{"id":368,"date":"2013-10-05T17:33:25","date_gmt":"2013-10-05T22:33:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/safetga.org\/?p=368"},"modified":"2013-12-14T15:42:28","modified_gmt":"2013-12-14T20:42:28","slug":"new-bike-lanes-on-arsenal-a-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/safetga.org\/?p=368","title":{"rendered":"New bike lanes on Arsenal: a review"},"content":{"rendered":"

See latest updates below.<\/em><\/p>\n

The new bike lanes on Arsenal<\/a> west of Grand were painted this week. \u00a0We rode and drove the stretch a few times — below are some thoughts and photos.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>

A view of the new bike lanes along Arsenal looking east. The stretch of road between Roger and Grand has been restriped to provide a 7′ parking lane, a 3′ buffer, a 5′ bike lane, and a 10′ travel lane.<\/p><\/div>
\n
\n

\"Cyclist<\/a>

Cyclist eastbound on the new bike lanes. The lane position encourages cyclists to ride well away from parked cars.<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The buffer lane provides space between cyclists and parked cars, minimizing the likelihood of riders hitting an opening car door. \u00a0The buffer space also provides pedestrians a better view of oncoming bicycle and car traffic.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Intersection<\/a>

Intersection of Arsenal and Spring, looking west. Approaching the intersection, car parking ends and the bike lane shifts right to accommodate a left turn lane. The path cyclists should follow across the intersection is clearly marked.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Intersection<\/a>

Intersection of Arsenal at Grand, facing east. \u00a0The bike lanes stop well back of the intersection, giving cyclists space to merge to any of the three turn lanes. Parking on the right has been pushed back, although note that there is an additional, empty parking spot in front of the gray van above. \u00a0Getting rid of the two parking spots past the end of the bike lane would give both cyclists and drivers more visibility and room to merge.<\/p><\/div>\n

Generally speaking, we found the path a delight to ride. \u00a0The lane placement, with a buffer strip between parked cars and the bicycle lane, gives riders plenty of room. \u00a0In particular, even timid and inexperienced riders will be naturally positioned well away from parked cars and the dangerous “door zone”, something the previous lane arrangement failed to do.<\/p>\n

The intersection at Grand is complex for a variety of reasons, including limited space and heavy car and pedestrian traffic. \u00a0We observed and rode the intersection several times at different times of day in moderate traffic, and found that car and bicycle traffic merged quite well. Eastbound, the bike lanes seem to end at an appropriate spot, and merging to any of the turn lanes was straightforward. \u00a0Our sense is the bike lanes create an expectation of cyclists on the road, and the narrowed lane arrangement moderates car speed, making it much easier for cyclists of all skill levels to negotiate this intersection. \u00a0Importantly, parking on eastbound Arsenal has been pushed back by two parking spots. \u00a0This is a welcome change, and significantly improves visibility and maneuvering room for both riders and drivers. \u00a0Nevertheless, two cars can still park beyond the end of bike lanes; ideally, parking would end with the bike lanes, giving cyclists more time and space to merge safely.<\/p>\n

Overall we think the new bike lanes on Arsenal are a tremendous improvement, a well designed and executed addition to St. Louis’ expanding bicycle infrastructure.<\/p>\n

Update 3 (10\/11\/13)<\/h4>\n

We drove past the new bike lanes this morning, and the “No Parking” signs are now correctly placed. Thank you Streets Department!<\/p>\n

Update 2 (10\/7\/13)<\/h4>\n

On Monday we heard back from the St. Louis Streets Department, indicating that they’d look into the positioning of “No Parking” signs described below and make corrections. \u00a0Thank you for being so responsive! \u00a0We’ll continue providing updates until this issue is resolved.<\/p>\n

Update 1 (10\/6\/13) <\/h4>\n

On the Sunday after the lanes were painted, we rode and walked the new lanes again. \u00a0We were surprised to see cars and trucks parked in the bike lane on westbound Arsenal immediately before the Spring intersection. \u00a0We were even more surprised to see that they were parked legally, at least judging by the signs.<\/p>\n

\"photo\"<\/a>

Truck parked in the new Arsenal bike lane, westbound Arsenal immediately before Spring.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Caption\"<\/a>

Cars and trucks parked in the bike lanes. \u00a0Surprisingly, they are parked legally: the “No Parking past this point” sign is in front of the white car.<\/p><\/div>\n

It seems that the parking signage has not been updated since the new lanes have been painted, and parking is technically permitted almost until the intersection at Spring. \u00a0As a result, cars can (and do) park in the bike lane as it shifts right.<\/p>\n

This appears to be a simple oversight. \u00a0It can also be easily corrected, simply by placing a “No Parking past this point” sign where the bike lane shifts right, so that no parking is permitted in bike lanes. \u00a0We hope the City remains responsive to cyclist safety concerns here, and will provide updates as the issue evolves.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

See latest updates below. The new bike lanes on Arsenal west of Grand were painted this week. \u00a0We rode and drove the stretch a few times — below are some thoughts and photos.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[5],"class_list":["post-368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-infrastructure-review","tag-photos"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/safetga.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/safetga.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/safetga.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/safetga.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/safetga.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=368"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"http:\/\/safetga.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":383,"href":"http:\/\/safetga.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/368\/revisions\/383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/safetga.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/safetga.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/safetga.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}