Your towns Cycling infrastructure

Brisbane is OK for infrastructure - still ongoing, but getting better.

https://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/thi...ctivities/riding-in-brisbane/cycling-brisbane


Maps here:

https://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/sit...risbane_-_riding_in_brisbane_guide_-_2022.pdf

This is an interesting topic, although me posting pictures here seems... not fair

BartRidesEternal said:

This is an interesting topic, although me posting pictures here seems... not fair

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The red in the Dutch flag is a cycle lane, is what I like to think

Pondo said:

Some pics from a country that takes bike infrastructure seriously would definitely be fair and interesting.

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I will take some pictures on my next ride! Thanks for the encouragement

Ingola started this discussion in another forum as well. One of the guys in the Netherlands shared his bike lanes, I'm not exactly sure how it's supposed to work. The car gets less than a car width:

"It is a road, but with very wide cycle lanes, so you can ride next to each other and cars have to go around you. I am not so sure it is a good idea, I didn't feel much safer"

They just repaved the main street running through my neighborhood. I'll get some pics of the newly extended bike lanes, they're really wide, well marked, and smooooooth like buttah

If they don't put the post in the middle, people drive cars on them. No kidding. There are videos of people driving on them out there. Hard to believe. I saw one where a lady had to move off the path with her baby in a stroller.

My ghetto town has made progress with some MUPs in recent years surprisingly. It's nice to see people enjoying them.

ifitsfreeitsforme said:

If they don't put the post in the middle, people drive cars on them.

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They also put narrow gates at the entrance, sometimes at intervals along the path. It keeps the ATV quads off as well. Sometimes it's tricky getting thru, newer MTB bars are pretty wiiiiide.
Again, I'll have pictures later. Gotta get out for a cruise

MattiThundrrr said:

really wide (lanes), well marked, and smooooooth like buttah

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They did this is the way it should be:

Pedestrian, separated by solid division. Then bike, car, car, bike, solid separation, and pedestrian again. And barely wider than a postage stamp

MattiThundrrr said:

They also put narrow gates at the entrance, sometimes at intervals along the path... Sometimes it's tricky getting thru, newer MTB bars are pretty wiiiiide

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I guess it feels tighter when you fly through them
Duck Norris has 690 mm bars, the Brodie is 50 mm wider. Some bars are 800+, that would be a squeeze!

The state I live in has laws that say a bicycle rider has a right to use the same roads that automobile drivers do, all dedicated bike paths and lanes do is give motorists another excuse to yell "get off the road !!! " to cyclists instead of learning that bicycles have the right to be there and normalizing bicycle use of public roads and highways. This is why dedicated bicycle lanes are counter-productive and not a good idea. That should be pretty simple to understand and see.

gben said:

The state I live in has laws that say a bicycle rider has a right to use the same roads that automobile drivers do, all dedicated bike paths and lanes do is give motorists another excuse to yell "get off the road !!! " to cyclists instead of learning that bicycles have the right to be there and normalizing bicycle use of public roads and highways. This is why dedicated bicycle lanes are counter-productive and not a good idea. That should be pretty simple to understand and see.

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I definitely have a different perspective to that. Regardless of normalized bicycle use, cars still outweigh us by a ton or more. My thinking is that dedicated bicycle lanes give us a space where cars aren't supposed to be, theoretically reducing the possibility of interactions between cars and cyclists. I vastly prefer a separate path for cycling, or even a bike lane, to being in the same lanes as vehicular traffic.

We don't have any. But Iowa's just a bit over 1 mile long and about 1/3 of a mile wide. And then a county road with lots of little rises so hard to see vehicles in front of behind and only an 18" shoulder. Or a highway with a 3--4' shoulder. I just make sure to be lit up like a Christmas tree day or night when I bike the 9 miles to the next bigger town of Algona. Them tractor trailers going by at 60mph 2 feet from you will blow you into the ditch if your not paying attention.

MattiThundrrr said:

I definitely have a different perspective to that. Regardless of normalized bicycle use, cars still outweigh us by a ton or more. My thinking is that dedicated bicycle lanes give us a space where cars aren't supposed to be, theoretically reducing the possibility of interactions between cars and cyclists. I vastly prefer a separate path for cycling, or even a bike lane, to being in the same lanes as vehicular traffic.

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I agree with you, if someone, for whatever reason is afraid to ride a bicycle on public roads they should stay off them, same goes for those afraid to ride a motorcycle or automobile in traffic, if you are afraid then you make mistakes and get hurt. But again, all adding bicycle lanes to public highways does is undermine the years of work cyclists put in to gain the same rights to public roads as motor vehicle drivers have.

My neck of the woods is...pretty mixed.

Highway 70, 24 and the connecting roads claim to have Bike Lanes...but they don't. The sides of the road extend anywhere from 15" all the way down to, say, 5"...and yet NC DOT insists that most of those roads 'have Bike Lanes'-even though NC State Law demands a minimum of 18" and proper markings. When I pointed out this discrepancy to DOT, the response was pretty much 'SSSSSsssssshhhhhhh!!!!' Needless to say I was not impressed with that 'logic' but it does explain why Law Enforcement hasn't been giving out any tickets to cyclists/moped users, doesn't it? It would only take one Court Case...

Now certain parts of Morehead have very wide sidewalks/Multi-use paths and cyclists are encouraged to use those rather than the road (whereas Moped/scooter users still must use the road) This seems to be a local ordinance as nearby Beaufort has equally nice sidewalks but insists cyclists use the roads...

Once you get across the bridge to Emerald Isle/Indian Isle? Extra-wide margins on the roads (20"-24" though still not marked) and large MUPs for foot and cycle traffic. You might need to use your car to transport your bike across the bridge, but then you can ride nearly everywhere. And since many of the (wealthy) residents go everywhere on Street-legal Golf Carts, a lot of Island Courtesy is baked in for the lower-speed crowds.

Now having dissed Hwy 24 and 70 etc I will say that for the nearly two weeks I had to rely on Easy Rider while my truck was in the shop, I experienced no terribly close calls or excessive rudeness as I commuted to the Post Office, Grocery Stores etc.-but then again, the Sun Trike recumbent is more visible than most two-wheelers (particularly with the bobbing orange flag and blinking lights) and that most likely helped a LOT. Both major highways have at least one or more accidents daily-and while 90% of those involve car on car...let's just say we have a Ghost Bike or two down both roads and leave it at that.

In effect-the local policies here are an incredibly inconsistent row of dominoes waiting for a push. It is highly doubtful that any of the major roads will be widened for Cycle paths no matter how badly DOT gets its nose rubbed in the actual Laws however-because then NC will have to pull out the Eminent Domain stick against hundreds of wealthy land owners...sigh.

In short-cycling infrastructure varies from local township to local township-and the Yearly Bicycle Rides? Always on the Island...

Better than nothing I guess.