True Dreams of Wichita
March 17, 2017 9:36 AM Subscribe
Plungers work: After anonymous stunt, Wichita makes bike lane protection permanent
Keep pushing, jon.
posted by Etrigan at 9:40 AM on March 17, 2017 [7 favorites]
posted by Etrigan at 9:40 AM on March 17, 2017 [7 favorites]
Someone in Boston did something similar with flowers a couple years ago.
posted by backseatpilot at 9:49 AM on March 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by backseatpilot at 9:49 AM on March 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
I like the plungers because they look official at first glance, but the flowers are nice for adding a bit of green space to the pavement.
posted by filthy light thief at 9:56 AM on March 17, 2017
posted by filthy light thief at 9:56 AM on March 17, 2017
When it was just plungers, what held them down? Suction?
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 10:19 AM on March 17, 2017
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 10:19 AM on March 17, 2017
No one touches a plunger of unknown origin in public, I_Love_Bananas. No one.
posted by Annika Cicada at 10:23 AM on March 17, 2017 [11 favorites]
posted by Annika Cicada at 10:23 AM on March 17, 2017 [11 favorites]
So now the right-turning cars and bikes will collide at a different point on the road?
posted by w0mbat at 10:26 AM on March 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by w0mbat at 10:26 AM on March 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
I guess it didn't happen, but I'd be concerned that a plunger would fall over and cause somebody to wipe out. An ex co-worker of mine (and mefite, since departed for Australia) here in Toronto hit a permanent flexpost that had fallen over and the resulting crash broke his collarbone.
And yes, right-turning cars are a constant hassle with these protected bike lanes. I've come to assume that nobody is going to check for bikes as they turn (maybe half of drivers do, and when they do I give them a little wave of thanks); I just cross into the car lane to pass the turning cars on their left.
posted by Flashman at 10:39 AM on March 17, 2017
And yes, right-turning cars are a constant hassle with these protected bike lanes. I've come to assume that nobody is going to check for bikes as they turn (maybe half of drivers do, and when they do I give them a little wave of thanks); I just cross into the car lane to pass the turning cars on their left.
posted by Flashman at 10:39 AM on March 17, 2017
they spent $50 on the plungers. 50 bucks! Fantasic.
posted by shockingbluamp at 11:43 AM on March 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by shockingbluamp at 11:43 AM on March 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
So now the right-turning cars and bikes will collide at a different point on the road?
posted by w0mbat at 10:26 AM on March 17 [+] [!]
Not exactly. Now the cars have to go right to the end of the lane and stop before turning right and can't physically block the lane before they start turning. They can't simply merge into the bike lane like they could before. That doesn't mean they won't devise new and devious ways to kill cyclists though.
posted by klanawa at 12:13 PM on March 17, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by w0mbat at 10:26 AM on March 17 [+] [!]
Not exactly. Now the cars have to go right to the end of the lane and stop before turning right and can't physically block the lane before they start turning. They can't simply merge into the bike lane like they could before. That doesn't mean they won't devise new and devious ways to kill cyclists though.
posted by klanawa at 12:13 PM on March 17, 2017 [2 favorites]
Where I live car drivers are *required* to encroach on the bike lanes when making a right turn. The law requires that right turns be made from the rightmost lane, and that happens to be the bike lane. In fact, the solid line between car and bike lanes turns to a dashed line when approaching any intersection for just that purpose.
Very few drivers actually do this in practice, and I suspect most drivers(and most cyclists) don't know about the requirement.
posted by rocket88 at 12:17 PM on March 17, 2017 [6 favorites]
Very few drivers actually do this in practice, and I suspect most drivers(and most cyclists) don't know about the requirement.
posted by rocket88 at 12:17 PM on March 17, 2017 [6 favorites]
A+ Hidden Soul Coughing Reference In Title, 12/10 stars
posted by jeffehobbs at 12:38 PM on March 17, 2017 [9 favorites]
posted by jeffehobbs at 12:38 PM on March 17, 2017 [9 favorites]
They can't simply merge into the bike lane like they could before.
Yeah, exactly. It's not perfect, but it's still a big safety benefit. Rather than having to anticipate a potential lane merge literally anywhere in a lane, both cyclists and drivers can focus their attention on avoiding conflicts in the area right around the intersection itself, where they're both already used to applying extra attention to traffic coming from other directions.
posted by tobascodagama at 12:53 PM on March 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
Yeah, exactly. It's not perfect, but it's still a big safety benefit. Rather than having to anticipate a potential lane merge literally anywhere in a lane, both cyclists and drivers can focus their attention on avoiding conflicts in the area right around the intersection itself, where they're both already used to applying extra attention to traffic coming from other directions.
posted by tobascodagama at 12:53 PM on March 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
Plunger of Unknown Origin, one of Blue Oyster Cult's early abandoned albums...
posted by jonmc at 1:14 PM on March 17, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by jonmc at 1:14 PM on March 17, 2017 [3 favorites]
I just saw Mike Doughty and his new band perform "True Dreams of Wichita" a week ago today. It was fantastic.
posted by vibrotronica at 1:15 PM on March 17, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by vibrotronica at 1:15 PM on March 17, 2017 [3 favorites]
Not exactly. Now the cars have to go right to the end of the lane and stop before turning right and can't physically block the lane before they start turning.
That's precisely the problem. Before turning right, you SHOULD do a lane change into the bike lane, and force the cyclists behind you to stay behind you so they don't get right-hooked.
I cycle 7 miles each way to work. Do that and I will try to pass you on the left, at which point I'm no longer your problem. (Or I stop)
posted by ocschwar at 2:12 PM on March 17, 2017 [2 favorites]
Now, I'm not saying that this lane design is good. But the difference between what should happen and what does happen is the crux of the problem. Which is to say that nobody does what they're supposed to (e.g., mirror- and shoulder-checking), which is why no matter how you design roads, as long as you expect people to behave in ways that run counter to their Hobbesian instincts, people are gonna die. Right hooks are bad, and merging-without-looking is bad. There's no good way to prevent oblivious, aggressive people driving 2000lb weapons from being dangerous.
posted by klanawa at 2:58 PM on March 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by klanawa at 2:58 PM on March 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
... without a paradigm shift.
posted by aniola at 4:12 PM on March 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by aniola at 4:12 PM on March 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
So now the right-turning cars and bikes will collide at a different point on the road?
Now the drivers know the cyclists are there, and have a right to be there.
(I bike a lot in the burbs. The number of drivers who expect me to be on the sidewalk when I am doing 15 to 25 mph is astounding.)
posted by JawnBigboote at 5:41 PM on March 17, 2017 [5 favorites]
Now the drivers know the cyclists are there, and have a right to be there.
(I bike a lot in the burbs. The number of drivers who expect me to be on the sidewalk when I am doing 15 to 25 mph is astounding.)
posted by JawnBigboote at 5:41 PM on March 17, 2017 [5 favorites]
I just saw Mike Doughty and his new band perform "True Dreams of Wichita" a week ago today. It was fantastic.
Wait! I don't want to derail too much, but: does this mean he's reached some kind of detente with Soul Coughing? Last I heard he hated them and would walk out of interviews where they were mentioned.
posted by Joey Buttafoucault at 6:42 PM on March 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
Wait! I don't want to derail too much, but: does this mean he's reached some kind of detente with Soul Coughing? Last I heard he hated them and would walk out of interviews where they were mentioned.
posted by Joey Buttafoucault at 6:42 PM on March 17, 2017 [1 favorite]
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*groan*
posted by jonmc at 9:38 AM on March 17, 2017 [1 favorite]