

I'm not so sure that parking is free there just because the meters are gone.  Doesn't Evanston have the pay slip boxes now like we have in Chicago?  That's probably irrelevant in relation to how much the area gets parked up.  There's never been any shortage of demand even with the meters.

Bill Savage said:

Just checked this out on foot--for all the complaints about the lane, Evanston did put in lots of cool metal thingees to lock bikes up to after you get doored by kids exiting the passenger side.  The parking meters are gone, though, so this area will be parked up all the time as people try to avoid paying to park.  To continue the thread of speculation about odds of getting doored, your odds are much lower when people park their cars for the entire day since they don't have to pay.

Permalink Reply by Richard on October 22, 2012 at 9:14am

Well said. I have been encouraged, especially as these lanes pass right by the northern exit of the Davis Metra/CTA stations. With a folder, I can take a train and take a (more) leisurely ride to the ELT as part of a daily commute.

David Barish said:

Well said.  I saw the lane a few weeks ago and thought to myself that it was uncessary.  I always saw Church as an easy streeet to ride. However, not all riders have the same experience that I do.  Younger, older and novice riders may be encouraged by the protected lane.
 
Thunder Snow said:

And the beautiful thing is, as cyclists, we can choose whether to ride in the cycle track or ride in the travel lanes with the motorized traffic, wherever we feel most comfortable.  Most places don't give us any choice at all.

Even with all the faults that you correctly perceive in the right-side cycle tracks, I think I would still rather see my 8-year-old riding to school, or my 85-year-old father on his recumbent, in the protected lanes, than mixing it up with the motorists in the travel lanes.  Even having that choice is what's good about all this.

Permalink Reply by Skip Montanaro 0mi on October 22, 2012 at 9:22am

I'm not so sure we really have a choice (yes, you do, however...)  It's difficult enough to get drivers to watch out for us now.  If there is a protected bike lane, I suspect most drivers will assume that's where the bikes will be and won't look to the left for bikes in traffic.  I do wonder how I would set myself up to turn left on Maple...

Thunder Snow said:

And the beautiful thing is, as cyclists, we can choose whether to ride in the cycle track or ride in the travel lanes with the motorized traffic, wherever we feel most comfortable.

Permalink Reply by Tricolor on October 22, 2012 at 11:49am

I parked on Church Saturday night in one of the new spots.  A lot of cars were near/over the line into the 'door zone' because they want to be as far from moving traffic as possible, and while eating a late dinner I saw about six bikes using the lane, two going the wrong direction.  In practice it's a little wider than I thought, but not enough for riding side by side.

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