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.
What’s the speed of the road? I would personally join the road earlier so that I can manoeuvre across with the traffic, but if the road is super fast I’d probably pick A. That is unless right on red is permitted, then I’m not sure.
Posted 50km/h, so 80km/h according to drivers. And yes, I’ve clocked people on my bike radar going 80km/h.
Not possible on this MUP, at least not safely. But I have done that on other MUPs that have entrances/exits at some part of the curb.
Right on red is permitted, so when I choose A (often), I’m either in danger by people turning right or those turning left ahead of me.
This intersection is a great example of a city appearing to be doing right by cyclists, but it only makes things more dangerous.
If I wasn’t turning and going straight (a more common scenario for me), then I’d have to merge with speeding traffic at the intersection, which is not safe unless you’re very confident on a bike. Going on the sidewalk puts you in conflict with the pedestrians at or walking to the bus stop just after the lights.
It’s a roll of the dice!