HAVE YOU EXPERIENCED CONFLICT?
In our November 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 Washington Ave and Oak 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:
- Where do you stop? It’s such a wide intersection.
- Stop sign on N corner of Washington is set too far back and vehicles don’t follow 4 way stop rules
- Cars never stop for pedestrians or bicycles (I’m usually on foot, occassionaly on my bike
- “illegal curtesy”; sometimes: priority not respected.
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:Marked Bike lane and crosswalk. Lots of kids walk this street to get to the elementary school down the road.
- Build up a small triangle at the NW corner of Washington to bring it closer to the intersection.
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hard to say this is a funky intersection but high traffic for ped’s and bicycles so appealing to that would make me use it more.
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Raised and planted triangular island. Better yet: raised and planted green space, moving the Oak Street North side lane, West of the intersection to one to the South.
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Large raised median with plantings to “fill in” the big triangle
Again, thank you to all who responded—and for sharing their experiences. Stay tuned for additional surveys inquiring about other intersections and bicycle facilities.
Back in 2017 several neighbors were in talks with City engineer Nicole Hahn about proposed improvements to this intersection. We had hoped to get a neighborhood grant to help make changes. The neighborhood grant wouldn’t have been sufficient and there are drainage issues at this intersection that also have to be taken into account. (A rain garden might work well here.)
In the end it was decided that perhaps when the street is repaved, the north stop sign could be moved down to be located at the intersection instead of several yards to the north. The street repaving should be taking place in 2021, so hopefully there will be follow through with that. The bike lanes on Oak between Washington and Shields also need to be improved so they don’t just disappear into parking on either end. Tessa has been alerted that this is an issue and says it will be dealt with when the street is repaved.
Thanks for the comment and for sharing that history, Meg. We’ll be sure to follow up with the city and see where we/they are with this.