HAVE YOU EXPERIENCED CONFLICT?
In our February issue of The Pedal Post (eNewsletter), Bike Fort Collins posed the question: “Have you experienced conflict felt unsafe while traveling in the east bound bike lane on Mulberry St, particularly during the winter months?”
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:
- “Close proximity to cars! Not being adequately seen or protected, especially scary when I’m riding with my 2 year old daughter”
- “ Ice and snow in bike lane forced me out father towards the road, including onto it. Honked at and yelled at by drivers.“
- “Lots of ice and debris in the bike lane forced me into a car lane. This also is an issue east of Taft Hill Road until you get to Bryan Ave. It’s really unsafe and is a big deterrent for commuters.“
- “Snow and ice in the bike lane making it extremely treacherous.”
- “I don’t bike up there in the winter. It’s too dangerous to bike when I know the bike lanes will be full of ice and debris.”
- “This bike lane is completely unrideable after any serious snow melt has occurred. Plow trucks seem to just make it worse by covering it in more snow. So you can either ride in the street to go around and risk getting hit, or try to hang on for dear life riding on the ice. This has happened to me one couple of occasions so I just break off down another street.”
- “There is usually a giant block of ice that covers the entire bike lane so you have to merge with traffic. This block of ice will last for days or weeks after the snow fall. I’ve had to change my bike route to avoid Mulberry, it’s just too dangerous with all the ice on the south side of the road between ponderosa and city park.”
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:
- “I just want bike lanes throughout the city to be treated with equal levels of care and priority as car lanes. It’s frustrating seeing a bike lane that is impassible next to a pristinely cared for car lane.”
- “By prioritizing a thorough cleaning of this area after a snowstorm, windstorm, etc”
- “Plow it.”
- “Don’t push snow into lane”
- “Hard problem. Snow plows push majority of snow into bike lane and smaller equipment has to try to clean it out left of the barriers. Big challenge though to do that. Perhaps city plows can push majority of snow to north side which melts faster on this stretch and crews can manage cleaning the way side easier.”
- “Dedicated Bike lane for whole stretch, not bike gutter, and plowing bike lane with same priority as roadways”
Again, thank you to all who responded—and for sharing their experiences. Stay tuned for additional surveys inquiring about other intersections and bicycle facilities.