The event was organized by Sofia Municipality and Sofia - European capital of sport. The route was 18km long and I saw so many people with kids having a blast!
Photos by Sketches of Sofia (and last one is mine)
As per usual, Chicago cops are above the law.
I don’t have any of these types of bike lanes in the city that I live in, but they look nice. The bike lanes we have are just painted lines, which can still get very dicey when drivers forget that their car shouldn’t pass the white lines.
These types of bike lanes would be amazing to have and would make it so much safer to ride places, but how does a city implement such a thing while also having on street parking?
Most bike lanes we have are on two way streets, and on streets that cross many people’s driveways. It’s very common for people to park their cars on the road, so I find it difficult to imagine a use case for curb protected bike lanes.
Do you have these in your city? Does your city still have on street parking? Is it possible to have both in residential areas?
My husband and I have the great fortune of having a commute that is 99% bike trail. His work is on the bike trail and mine is just a block from the trail past his office so we can commute together! 10 miles one way and it’s absolutely lovely. Waiting for my backpack to arrive so I can commute with my dog too if he gets too tired I’ll have a bag to put him I.
A couple weeks ago someone posted their Bullitt X doing Bullitt X things and there was discussion of how their costs approach that of a used older truck.
My other ride is a 20 year old paid off Volvo sedan. Hard to bring a new grill or freezer or anything else home from Lowe’s with it, instead of replacing my car with a truck or SUV I built out a Bullitt X frameset. Definitely close to a used truck but so much more fun to ride and use for curbside Lowe’s pickup orders 🤣
Here’s my dual Grin FH/RH212 hub motor picking up 6 bags of wet mulch, conduit, cpvc, and a couple bags of electric and plumbing odds and ends (stashed in the trailer) this morning.
Just came to know about this sub from a sticker seen today.
Seen in Duisburg, Germany :)
I was frustrated with having a horn that's too loud or a bell that goes unnoticed when I need it most on busy streets. Fortunately, I found this bike horn that allows me to customize both the sound and volume, ensuring my safety and others’ safety in all riding conditions.
But that's not all! The light does an exceptional job uniformly lighting up my field of view. For years, I thought I needed a brighter light, but those brighter lights made it impossible to see the darker areas not covered by the light. Unlike those harsh, focused beams that I used for years, this one provides uniform visibility, eliminating any dark spots on the road or branches that are above the light.
There's a neighborhood corridor in my city that has a surprisingly wide (for the neighborhood) paved street. It's about 50 feet wide, but only divided into two marked lanes, one each direction. In that wide 25 foot marked lane, there's an unmarked width for on-street parallel parking. This street is ripe for a road diet IMHO.
There's been moves to gentrify, but mainly the two far ends in the corridor of this street seem to have been revamped. The middle section has many vacant lots. The corridor is around a 1/4 mile long.
The bus stop is on the far side of the corridor from where the higher density housing is. This street once was part of a bus route deviation that served the housing at the far end.
All intersections are unsignalized. The majority of intersections are all way stops.
With a few bike share dock stations, folks living in the higher density housing on the end with the view could access amenities which may be too far to consider walking. Could attract residents that want to live car free.
I used streetmix.net and came up with two street configurations. I shared them in this post.
Conventional one-way bike lanes and on-street parking with a door zone buffer
Pros:
Provides room for cars to pull over for emergency vehicles and room for emergency vehicles to double park if needed
Bike lane isn't disturbed by curb bus loading if bus service returns to the street in the future.
Cons:
Cars can double-park in the bike lane, blocking it. Example: car driver parks there to quickly run in and get a carryout order on a busy night, or ride share loading/unloading
Cars could use the bike lane to pass a car turning left
Cars could use the bike lane to make a right turn
Bicycle lane is unprotected from cars entering into it
Nothing but paint separating cyclists from cars
Conflicts (crash risks) with cars entering/leaving on-street parallel parking
Might be intimidating to casual bike riders, would parents allow their children to ride on it?
Design may not reduce speeds. There's still the same distance between the parked cars at the curb and the driving lanes as in the current configuration. The bike lane could be a place for cars to correct their errors without hitting cars, but hitting cyclists instead
Protected one-way bike lanes and on-street parking
Pros:
Safest for all types of cyclists, parents more likely to allow their children to ride on it
Protected from cars parking with physical obstacles, and protected from moving vehicles by parked cars
Because parked cars are directly next to the drive lanes, drivers are more likely to keep their vehicle under control and at a lower speed
Cons:
Needs flexposts and/or parking bumps and/or rubber armadillos to keep cars out of the bike lane, financial cost
No place for cars to pull over for emergency vehicles if on-street parking is in use
If bus service returns, may cause issues
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Pros for both options:
Provides a route for cyclists and other micromobility users between both ends of the corridor
Connects housing at the far end to the bus stop, blocks away via bike lane
Road diet, down from two 25 foot lanes with undelinated on-street parking
Protection from most parked car "dooring" crashes
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I'm curious which option you'd prefer, and most importantly, why. Thanks in advance.