There was recently a discussion about plowing and clearing bike trails. There were concerns about cost and the environment (from salting). There's another issue of clearing bike lanes (instead of piling snow in them). It's not as big an issue here (this year there's only been one time that snow pushed me out of the bike lane) as it is in Toronto.
Plowed bike lanes and secure storage at transit stations are vital to persuading people to take their bikes to work in the winter, said Councillor Adrian Heaps, chair of the Toronto Cycling Committee. “It’s all part of our target of bike lanes this year and making sure transportation[department] looks at bike lanes as public thoroughfares, just like roads,” Heaps said.
When snow becomes an issue, they point out, it's more important than ever to take the lane.
Of course, the issue in the metro area is that often times the bike lane is sandwiched between a traffic lane and a parking "lane".
City/county officials are not likely to plow snow out of the bike lane and into the parking lane, which would irk all the SUV drivers who feel compelled to get out and drive in the snow just to justify having a 4WD vehicle, and "because they can". Hell, in parts of Arlington, they plow the snow off the streets and pile it up in front of the wheelchair curbcuts near streeet crossings, where it sits for days before melting (I once saw a man in a wheelchair who was stranded on a corner until he and a friend, after repeated attempts, finally broke through the snow wall piled up at the ramp--appalling). Anything to get it out of the way of the almighty automobile.
Taking the lane under those conditions is indeed the best option.
Posted by: icon o'classt | February 29, 2008 at 10:36 AM