Rick

Joshua Tree recently had some money to burn and put down the green paint with all the trimmings. The center of it at Park and Twenty Nine Palms Highway. I do know how to put up the satellite picture so I will describe the problem. I was traveling east on the highway and entered the bicycle lane. The motorists needing to make a right turn onto Park sometimes pull past the marked turn lane and turn right at the stop line across the bike lane. This morning the city bus was stopped in the bike lane. the bus stop is east on the other side of park on the highway. The bus was also blocking the right turn lane entrance. When the lite turned green the bus continued in the bike lane and a car at the stop line started out toward the right and stopped when they noticed the large object they were about to hit. I had already decided the lane was better than the blocked bike lane. It was easy to avoid the bus and illegal right turning car there. I will no longer use this poorly designed bicycle lane. I believe running the bicycle lane all the way up to the stop line is inviting right hooks at the intersection.

genec

Sounds like the issue isn't the bike lane design, but drivers that don't adhere to the suggestions offered by the paint...

You specifically mentioned drivers "pulling past the marked turn lane, and a bus stopping in the bike lane, and a driver nearly hitting a bus..." the latter, an object vastly larger than a cyclist.

I think the problem was the "tuned out" driver, not the bike lane.

Good thing you were an astute cyclist who could assess the situation of the errant motorist... b u t, blaming the bike lane doesn't seem to fit here.

BobbyG

@Rick This the intersection? And are these the current lane markings?

https://www.google.com/maps/place/No...4d-116.3155939

BobbyG

@Rick
Here's the street view looking east:
https://www.google.com/maps/@34.1348...7i13312!8i6656

That is a poor design. There is no signage, and driving at street level the turn lane "cross-over" is too short in my opinion.

A couple of years ago the City of Colorado Springs replaced the curb-hugging bike lanes by my office with similar "inboard" bike lanes with an outer turn lane.

This requires a bike lane/turn lane "cross-over".

These "cross-overs" are meant to reduce "right-hooks" by turning cars at intersections, but I find maneuvering through the "cross-over" more difficult, since it occurs prior to the intersection, where even if there were a red light, cars are still traveling at speed. With the older-style curb-hugging bike lane, car/bike interactions seem to take place at lower speeds, especially when the lights are red.

But in my case, there are curb-side signs that read "begin right turn lane, yield to bikes". Even so, I check my glasses mounted mirror, and if I see a car behind me I signal a left hand turn, which usually slows them down, or at least hopefully gets their attention.

Here is my situation:
https://www.google.com/maps/@38.7938...7i13312!8i6656

And here is me riding that intersection (:05 seconds in).

In your case, there is no real curb, and no signage.

I agree with you, yours is a bad design.

Lemond1985

Sounds like you did the best you could. Sometimes, through no fault of your own, you get caught between a bus breaking the law and a car breaking the law (or caught between the moon and New York City, but I digress). You just have to improvise. Sounds like you got through it OK. A real life Mentos Moment, in the parlance of the day.

FWIW, I despise bike lanes, almost completely ignore them, and just ride where it's safest, which is hardly ever where the drooling bureaucrat who "designed" the bike lane would like me to be. Common sense should always take precedence over painted lines, I look at them more as "suggestions for people on bikes who don't know any better". I'm not about to become a greasy spot in the road because I expected magical green road markings to save me.

Rick

Yes this is the intersection BobbyG I have seen cars not use the right turn lane and head across the bike lane at the stop line to make there right turn several times. The bus waiting at the light in the bike lane was ignorant. I believe they could have done a better job of making it clear what everybody is supposed to do at this intersection. As suggested this is happening in a very short distance from the light. I do not believe the people driving the cars understand what is the proper way to negotiate the right turn. I avoid situations that put me to the right of right turning motor vehicles. At this intersection I am always traveling east in the morning. From now on I will pedal through it in the right most travel lane to the left of the green and reenter the bike lane after I cross Park.

JoeyBike

That curvy white line at right is confusing. Why the big arc approaching the bike lane? The bike lane is dashed right where the "no parking island" of white paint pinches against it. Especially if a large vehicle or bus wants to turn right. Just eliminate that arc, make a straight line to the corner curb, and it makes more sense to me. The bike lane is NOT DASHED nearest the intersection to give cyclists a safe little strip of pavement to live on while waiting for a green light.

genec

Ah yes, "common sense" and the typical distracted motorist... yup, works every time.

And yet the response of most "common sense" motorists, toward cyclists using the road... "Get off the road!"

Notso_fastLane

That's a fairly typical design that works well 99% of the time for letting cars turn right and bikes go through the intersection. Lots of cities have similar arrangements.

I would call or email the bus company and let them know what happened. They can probably figure out which bus/driver from the location and time/date.

https://mbtabus.com/ <-- is this the bus company? There's a phone and email at the bottom of the page.

Rollfast

I always thought a curvy white line meant the guy painting the road was intoxicated, and I've been around nearly 53 years...

bakerjw

I signal but I also vigorously point at the road where I'm going to be easing in to prior to slowly pulling onto the lane. People tend to notice motion more so than just a signal.