In our November 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 E. Prospect Road and S. Timberline Road?”
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:
- “Cars heading East on Prospect and turning South onto Timberline do one of two things: they either forget that they have their own merge lane and they stop right in the pedestrian crossing lane, or they remember that they have their own lane so they drive too fast and do not look for people crossing on foot or by bike.”
- “Traveling South on Timberline, right turn lanes off Prospect had zebra stripes, but cars do NOT stop for bikes nor pedestrians.”
- “Not generally unsafe. I normally travel South on Timberline. The slip-lane from Prospect can sometimes cause conflict. Generally cars yield as I am moving with traffic from the green light, but sometimes do not see me or will stop in the bike lane.”
- “A wide intersection combined with a turn lane that has its own median result in drivers that “roll” through the turn, not always seeing cyclists as they ride across the street.”
- “Cars routinely keep turning West onto Prospect from northbound Timberline, after the green arrow has turned red. I come off the Spring Creek bike path, ride the sidewalk eastward on Prospect, then must head North to work at Bath Nursery. I really have to watch cars “running” that light before leaving the sidewalk.”
- “It’s a huge intersection and no one is watching for peds or bicyclists.”
- “Traveling South on Timberline (bike commuting) through the intersection with a green light, several times people turning right on Timberline from Prospect didn’t see me – they were only looking for cars.”
- “The 2 bike underpass are great…especially as that is typically the way I am going. EX. OCR.”
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:
- “1) Street lights! The north and east corners are well lit, but northbound timberline turning west onto prospect has poor visibility, as does eastbound on prospect turning south onto timberline. 2) visibility paint in the pedestrian crosswalk, and higher visibility paint marking the merge lane. 3) statewide, making it clear that changing lanes in an intersection is illegal. This is actually a national problem. The law is very state-by-state, and most states, the law is not even clear. Part of the problem is that the lane division lines are implied in the middle of the intersection, they are not actually marked. This is an embarrassing problem for a developed nation, and it highlights how our emphasis is on enforcement of old laws instead of proactively fixing things.”
- “Light button should be at curb, not island. at least flash the lanes.”
- “Biking on both Timberline and Propect are MISERABLE. Fast traffic, non-existant protections on Prospect, and high car volumes make these roads terrible for bikes. However, the sidewalks on the side of Timberline are wide, and I will often ride on these instead of the road. Plus they have nice connections to the spring creek path. If these could be widened and improved to be more like multi-use paths for walking and cycling, that would be great.”
- “Raised crosswalks in the turning lanes and/or green painted lanes showing where bikes might be merging.”
- “Perhaps add a painted crossing for bikes. It’s an already wide intersection, made for cars, not bikes. Reducing the mph for cars would maybe help.\.”
- “Pedestrians should get to cross before the car traffic gets their green. There’s a bike trail near here, isn’t there? But how easy is it to reach from this intersection?”
- “There’s too much traffic – need a viable alternative for getting through the intersection on bike.”
Again, thank you to all who responded—and for sharing their experiences. Stay tuned for additional surveys inquiring about other intersections and bicycle facilities.