Lincolnite

I’ll defend them, but not because of the physical placement of them, because that is debatable.  I like them just for the awareness factor.  And if drivers are too confused about them, maybe they shouldn’t be driving.  I understand the bus concerns though.

With the exception of once in the first week they were there, I haven’t seen anybody in them, and I spend quite a bit of time downtown.  Like many things, the good intentions of a project don’t override the lack of practicality of it. The intentions of a bike lane are great, but the reality is that Lincoln is not Madison, WI or Minneapolis, MN.  We don’t have the biking population that major college cities that benefit from bike lanes have.  And since students live in areas radiating in all directions from campus, it is difficult to draw up bike lanes that would be useful to all bikers.

I think the $20k was well-spent, but when it’s time they should revert the streets back to the way they were.

Really? When it’s nice out, I see many people in the bike lanes every day (usually headed away from downtown). Even in REALLY cold weather I usually see at least one person in one of the bike lanes every day. I myself would use them, if I came from that direction. I can say that a LOT of students (and teachers, and employees) at UNL do live in that direction, though, and that’s the hardest direction to bike in from.

As a driver, I’m not confused by the bike lanes- I do find it a little unnerving, and check over my shoulder several times before crossing the bike lane.

I don’t know enough about the subject to say whether the lanes are a success or not, but it’s kind of hard to judge in the middle of winter.

I would happily declare the bike lane on 14th Street a disaster/failure.  It’s plain awful and I don’t know how many times I have slalomed down that street to try to avoid straddling the lane and still get to my destination.

The lane on 11th Street, however, is pretty straight forward and easy to understand.  Every day, however, I see people driving cars right down the lane and ignoring it completely.

well i was all for it.  Then I rode down 14th and was even more frightened then before.

I believed that no lanes would be lost.  We now know that is not the case.

No probs with the 11th street ones that I have noticed.

We will never be Madison, WI or Minneapolis, MN.  but, there is no reason for our fine city to be even more bike friendly than we are currently, which is pretty good.

I will continue to use them.  And there are bunches of bikers in this town.  The lanes are a good idea and we need a bunch more of them.  I just think they should be implemented better next time.  I do not need a lane to feel safe riding in the street cuz I have no faith in drivers.  I am constantly aware of my surroundings.

When I get honked at by a driver who is fuming I just wave to them and be polite as I can.  Man that really irks.

Sadly, my prediction is still that they will be deemed a failure once we have the first serious biker/car accident or fatality. I hope to God it never happens, but it just seems, at least on 14th, like a terribly conceived plan, particularly with all the buses. Knowing the financial situation the city is in, with our luck, the fatality or serious injury will come from a bus, and subject the city to a multi-million dollar lawsuit.

Well when it comes down to it the layout is actually within the norm considering the safety of the bikers.  Turn lanes and all.  I still do not think 14th street was the best choice in how it was implemented.

Can’t you drivers concentrate on complaining about snow removal? 😉

Perhaps if the drivers are confused, they can take the time to figure out how they work. If we have drivers that insist on driving in the bike lanes, maybe we can issue fines large enough to deter people.  This debate reminds me of when the city made P street run east and west.

oh man the P street debacle.  I was working at crane river at the time.  What a nightmare.

They wanted me to wear a sticker that said “All we are saying is give P a chance”

shudder

I agree, Crane River was a nightmare.

does anyone think that it would be more helpful if the bike lanes were on the side of the road instead of in the middle like they are.  I just moved back from austin, texas and bike lanes are a huge success there-but they are on the side of the road…not in the middle in between traffic.  Any thoughts/ideas???

I may be wrong on this. Hopefully one of our resident bikers will be along to correct me.

I think the main reason the bike lanes aren’t off to the side is because of the on-street parking. If the lane is immediately behind the parked cars, somebody is liable to back into a bike. If the lane is in front of the cars (next to the curb), you’ll likely have to constantly fight cars pulling up too far.

Having the bike lane in the middle of the road increases the bikes’ visibility, and thus improves safety. (At the expense of the problems mentioned above.)

also protects bikers from turning vehicles.

Maybe the two streets that were chosen were not the best to test out bike lanes.  Although they are very useful downtown, having parked cars on both sides causes issues.  Reducing how many car lanes was a major negative as well.

I hope this test does not sour future bike lanes on more appropriate streets.  Any new bike lanes even if they are done in a much better way will have to fight the strong opinions that these have created.