Hey guys. I’m curious about this type of scenario, because I see two ways of approaching it and neither seems like the best way.
Legend for the photo: MUP = multiuse path; SW = sidewalk; BL = bike lane (sharrows, but it turns to a bike lane).
Assuming you were on the MUP going north, and wanted to turn onto the bike lane heading west.
What’s the best/safest/legal way to do this?
A. Use the crosswalk (not a crossride, so you’d need to get off your bike and walk) and position yourself on the lane facing west?
B. Turn from the MUP straight into the bike lane on a green? This would mean going across two lanes.
C. Position on the left turn lane of the road, and make the left turn from that lane? Cars turning right don’t make this easy or safe.
For context, there is a bus route going south to north, and this particular road has a lot of speeders. What I’d think would be safe, usually isn’t.
If this were an intersection with cyclists in mind, it would have a large green box for cyclists to move into to make the turn safely. In that case, I’d think C would be the most ideal. But without that, what’s the next best?
I tend to choose A at this particular intersection, but that’s nearly gotten me run over by people turning left from the north side.
Thoughts?
EDIT: Thank you for all the input, guys. I will stick with “A” (which is a Copenhagen left turn), and will suggest to my city to add a proper green painted bike box at this intersection for cyclists to safely make these turns.
I don’t like mixing with the cars so anything that is not that. I’d probably wait to reach the end of MUP and take whichever green light is on. Either the left or the front crosswalk. And then wait on the opposite side for the other green light.
That’s what I do, unless there’s no traffic. But in most cases A is dangerous thanks to people turning either left or right. Cars approaching the stop from the east side also have a habit of going way past that painted line and into the crosswalk. I’ve thrown my hands up at so many people while trying to walk across that section.
Another option, depending on how busy the road is. Go straight across on green, bang a u-turn when it’s safe, then turn right. Or hang a right at the light, u-turn, and go straight across.
Neither should be necessary, but there’s an intersection I sometimes go through with a similar setup (albeit without bike lanes, just wide shoulders). If traffic is clear coming north, I get in the left turn lane and wait there, but if not, I’ll go right and turn around. The other problem at my intersection is that the left turn is triggered and a bike won’t do it, so that’s another consideration.
Legality for your area aside, what I’d do is on a green bike across the cross walk then position myself in the north east corner, in the bike lane on the east side of the intersection if it’s safe, at the pedestrian waiting area if not, then bike across the roadway into the westbound bikelane when east-west traffic may proceed.
No matter what, always remember to look behind you to your left to make sure no one is trying to overtake and turn right when you are about to cross an intersection.
I normally do C, or A if it feels too dangerous to join traffic.
Cross to top-right corner, wait for light to turn green in the left-facing direction. That is the safest, and also correct, way of doing it.
If the cars are driving fast I’d just use the crosswalks but if it’s something like 25 mph then I’d just use the lane to turn left.
The “FHWA Separated Bike Lane Planning and Design Guide” includes a version of this layout and the intended directions for bicycles
It seems the intended action is to not turn left/west at all, you’re probably expected to cross to the NE corner then sit in the lane waiting for that green light. Unlike accessing the shared-use path from every other direction where a left-turn isn’t prohibited by design.
If you want to take this to your local council to add those refuges you can bring the FHWA-SA-18-077 and make a pretty solid case. It’s pretty damn simple to paint a green box in the westbound lane so that everyone is on the same page about how bikes can safely go west. Check if your local DOT has an ArcGIS or similar website that tracks things like bike Average Daily Traffic and ped/bike accident reports for that area.