I happened to be in the same place again yesterday, this time with camera. I'll let you be the judge. (Click on the photo if you'd like to see it big.)
The striping was almost surely laid out by well-paid traffic engineers. How do they envision a cyclist safely negotiating this intersection, if the cyclist intends to continue north, rather than bearing right (onto Interstate 84)? The stripe actually goes around the corner and continues down the freeway entrance ramp. Odd indeed.
Just north of the intersection, the road overpasses the freeway; the bike lane continues, but one lane to the left. Frankly, I'm guessing they probably included width for a bike lane in the design specs, but never gave the actual use by cyclists much thought. They're totally focused on the (motor vehicle) traffic jam.
(Cyclists are allowed to ride on interstate highways in Idaho, but just because it's legal doesn't mean it's advisable... at least on the stretch between Meridian and Boise.)
3 comments:
Surely these "experts" use computer programs in the design of these things. Surely those programs contain subprograms that predict the flow of traffic. Do they include bicycle traffic? If they do, are those predictions simply ignored?
On the way to Lucky Peak there is a sign for the Wildlife Management Area(WMA) that read "?" and has an arrow pointing to an gate. The question mark sign is pointing to an access point and maintenance shop. The engineer probably didn't know what to write, put a question mark on the plans and overlooked when it went to printing.
The problem in both situations is the experts don't take the time to go out in the field and and look at the common sense approach to each situation.
I hate crossing the freeway at Meridian. I attended a Parks and Rec commission meeting a week ago to hear about the the Meridian split corridor details and they have decided to exclude bicycle lanes in the project because they intend to move as many cars as possible. Why not move PEOPLE? not just cars.
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