06-12-2017, 12:44 PM
(This post was last modified: 06-12-2017, 12:45 PM by danbrotherston.)
(06-12-2017, 11:52 AM)MidTowner Wrote: Markster, thanks for the clear description about how the "bike lane" (or whatever it is) gets squished. Based on that, I surmise that it's probably not a very good place to ride, but I guess everyone will figure that out for him or herself after riding it for the first time. That's really the case with real bike lanes around, anyway, when someone realizes what the specific conditions are like.
Danbrotherston, I probably should have phrased my question differently. What are "edge lines" exactly? Who is supposed to be using the space outside of them? Cyclists? Someone else? Nobody?
Apparently three people commented while I was editing my comment. Woops lol.
Yes, Markster's description is helpful, although regional staff have said that they would not paint an edge line under such circumstances....for this reason specifically....but it seems that message hasn't been dispersed so widely yet.
As to the question, it has many answers ranging from nobody to everybody.....*sigh*....it's extra pavement to make the road wider, but then we realized that wider is actually bad in some ways (like safety) so we put paint down to make it appear narrower to try and slow down drivers.
Frankly, if people want to scream about government waste, how about paving a 5 meter wide lane than trying to make it appear narrower by putting down paint.
In practice the cities have concerns about fitting a plow down a 3.5 meter wide lane with curbs on both sides, so minimum widths are set. I mean, I'd argue we should keep narrower, cheaper, less wasteful, less dangerous lanes and simply buy smaller plows, but apparently not. C'est la vie.