In our March 2024 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 Mason Street & West Myrtle 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:
- “Riding south on Mason and cars illegally turning left.”
- “Tough access to Avogadros on west side of tracks.”
- “I approach this intersection with caution, fearing a driver’s running the stop sign across Mason.”
- “Just hard to navigate with tracks and 4 way traffic.”
- “Passenger vehicle parked in bike lane next to parked cars.”
- “Motorists are dealing with trains and MAX buses here. They’re not paying particular attention to bicyclists or pedestrians. I’ve also seen a MAX bus honk at a bicyclist through this zone, basically shooing them out of the bike lane in order to reach the bus stop. That’s uncomfortable and makes you feel unwanted in the area.”
- “There was construction which impeded northbound travel.”
- “On multiple occasions, cars traveling east or west on Myrtle have rolled through their stop signs and not seen me, leading to close calls as I travel north/south on Mason by bike.”
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:
- “No ideas right now.”
- “This intersection limits left turns because of the railroad and the City’s desire to turn-off the train horn. They don’t want left turns over the tracks which makes access to the businesses on both sides of the tracks difficult without a U-turn at Mulberry or Laurel. This might be a good place for two-stage turn boxes and better crosswalks (north/south). Remember, this will also be the route of the future West Elizabeth BRT route to interline with the MAX.”
- “Parking on both streets close to the intersection reduces visibility of cyclists. Better markings for cross walks, limiting just a few cars around the perimeter of the intersection, and green paint on bike lanes may improve our visibilty and safety.”
- “Not sure.”
- “More signage and monitoring for illegally parked vehicles.”
- “Removing some of the parking along Mason would improve visibility. Bulbouts would be nice as well. I use the train tracks as a safety island, which the train folks probably wouldn’t like to hear.”
- “It is fine.”
- “Better daylighting the intersection or installing bulb outs to try and get drivers to actually stop at the stop signs.”
Again, thank you to all who responded—and for sharing their experiences. Stay tuned for additional surveys inquiring about other intersections and bicycle facilities.