this post was submitted on 29 Jul 2023
68 points (91.5% liked)
Bicycles
3026 readers
40 users here now
Welcome to [email protected]
A place to share our love of all things with two wheels and pedals. This is an inclusive, non-judgemental community. All types of cyclists are accepted here; whether you're a commuter, a roadie, a MTB enthusiast, a fixie freak, a crusty xbiking hoarder, in the middle of an epic across-the-world bicycle tour, or any other type of cyclist!
Community Rules
-
No bigotry - including racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, or xenophobia.
-
Be respectful. Everyone should feel welcome here.
-
No porn.
-
No ads / spamming.
-
Ride bikes
Other cycling-related communities
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
This design is actually good -- it's a Dutch-style shared street. (See other examples here and here).
Edit: and here's a NotJustBikes video that shows the design.
Don't fall for Jalopnik's pro-car spin.
Glad someone made this comment before me. Here's the MLive article the clickbait is based on. You can learn more about edge lane roads here.
Generally these are good for slower speed routes that don't seea lot of traffic. Residential streets are a perfect example. It's basically how drivers instinctively navigate down slow narrow streets. Not too familiar with that area of Kalamazoo to know if it's a good fit for that road but I'm generally in favor of this road layout and think we need more of them in the US so it's not seen as some scary confusing thing by motorists.
Considering Edge lane roads have reduced crashes by 44% in the US I'd say they fare pretty well with American vehicle ownership. When drivers are sharing the lane with oncoming traffic, it tends to slow their cars down a bit regardless of size. I'd even wager that larger trucks feel the calming effects of this tight road design more than a small car.
Plenty of neighborhoods in the us with parked cars on both sides of a bidirectional travel lane wide enough for one car. Cars go slow and negotiate for space. It's a very similar concept here.