HAVE YOU EXPERIENCED CONFLICT?
In our January issue of The Pedal Post (eNewsletter), Bike Fort Collins posed the question: “Have you experienced conflict, or right-of-way confusion at the intersection of Prospect Rd. and Welch St. while riding your bike?”
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:
- “Motorists never pay attention to kids, bikers or people crossing. Even during school start and dismissal. They speed to avoid the light. No one undestands the blinking light system.”
- “Cars move really fast. It’s rarely safe to turn left. Even with the crossing light, it doesn’t feel safe to walk across the highway at the light“
- “Walking across around or near this intersection, traffic turning onto Welch was going too fast and almost hit myself and my friend. Riding southbound several times, having to cross Welch to get the signal was awkward and exposed us to almost getting hit by traffic turning off Prospect.“
- “I had to wait a very long time to wait to cross safely.”
- “The crosswalk will indicate that you can go (walking man) but the street light for cars will blink yellow. So cars will go and then you can’t cross. I’ve tried to cross on bike when the crosswalk says I can go and the cars did not stop.”
- “Cars not stopping even though the crosswalk has been activated and the lights are red”
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:
- “Better enforcement and actual penalties for people running the signal.”
- “ I think more prominent lines on the street to identify crossing, have cars stop further from the light, also need a red light for the cars on Welch so they aren’t turning into the ped/bikes crossing.”
- “Better alignment between what the crosswalk light is indicating and what the traffic light is indicating.”
- “Real lights with a left filters on prospect for both directions. Bike activated signals on welch for crossing straight over prospect to get to the Pitkin bike route.”
- “Green boxes! Better visibility.”
- “Long-term, narrowing Prospect to 3 lanes with buffered bike lanes would help calm the whole environment and reduce traffic congestion of all kinds. Short-term, the intersection needs to allow people walking or biking across Prospect to travel on the right-hand side of traffic depending on their direction of travel. I think that means a full traffic signal rather than the ped-only signal only on the east side. Also, Welch south of Prospect needs its lanes narrowed – they are currently interstate-width lanes and so drivers head through the Spring Creek Trail crossing way too fast and I’ve had a few near misses there while on the trail.”
Again, thank you to all who responded—and for sharing their experiences. Stay tuned for additional surveys inquiring about other intersections and bicycle facilities.