medic75

I give them credit for trying, but my question is "where?"

AlmostTrick

I see some faint lines on the sidewalk with the post and garbage can within it. Maybe that's it.

Darth Lefty 

I have my suspicions

BobbyG

https://www.google.com/maps/place/62...!4d-78.6485163

The google street view is from 2018 and shows no possible lines on the street or the sidewalk...so it's still confusing.

Notso_fastLane

Often signs like that are for drivers to be aware, and it's a shared lane. In most areas these days, they will often add 'sharrows' as well as signs that say "Bike may use full lane". That's what we have here, especially around the military base where traffic gets bad and there's a lot of people that commute by bike to the base.

pdlamb

I expect a bike lane will have something to delineate it from the rest of the street or sidewalk. Sharrows or BMUFL signs are for streets without a bike lane (that someone thinks need to be marked). There's a new street in my fair city with a bike lane sign. I think they intend for cyclists to ride on the sidewalk, but every time I look it seems like I'd ride up the handicap ramp into a small tree, so I just ride on the street. If the nag of a cop ever stops me, I'll explain that I've been riding that street since before they put up the sign, I'm just waiting on the paint truck to add the stripe.

Kedosto

Geniuses! They removed the trees and put up the sign.

-Kedosto

noglider 

That's a cute town in any case.

Lidatation

Lol. It happened all the time. Also, traffic lights in many intersections don't trigger for cyclista so if there are no cars around u have to go to the sidewalk and press the cross street button like a pedestrian

Kedosto

Or you could just ride right through like the rest of us.


-Kedosto

medic75

That is exactly the case here. There is a sign back further that says "BICYCLES MAY USE FULL LANE". I would expect that throughout. I feel the "BIKE LANE" signs just creates confusion, causing drivers to expect there to be a dedicated bike lane so bikes will not be in the street. In addition to that, there is an unenforced ordinance that restricts bicycles from being ridden on the sidewalk.
These signs were part of a grant funded project to rehab the downtown sidewalks. Back in 2018 I suggested adding some bike racks to the downtown because there is nowhere to secure your bike. I was told they were looking into the rehab being bike friendly, but were getting resistance from some business owners. I also suggested that they work with the LBS when it came time to design it. I was told that the grant administrators have already done all of the work at the state level. This is what we ended up with - one bike rack & some confusing signs. Once again, I view it as a step forward, regardless of how small that step may be.

The trees were a non-native species and were infected with some disease. New native trees have been planted.

madpogue 

^^^^^ +1; BMUFL is much more meaningful; "Bike Lane" implies a separate lane, which is obviously not there. Even a simple phrase like "Shared Lane" would be more useful.

There've been similar initiatives here, often met with resistance by local business owners. That resistance goes away when their business INCREASES with the increased accessibility. Unfortunately, the cycle repeats itself. That is, businesses in one business district don't learn from those in other business districts, that they actually benefitted from the reset/rehab. (Shrug) You know when the businesses finally "get it" when they're the ones asking for more bike parking.

subgrade

We have some shared lanes here, marked with sharrows, but it does not actually mean that bikes may use full lane. According to our traffic laws, the sharrows are there only to warn drivers of the possibility of cyclists using the lane, but do not impose any special obligations or rights to either drivers or cyclists. Hence they are largely useless at best (I would think there is a greater possibility of a driver noticing a cyclist than a marking on a pavement) and confusing at worst (many cyclists mistake those sharrows to indicate bike lanes and don't ride with appropriate caution).

Notso_fastLane

In almost every municipality in the US, bikes are entitled to the full lane, as they are considered vehicles. The sharrows and signs are just there to remind drivers of that. Your area may be an exception, but I'd check your local statutes before making a blanket statement like that.

madpogue 

Um, the poster is not referring to the US.....

And the full-lane law does not apply in most jurisdictions here, either. The language in most states refers to operating "as far to the right as is practicable". The good thing is, "practicable" is in the eye of the operator. If it's only safe, as would be the case on the street referenced in this thread, to use the full lane, then indeed you'd have full lane usage. Because of the parked cars and the width of the traffic lane, it would not be "practicable" for someone operating a bicycle to right far enough to the right to allow a car driver to pass in the same lane.

One law that applies in most jurisdictions here is that if there are two or more lanes in the direction you're going, you're entitled to the full lane, as cars have the option of using the other lane to pass.

TiHabanero

In the city I live near the bike lane signs have been up for at least 20 years, and it was only 5 years ago that the bike lanes were actually painted out. Some things just take time. Government is a very oversized ship and turns don't come easy.

subgrade

What I meant was that bikes aren't normally entitled to the full lane here in Latvia; I wasn't implying that it is the same evereywhere. Just like madpogue said, local traffic laws state that cyclists must ride in single file as far to the right as is practicable.