Authored by: babalu on Monday, August 30 2010 @ 08:32 PM GMT+5

My first thought was that someone is going to get killed.
The bike path shouldn't be a path that a car needs to cross into and over before turning right.
I didn't understand why it wasn't left to the extreme right for the entire distance (and bikes have to stop for the lights, too) but that also creates a situation where the bike is forced into the right turning lane, even if they want to go straight.

Authored by: pjmelton on Tuesday, August 31 2010 @ 04:34 AM GMT+5

It is done this way so cyclists can go straight while cars turn right. It's very dangerous to be in the shoulder, pedaling your little heart out to make the green light, and then suddenly be cut off by a car turning right in front of you. Drivers do not normally check down the shoulder for traffic before turning right (I do, but that's only because I also cycle a lot).

The thing that bugs me about these lanes is the same thing that bugs me about the lanes on Western Ave. Whenever it wasn't convenient to have a bike lane anymore - because they needed more lanes for traffic - there go the bike lanes! You know where we actually need help on Putney Rd.? The stretch between the bridge (where the West River hits the Connecticut) and the pet store. We need a bike lane there because the road is NARROW. The shoulder drops off into a canyon, and it is really scary to pedal on the edge of the precipice. You don't need bike lanes in places where the road is already quite wide enough to accommodate bikes!!!

I do like the design of keeping bikes to the left of the right-turn lane, though. It will help cyclists at those particular lights, and it will teach drivers who do not cycle much to watch the right shoulder before turning right.

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"The whole shadow of Man is only as big as his hat. " -- Elizabeth Bishop

Authored by: babalu on Tuesday, August 31 2010 @ 06:07 AM GMT+5

I gave up bike riding once I moved to Brattleboro, not just because some of the roads are so narrow, but because I found too many drivers who acted aggressively on refusing to yield for even an inch!

I hope the path is an improvement; but I also think it would help a great deal if they painted the sides of the bike path a nice bright color. As it stands now, noticing that it's a bike path and not a mistake in painting the lines delineating traffic lanes takes a moment to figure out.

By the way, can you tell us if being able to have the road on a bike has improved much since the new law?

Authored by: FreetheFood on Tuesday, August 31 2010 @ 01:43 AM GMT+5

I got hit by a subaru from New York while riding a bike through the roundabout. I was on my way to walker's to pick up veggies for the common ground's dinner. It was an amazing year for tomatoes, lots of fresh salsa.
That road is dangerous and to avoided by bicycle, yet its the only way north out of town.
Bike lanes usually subtract from the space cars are given. Has Putney Road been widened?
Even if it has not, a bike lane is better than none, it atleast helps drivers be aware of cyclists.
The right turn lane makes sense. Ideally cyclists would have a curb protected lane and be protected by the laws. A recent VPR report highlighted that cyclists are not.
Drive Safe,
-rich

Authored by: Genie on Tuesday, August 31 2010 @ 04:39 AM GMT+5

Yes, I noticed this new bicycle lane on Putney Road. A former distance cyclist, I gave up cycling recently due to the danger of competing with inattentive drivers. The best that can be done with the North Brattleboro bicycle lane would be to outline it in florescent lime/yellow paint so that it stands out as a bicycle lane. Right now it could be viewed as a breakdown lane or a passing lane by motorists with no cycling perspective on the roadways.

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Wonders Never Cease.

Authored by: Lise on Tuesday, August 31 2010 @ 10:26 AM GMT+5

My feeling about the new 'safer' bike lanes on Putney Road is that they're an accident waiting to happen. I think cyclists know to look out for turning cars and putting them out in the middle of traffic with a wide shoulder to their right just seems dumb. I don't like anything about the lane markings on Putney Road right now, right out to and including the roundabout.

There, I've said it. ;)

Authored by: JSteele on Tuesday, August 31 2010 @ 10:30 AM GMT+5

Check out this website from one of the most "bike Friendly" cities in America:

http://bikeportland.org/

My partner and I were so excited the first time we drove down Putney Road and noticed the bike lanes. A smart move for Brattleboro.

If Portland can pull it off so can we.

Authored by: KM on Tuesday, August 31 2010 @ 11:48 AM GMT+5

The bike lane is exactly where it's suppose to be. In traffic design, the most important thing is to use consistency EVERYWHERE. The problem here is that most of these locations never warranted having right turn lanes. If the right turn lanes were 50-100' long, these bike lanes would look like they do in some of the busiest intersections in NE. Cambridge MA uses them everywhere they have bike lanes. In this case, the Town could get free bituminous from a developer for right turn lanes that extend "forever", so they were going to get free bituminous. It's funny how the Town can make these developers put in a huge amount of worthless and dangerous excess bituminous, but when they insist upon sidewalks (up near McDs), they let them stop 5' short of an existing sidewalk??????????? Getting back on track, I see this as VTrans trying to clean up a very bad situation and doing a decent job getting it done.

Authored by: Merriam on Tuesday, August 31 2010 @ 03:28 PM GMT+5

It looks like the Putney Road bike lane is permanent and where you see it now is where it will stay. The Federal Highway Administration sets the rules and they want consistency from state to state. They also don’t want a bike lane to be on the outside of a right turn lane so as to avoid conflicts with turning vehicles. Not to say that there can’t be conflicts elsewhere. As far as striping on a bike lane which is on a State or Federal roadway, white is the only color allowed. Bright green might be helpful but they haven’t come to that yet. Pavement marking colors are explained here. http://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/PavMkgs/Tutorial/colors.htm

Authored by: cgrotke on Tuesday, August 31 2010 @ 03:33 PM GMT+5

I think one of the reasons this seems dangerous is because
we Brattleboro drivers always break the law and use the
shoulder to go around cars waiting to turn across a lane of
traffic.

I think some of the worry is just that it is something new.
I'd like to think we could learn to drive and think about
bikes to the right of us, and perhaps having better lanes
for them will increase the number of bike riders, making it
even more obvious.

It really is necessary, though, to have lanes that actually
go the complete route. This is a start, but as Paula
mentions above, they need to connect to downtown to be
really useful. Imagine if roads just trailed off like these
bike lanes do...

Authored by: babalu on Tuesday, August 31 2010 @ 04:25 PM GMT+5

In practice, once everything is done, it might make more sense than in does now; all I know is I had to "stop and think" - which as we all know isn't possible when sailing down a roadway at 30-40 MPH. But, if I had come upon the bike path, and actually spotted a bicyclist, it might not have caused that uneasy couple of seconds of having to reorient to quickly coordinate my eyes to my brain and the gas pedal and steering wheel.

Authored by: cgrotke on Friday, September 03 2010 @ 09:10 AM GMT+5

I was looking more closely today and realized that the way
the bike lanes are drawn, it is illegal for cars to turn into
quite a few businesses.

Solid white lines mean "do not cross" and dotted lines
mean "ok to cross."

Take a look as you drive and you'll see that, technically,
you aren't allowed to enter AutoMall, First Run, TDBank
and so on.

(I also saw someone riding a bike in the breakdown lane
to the right of the new bike lanes, which isn't something I
anticipated. Probably felt safer further from cars.)

Authored by: KM on Friday, September 03 2010 @ 12:33 PM GMT+5

Pavement markings (whether solid white travel lane edge lines or double yellow center lines, don't break other than for intersections (or major driveways - say the Hannaford's signalized driveway). We regularly drive over these lines to get in places (say ones own driveway) and just don't notice. The "don't cross over the line if it's solid" relates more to when travel along with the lines.

Authored by: cgrotke on Friday, September 03 2010 @ 02:30 PM GMT+5

Ahh...okay.

Then the dotted lines are the confusing ones. Why have
them if we are allowed to cross over anywhere?

I'd like the bike lanes to work. There's something not
quite right, though. Not yet at least.

I did see that the center line at Staples has been
readjusted, so that northbound cars are no longer directed
into southbound ones. Much better.