In our April issue of The Pedal Post (eNewsletter), Bike Fort Collins posed the question: “Have you experienced conflict or felt unsafe while traveling through the intersection of South Shields Street and West Laurel Street?”
Thank you to those who responded. Below is a recap of the results.
WHAT HAPPENED?
In addition, for those who reported conflict, we asked them to describe their experience. Here is a sampling of the responses we received:
- “It feels like there is not enough space for bikes and cars are very aggressive here. I go out of my way to avoid biking there, even though it would be my most direct way to/from work.”
- “There’s no bike lane to go left, you’re forced into the street for just a little ways. It’s really crowded and people drive crazy on this stretch of shields by campus.”
- “Cars in bike lane, cars turning right without looking, speeding cars changing lanes rapidly/weaving in and out and over bike lane.”
- “The driveway from the Office of Inclusive Excellence empties right into the intersection. 2) No bike lanes north of the intersection 3) Westbound left southbound are hard to do legally because of vehicular cues.”
- “Shields it’s really busy and there is no bike lane north of Laurel. Lots of cars turning from all directions.”
- “Bike lane ends. Cars unsure about your move to the sidewalk in shields.”
- “People turning right from Laurel onto Shields are focused on the traffic to their left, not on the pedestrians on their right. And turning left from Laurel onto Shields is doable, but not particularly comfortable.”
- “When you ride onto Shields there is no bike lane & so you ride as a car which confuses & annoys some drivers.”
HOW CAN IT BE IMPROVED?
Finally, we asked respondents how they thought the intersection/facility could be improved. Here is a sampling of the responses we received:
- “A more visual bike lane would help. Lots of green paint?”
- “A bike lane on Laurel in the turn lane; a obvious curb cut in line with transitioning from the road on Laurel to the sidewalk/bike lane weird infrastructure thing; a prioritized signal for bikes to go first and get out of the way in the bike lane on shields would be great.”
- “A blocked off bike lane, more traffic control, widening of bike lanes.”
- “Protected intersection.”
- “An early bikes and pedestrian only light.”
- “A bike box could help. I would say “no right on red,” but we see how well that works at College and Mountain.”
- “A safe place for bikes to ride or signage that tells cars that bikes are in same lane.”
- “Bike lane.”
Again, thank you to all who responded—and for sharing their experiences. Stay tuned for additional surveys inquiring about other intersections and bicycle facilities.