Penn Ave Bike Lanes Won't Open Tomorrow

From the Post

John Lisle, a spokesman for the Department of Transportation, said lanes still need "more tweaks." Lisle said the lanes, as currently constructed, occupy too much space on Pennsylvania Avenue.

"When we originally installed them, they put them outside the median and the combination of the bike lanes and the buffer took an entire lane of traffic," Lisle said. "So what we think we are going to try to do is squeeze the bikes more in the center of the roadway.

File this under "things you should have thought of before hand"

"We have gotten a lot of feedback already, we have gotten feedback from cyclists and feedback from drivers, so we are going to tweak them and try to make them better for everyone," he said.

Update: more from Dr. Gridlock

Gabe Klein thinks the bike lane widths might need to be adjusted down somewhat to ensure the best separation between motorists and cyclists. (He doesn't want cars straying into the path of cyclists.) Klein said he didn't know exactly how much longer it would take to open the lanes, but it shouldn't be too much longer.

Update II: More from the original story

Gabe Klein, director of the Department of Transportation, called to clarify that the delay in the opening of the bike lanes on Pennsylvania Avenue might not result in the lanes growing tighter.

But Klein said the lanes need to be "redesigned" to enhance the safety of bicyclists. As currently
constructed, he said, cars may not realize that the lanes are reserved for bicycles because there is no physical barrier.

"We don't want cars entering the bike lanes because they think it's a car lane," Klein said. "People are used to bike lanes that are smaller."

Klein said he expects that it will take several weeks for the lanes to be redesigned so they are "distinctively recognizable" as bike lanes.

"This is America's main street, so I want to get this right," Klein said.

Comments

[darren]

Agree with GGW's summary -- "Build something, then see if it works and make changes — fine. Ask people and make sure to listen before finalizing a design — fine. But build it and then tear it out before it's done — ridiculous."

[Michael H.]

I was wondering why there is still such a wide median in the middle of the road, in between the two bike lanes. That's just wasted space.

All they had to do was plot this out on a map and look at it before painting any lane lines.

[locus]

I don't know why they consider these to be "not open". People have been using them and cops have been suggesting regular-lane cyclists use them as well.

[Eric_W.]

OK, let me be the one to bring back the idea of painting the bike lane in a different color to differentiate it from the regular lane...