NL-2011-Transpo

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    HistoryEdited Sep 8, 2011 5:03 PM by Tomas Bertulis…

    3. Pocket Lanes

    One of the greatest danger cyclists face while sharing roads with automobiles is the risk of the right hook. Bike lanes are typically painted on the right side of the road to allow motorists to easily pass bikers on the left. For an automobile to turn right on a road, they must cross over these painted bike lanes, and bicyclists, particularly children, can be difficult for drivers to see. This can create a serious risk for cyclists, as they are both hard to see and easily forgotten by right-turning motorists. At intersections where several motorists turn right, traffic engineers typically designate a lane on the right only for right turning motorists. Since bike lanes always run on the right side of the road between automobile lanes and the sidewalk, the risk of the right hook is still present with these turning lanes.

    A diagram depicting the right hookTo combat these dangers, the CROW manual recommends implementing bicycle stacking lanes, or as they are more commonly known in the US, pocket lanes. Pocket bike lanes continue straight through the approach of an intersection and place the right turning lane to the right of the bike lane. The car turning lane branches off of the road, so that it is clear that the car drivers are crossing through the bicycle lane to make the turn (and should therefore yield to bicycles), and not vice versa. They paint the asphalt red and dash the bike lane lines where cars will be crossing it to warn both motorists and bicyclists of the impending conflict. The CROW manual recommends utilizing pocket lanes at the following intersections [2]:

    • On approaches to signalized intersections
    • Carriageways with a max speed of 50 km per hour
    • Inside well developed areas (built-up)

    If designed correctly, these lanes usually work well as they clarify the position of bicyclists to passing motorists and provide more space to safely cross the bike lane. However, there are certain scenarios where the automobile right turn lane is much too long. This not only increases the time that cars are passing bicyclists on the right, but also gives motorists more room to accelerate, putting a greater difference in speed and further increasing bicyclist discomfort. The CROW manual recommends that the pocket lane to be at least 10 meters long, but provides no maximum limit. The manual recommends that the bicycle lane be separated from the turning motorists by a double continuous line, and that the bike line be painted with proper markings [2].

    AASHTO also recommends using pocket lanes in the United States. Similar to the Netherlands, they recommend that the conflict area where motorists must weave through the bicycle lane be dotted, and that the rest of the bicycle lane have continuous white lines [1]. Unlike the Netherlands, these bicycle lanes are not colored, which can make them hard to immediately recognize in a busy intersection with multiple lanes.

    There are also left hand turn pocket lanes, which the CROW recommends for similar intersections to right hand turn pocket lanes [2]. For these, cyclists must weave across traffic to a left hand turning lane for cyclists. The CROW manual recommends a, "maximum of one lane per directions (so that cyclists do not have to cross more than one lane [2]." The manual also notes that children and the elderly feel vulnerable and uncomfortable in this type of intersection because the weaving of cyclists and motor vehicles can be dangerous. We found several examples of left hand turning pocket lanes for bicyclists around Delft, but these were in older areas of town and are not frequently used, and no longer commonly constructed.

    Click the link below for examples of effective and and less effective pocket lane design in the municipality of Delft, Netherlands.
    Pocket Lane Examples


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    /groups/nl2011transpo/search/index.rss?tag=hotlist/groups/nl2011transpo/search/?tag=hotWhat’s HotHotListHot!?tag=hot1/groups/nl2011transpo/sidebar/HotListpfurthPeter Furth2012-08-24 00:18:19+00:002012-08-24 00:18:19updated31kkrantzKeeganj Krantz2012-08-16 13:44:46+00:002012-08-16 13:44:46updated30kkrantzKeeganj Krantz2012-07-29 16:24:13+00:002012-07-29 16:24:13updated29kkrantzKeeganj Krantz2012-07-29 15:59:42+00:002012-07-29 15:59:42updated28kkrantzKeeganj Krantz2012-07-29 15:55:18+00:002012-07-29 15:55:18updated27kkrantzKeeganj Krantz2012-07-29 15:49:18+00:002012-07-29 15:49:18updated26kkrantzKeeganj Krantz2012-07-29 15:48:38+00:002012-07-29 15:48:38updated25kkrantzKeeganj Krantz2012-07-29 15:47:39+00:002012-07-29 15:47:39updated24kkrantzKeeganj Krantz2012-07-29 15:47:18+00:002012-07-29 15:47:18updated23kkrantzKeeganj Krantz2012-07-29 15:46:59+00:002012-07-29 15:46:59updated22kkrantzKeeganj Krantz2012-07-29 15:46:13+00:002012-07-29 15:46:13updated21kkrantzKeeganj Krantz2012-07-29 15:43:36+00:002012-07-29 15:43:36updated20kkrantzKeeganj Krantz2012-07-29 15:38:48+00:002012-07-29 15:38:48updated19kkrantzKeeganj Krantz2012-07-29 15:34:26+00:002012-07-29 15:34:26updated18kkrantzKeeganj Krantz2012-07-29 15:28:19+00:002012-07-29 15:28:19updated17kkrantzKeeganj Krantz2012-07-29 15:27:32+00:002012-07-29 15:27:32updated16eleeelee2012-07-25 12:52:28+00:002012-07-25 12:52:28updated15eleeelee2012-07-23 14:30:20+00:002012-07-23 14:30:20updated14eleeelee2012-07-23 13:43:50+00:002012-07-23 13:43:50updated13eleeelee2012-07-23 13:29:54+00:002012-07-23 13:29:54updated12eleeelee2012-07-23 10:30:20+00:002012-07-23 10:30:20updated11eleeelee2012-07-23 10:29:48+00:002012-07-23 10:29:48updated10eleeelee2012-07-23 10:29:39+00:002012-07-23 10:29:39updated9Added tag - hoteleeelee2012-07-23 10:29:32+00:002012-07-23 10:29:32addTag8eleeelee2012-07-23 10:29:17+00:002012-07-23 10:29:17updated7eleeelee2012-07-23 10:28:41+00:002012-07-23 10:28:41updated6eleeelee2012-07-23 10:27:52+00:002012-07-23 10:27:52updated5eleeelee2012-07-23 10:27:10+00:002012-07-23 10:27:10updated4eleeelee2012-07-23 10:26:34+00:002012-07-23 10:26:34updated3eleeelee2012-07-23 10:26:21+00:002012-07-23 10:26:21updated2First createdeleeelee2012-07-23 10:08:04+00:002012-07-23 10:08:04created1wiki2012-08-24T00:18:19+00:00groups/nl2011transpo/wiki/1b4b7False10. Ruys de Beerenbrouckstraat/groups/nl2011transpo/wiki/1b4b7/10_Ruys_de_Beerenbrouckstraat.htmlPeter Furth31 updates10. Ruys de Beerenbrouckstraat Ruys de Beerenbrouckstraat Contributors: Keegan Krantz and Erika Lee Based on Dutch road safety guidelines, streets sho...Falsepfurth2012-08-24T00:18:19+00:00hot/groups/nl2011transpo/search/index.rss?sort=modifiedDate&kind=all&sortDirection=reverse&excludePages=wiki/welcomelist/groups/nl2011transpo/search/?sort=modifiedDate&kind=all&sortDirection=reverse&excludePages=wiki/welcomeRecent ChangesRecentChangesListUpdates?sort=modifiedDate&kind=all&sortDirection=reverse&excludePages=wiki/welcome0/groups/nl2011transpo/sidebar/RecentChangesListmodifiedDateallRecent ChangesRecentChangesListUpdateswiki/welcomeNo recent changes.reverse5search