Reclaiming a Community's Pedal Identity
Boulder Colorado pedestrian crossings and bike lanes
I was in Boulder, Colorado last week for business and had a chance to experience the infrastructure that makes them so pedestrian friendly.
I was most impressed with their simple solutions that granted pedestrians utmost respect from automobiles. Most noticeable are the signs at pedestrian crossings stating "STATE LAW - YEILD TO PEDESTRIANS IN CROSSWALK" Coming from Michigan I'm used to fending for myself as a pedestrian and getting an edge by taking a few steps into the road as I wait for traffic in opposite lanes to clear. In Boulder I would stop cars TWO LANES OVER as soon as I stepped into the road!!!
At major multiple lane roads (up to 6 lanes on one of the busiest roads in Boulder) the pedestrian crosswalks have a button that activates flashing strobe lights - AND TRAFFIC COMES TO A STOP!! I remained alert, but felt very safe crossing the busy roads in town. This is an incredibly simple solution that is working very well!
One of my favorite features was a pedestrian "island" between right turn lanes and main lanes at busy intersections. Pedestrians crossing the intersection in either direction move from "shore" to the island across the right turn lane. (Cars turning right must yield to the pedestrians.) They then wait on the island until they get the walk signal to cross. They do not have to worry about looking over their shoulder to see if a right turn auto is yielding to them, and the autos don't have to wait for a large group of pedestrians to clear before they can turn right. These islands take up space, but were highly effective.
They also had some nice bike lane features. At intersections with right turn lanes, the bike and auto lane swap, so the bike lane is between the main lane and the right turn lane. On steep downhills, the bike lane ends and a sign indicates that bikes use the full lane. In dense downtown areas signs on the pavement indicate the full lane is for bikes too.
I hope we can implement some of these features in Traverse City!
I will attempt to attach photos and video here as well.
I was most impressed with their simple solutions that granted pedestrians utmost respect from automobiles. Most noticeable are the signs at pedestrian crossings stating "STATE LAW - YEILD TO PEDESTRIANS IN CROSSWALK" Coming from Michigan I'm used to fending for myself as a pedestrian and getting an edge by taking a few steps into the road as I wait for traffic in opposite lanes to clear. In Boulder I would stop cars TWO LANES OVER as soon as I stepped into the road!!!
At major multiple lane roads (up to 6 lanes on one of the busiest roads in Boulder) the pedestrian crosswalks have a button that activates flashing strobe lights - AND TRAFFIC COMES TO A STOP!! I remained alert, but felt very safe crossing the busy roads in town. This is an incredibly simple solution that is working very well!
One of my favorite features was a pedestrian "island" between right turn lanes and main lanes at busy intersections. Pedestrians crossing the intersection in either direction move from "shore" to the island across the right turn lane. (Cars turning right must yield to the pedestrians.) They then wait on the island until they get the walk signal to cross. They do not have to worry about looking over their shoulder to see if a right turn auto is yielding to them, and the autos don't have to wait for a large group of pedestrians to clear before they can turn right. These islands take up space, but were highly effective.
They also had some nice bike lane features. At intersections with right turn lanes, the bike and auto lane swap, so the bike lane is between the main lane and the right turn lane. On steep downhills, the bike lane ends and a sign indicates that bikes use the full lane. In dense downtown areas signs on the pavement indicate the full lane is for bikes too.
I hope we can implement some of these features in Traverse City!
I will attempt to attach photos and video here as well.
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