09-03-2018, 03:35 PM
(09-02-2018, 11:43 PM)Pheidippides Wrote:(09-02-2018, 05:24 PM)Canard Wrote: What are the “problems” that they are recreating?
The pedestrian island that is too small to accommodate the volume, and types, of users. (…)
Just this weekend I saw a cargo bike unable to fit on the current island, and I regularly see the crossing full with people trying to cross. Back when I was pulling my bike trailer I would avoid this crossing because it was too dangerous. Frequently a motorist would stop for me on one side and then get angry that I wouldn't venture across to the island because I would not fit.
A bicycle with a trailer can be close to 3m long. Including some safety margin, that would require an island that's probable 3.5-4m wide. NACTO recommends 8-10' (2.4-3m wide), still quite narrow for a trailer-equipped bike.
I expect that the islands are not designed for bikes with trailers but, rather, pedestrians and trailer-less bicycles. Whether they should be designed for trailers is a valid point of discussion, but the reality is that trailers are used by a very small minority of bicycle users. (Outside North America, trailers are quite rare, people generally use child seats instead.) And designing for 100% of potential users is always more expensive than designing for 95%.