No. 3 Rd Bike Lane Experiment, Richmond BC

[m0bob]

The roads look so wide and empty. You should see the amount of traffic that we have to endue when riding bikes in London, England.

[alexwarrior1]

@m0bob This road is usually very brutal. I filmed this early morning on a sunday so it was unusually quiet. Looking forward to trying the roads on London, I'm visiting the city in april and may!

[degnaw]

On Streetview it seems like they've added separated bike lanes on the southbound side of the road, but with a couple random block-long gaps interspersed - Have you been down there recently?

[alexwarrior1]

@degnaw I've been told sections have been added on the southbound side. I haven't been back to check yet however! It's on my list of things to check out though.

[SpiderRider3]

I've never understood the point of that bike lane. It's not high enough to keep vehicles from drifing in and it makes it harder for vehicles to turn into the driveways.

And what are those delineators for? All they are doing is causing a hazard to the cycylists.

[drsquirrel0]

The "line" looks nice and big, and is it a drainage point? That should help stop cars drifting or cutting into it, and it means you are not the one that is driving in the drain area, and should have good drainage yourself.

Though having a heavily cambered little lane might test you in snow/icy conditions and little too in the rain.

Merging with traffic on the cross needs to be addressed a bit.

The turnings from the right visibility is ruined by the posts...

[alexwarrior1]

Yeah, I think there would be good drainage here. I haven't been back while it was raining however so I haven't checked. The "line" is a small curb, i.e. the lane is elevated a little bit, so cars wouldn't be so likely to drift into it.

The long term plan is for there to be high-density development on either side of the road, which would hopefully eliminate the many driveways going into all the big parking lots along here.

[Translink1001]

why there is the Canada Line there?

[SpiderRider3]

Because they built it there.

[CycleMan2200]

This is in Richmond, Virginia I am assuming?

[alexwarrior1]

Richmond, British Columbia. I've now updated the video description to reflect this.

[CycleMan2200]

I see. I did not know there was a Richmond, BC. Interesting.

[fhussain44]

I dont see how you can avoid getting right hooked at 0:51 . It is a no-mans land where both cars and cyclist assume they have right of way.

[alexwarrior1]

Another concern I have with this lane are the many driveways that go into the store parking lots that cross the lane, like the one at 0:05, among several others.

[fhussain44]

I am not a big fan of bike lanes. They create the illusion of safety but are very accident prone from drifting cars ( considering todays multi-tasking drivers ) and also you can often get right hooked. Another problem with bike lanes is they accumulate road debris that will give you flats often. The last problem is they are often right next to parked cars which puts cyclist right in the door zone .

Best to ride close to center of the lane and force vehicles to treat you like a vehicle.

[degnaw]

the curb would probably eliminate the 'drift' problem, there are no parked cars, and right hooks will probably be drastically reduced with the colored treatments. Where no BL existed, the guy (clearly) took the lane.