In earlier posts, I have lamented "bike lanes to nowhere." They start or end without warning or don't provide safe or convenient routes to any place a cyclist--whether he or she is pedaling for transportation, recreation or training--might actually want or need to go. Such lanes, I have argued, will do nothing to encourage people to trade four wheels and one pedal for two wheels and two pedals, even for short trips.
The worst such "lanes to nowhere" are not mere inconveniences; they are veritable deathtraps. Such ribbons of illusory safety end by merging into traffic. The most perilous paths of all lead cyclists onto multiple lanes of cars, SUVs, trucks and other motorized vehicles traveling at high speed. In the most dire of scenarios, there is no way for cyclists to avoid such a merge and no other way to anywhere else but the road onto which the path merges.
Although I have never seen it, I feel confident that my description fits the Longview Lake loop in Kansas City. Longtime cyclist Athol Barnes' delight at the Loop's construction was muted because he noticed exactly the flaw I've described. As cyclists approach the intersection of SW Longview Road from the north, along View High Drive, the bike lane runs out past the intersection of East 109th Street, forcing cyclists to merge onto the road with drivers.
Charles Criniere (in cap) with his wife Megan and nine of his ten children.
He became especially worried about that merge after he encouraged his friend, Charles Criniere to start riding. The middle-school teacher and father of 10 started by accompanying Barnes on early-morning rides during which they talked about the things that mattered to them: family, faith, youth and eighth-grade math students.
Criniere quickly gained cycling savvy, but Barnes' worst fears came true the Saturday before last. Around 6:15 am, police were called to the intersection I mentioned earlier in this post. A vehicle, which police believe to be a white Acura MDX, fled the scene.
Criniere was declared dead. Police are looking for the driver.
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| In this photo, the photographer, Jeremy Van Deventer rides past a memorial for Charles Criniere. |
Although he is glad the city is creating more bike lanes, Barnes also knows--and this incident confirms--what I've long known: All else being equal, cyclists are safer on the road, and the real hazards are drivers, who aren't cognizant of, or are hostile to, cyclists and are driving bigger vehicles faster and distractedly.
In Bergen County, many drivers try to give a wide berth to me while on my morning commute or errands; however, I have noticed an increase in drivers that do not. I have also noticed an increase in distracted drivers both while riding my bicycle and while driving. They are either blatantly holding and looking at their phone, or they are looking down, eyes off the road, presumably reading their phones.
ReplyDeleteIt is so unfortunate that better planning was not utilized in the case of this rider. It is also unfortante that there is not education for drivers promoting the benefits to cycling to them. A cyclist on the road means less use of petrol, which decreases your cost at the pump. Five to ten bicycles would take up a single parking space of a car, so more parking is available to you. Cyclists on the road can actually decrease car traffic for the same reason.