Description
The westbound bike lane on R St. does not continue through the intersection at Rhode Island Ave. (as it does at other dangerous intersections like Connecticut and R). Painting the bike lane through the intersection would improve safety for both drivers and cyclists as it would indicate where each vehicle is obligated to drive. This improvement has been made elsewhere in the city and it makes a huge difference for separating bicycles and cars in dangerous intersections. Thank you!
9 Comments
msteil (Guest)
I use this route as well and would like to see this improvement at the R and Rhode Island intersection. The improvement would help prevent cars from cheating into the bike lane, though adequate signage would be needed to make sure that vehicles turning rt on 7th, would be able to merge safely across bike lane.
mwander
I've noticed this too when I've biked downtown using this route.
You may want to send this to Jim Sebastian, DC Bicycle Coordinator, at:
Jim.Sebastian@dc.gov
Andrew (Guest)
Looks like DC 311 was notified about this. I know they've been very good about responding to other issues from this site, let's hope they have can do something about this issue as well.
Railvolutionary
Any update from anyone on the status of this issue?
Kyle (Guest)
This intersection is particularly bad because the bike lane actually shifts left a little bit on the far side, so cars "drift" into what would be the bike lane if it existed. Please continue the lane through the intersection with dashed green paint and/or sharrow a like on 15th Street intersections.
Curious (Guest)
Quick question, if bikes want to share the road with cars why can they go through red lights?
Guest (Guest)
Some jurisdictions allow bikes to proceed through red lights after stopping because they don't have the acceleration power that cars have and are slower from a start. This makes the traffic flow smoother for everyone.
ShawingtonTimes (Guest)
crosswalks in more southern (not so backwards) communities, like St Pete Fla extend the crosswalks to include the area that connects bike lanes through the intersection — legally, giving cyclists the right of way at all times in any motorist/pedaler interaction. See pic: https://twitter.com/asmallteapot/status/340127252652113920
Railvolutionary
Let's not forget to use durable, raised --thermoplastic-- instead of cheap paint that wears away in a few years.