http://maps.google.com/maps?q=N+High+and+Tibet+Columbus&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=N+High+St+%26+Tibet+Rd,+Columbus,+Franklin,+Ohio+43202&gl=us&ei=Mdy8S9SZM8SgnQfWrrWqCA&ved=0CAgQ8gEwAA&t=h&z=16

I usually went on the one that veers slightly south (Tibet) to the one that goes north (E Weber). The one on the south is posted 25 MPH, has an incline, very low traffic, some speed humps and is only wide enough for one vehicle in either direction: so narrow that a car and bike could not pass comfortably here. I took the other route one time and it’s posted 35 MPH, has a higher incline, more impatient traffic, one lane in each direction and throw in some rather blind curves due to the nearby ravine to encourage unsafe passing by pissed motorists.

Like Keri, I just can’t figure out a safe way to ride on these (I was hoping to see a solution). The answers to the questions are going to vary to those of locals in Orlando because I’m from a rather flat city with a connected urban core based on a square street grid with sprawl surrounding that and not nearly as many barriers like lakes, just the usual rivers and highway interchanges.

1. Really the only time I come across streets with one-lane in each direction are shorter stretches where on-street parking is available and takes up the right hand lane. The entrance to the Short North neighborhood from Downtown is where there are a handful of blocks where this is the case before it becomes two lanes northbound once again. It’s also slowed by the amount of traffic and high number of traffic signals.

With all of the stop-and-go traffic cars are traveling at the same speed as me, so that pretty much answers 2 and 3. The issue would be implementing something similar in a sprawling area where you don’t have numerous pedestrians, cyclists, and buses in addition to a high amount of drivers to calm traffic speeds. The posted speed limit here is 30MPH, but you’ll have a hard time reaching that speed, let alone maintain it. It doesn’t hurt that the highway bridge between the two neighborhoods was capped with retail, wide sidewalks and on street parking to slow traffic.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=N+High+and+Goodale+Columbus&sll=39.983467,-82.997117&sspn=0.01141,0.037851&gl=us&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=N+High+St+%26+W+Goodale+St,+Columbus,+Franklin,+Ohio+43215&ll=39.976216,-83.001924&spn=0.005706,0.018926&t=h&z=16&layer=c&cbll=39.973828,-83.002871&panoid=NUi-wMAChAVtEp42gzhP7A&cbp=12,354.05,,0,-4.72

Still, going southbound where it’s only one lane for a much longer stretch is where I just so happen to get aggression from motorists. This is where creative lines like “Get off the road!” and “Get the f#&k on the sidewalk!” get tossed at me and even then 99.99% of motorists just pass and leave me alone. New “Share the Road” signs have been put up (not as good as “Bike Use Full Lane: Change Lanes To Pass”) and soon sharrows will be painted on these lanes. So far I’ve seen less negativity from motorists, but I’m not sure if it’s due to the signs.

It sounds like multi-lane arterials are best, but over here where they are adding numerous lanes to these roads they’re also adding on bike lanes as though the new amount of lanes wouldn’t accommodate cars and bikes, so that’s a problem with re-designed two-lane arterials since there’s still a “car is king” mentality going into solutions for making such roads multi-modal. And of course, pedestrians get to traverse more than twice as much road as before and there will likely be very long walks between crosswalks at sparsely distributed traffic signals. No easy answers here.

I use Denning to avoid Wymore whenever possible also.

I would love it if they added some bike lanes there.

Painstakingly having to take to the sidewalk for the remaining duration until such time permits controlling the lane again. Unfortunately, this section of my commute is sidewalk both ways…..for now

One of the things that makes CommuteOrlando such a superior blog is the quality and civility of those who comment here. (Of course, it is surpassed by great content.)

I am grateful to all of you for showing restraint on subjects so filled with emotion and passion.

It is good company to counted among!

I commuted on Wymore for years. I would have liked a little more pavement width there, too.

Second, there’s no minimum speed for vehicular cycling. I’ve seen comments elsewhere saying “You can’t ride ABC Road unless you can do XX miles per hour!” From a motorist’s point of view, a cyclist doing 16 mph is hardly different from one doing 10mph. His relative speed difference and resulting reaction times are nearly the same.

I agree 100% about leisurely cycling on the road. I see the sidewalk riders who coast along with an occasional pedal stroke and I think they should stay on the sidewalk. OTOH, you don’t have to ride at vomit pace just because you’re taking the lane.

I won’t criticize Andrew for choosing the sidewalk. I don’t have to ride his mile. I have seen Hall road at rush hour and I would not want to ride on it every day. But no motorists looks at him on the sidewalk and thinks, “look at that nice guy riding there instead of here. Isn’t he being gracious.” They probably don’t even see him there. They would, however, notice him rightfully and legally driving in the lane and say, “why isn’t that asshole on the sidewalk where he belongs?”

Based on the fact that it takes several traffic light cycles to pass either end of Hall Rd., a cyclist actually would not be creating a significant delay for them by riding in the lane. It would just be uncomfortable for the cyclist. We have very strong social taboos about being slow and getting in the way, regardless of whether not it actually makes a difference.

So, frame it as personal comfort, but not civility. It’s not civility to do what every motorist expects a cyclist to do—whether that’s riding on the sidewalk or hugging the edge-line. In social terms, it is compliance or capitulation, not courtesy or civility.

2. What are the solutions that we should advocate for making these roads easier to deal with?

Because this facility parallels I-4 there are few cross streets or driveway cuts. A multi-use trail might be appropriate, the road doesn’t need to be widened as I doubt there are enough trips on it to justify 4-laning but there’s likely room enough for bike lanes.
3. Should the solutions be social or physical?
It may not be the best example b/c I don’t find the drivers to be all that aggressive/hostile. I was perfectly comfortable riding that section but others may not. I think physical solutions would make it more bike-friendly.

4. Should such roads be 4-laned? What are the consequences of that?

It really depends on the ROW available and the number of trips existing and projected on the roadway. What about improving transit service and connectivity? Are there subdivisions that could be connected somehow so that all trips don’t have to spill onto the one collector? Is that a solution for Hall Road?

Retrofitting is a bitch so I doubt connecting adjacent subdivisions to improve connectivity could realistically happen, but it’s possible in new developments.

5. Should they be widened for cycling (WCLs or BLs)? What if there is no right-of-way? (An example of that would be Palmer Ave., the solution was sharrows.)

We’ll never get roads widened to benefit cyclists or ROW purchased to build sidewalks to improve things for peds. Many of these 2-laners don’t have sidewalks either.

One consequence of 4-laning is that higher overall speed within the corridor will go up.

6. Can these roads be bypassed with connector trails?
In some cases possibly, really depends on what’s available in terms of ROW – are there easements or other public lands that can accommodate a trail?

As for my contrarian viewpoint, I think in some of these areas a bike lane could really improve conditions, and designed properly they could work extremely well. The ROW may already exist to add enough room for bike lanes but not enough for two (and in reality, often three) more travel lanes. I think on roads without curb and gutter like in some of the older sections of Orlando (Lake Margaret, Fern Creek, Primrose, Dixie Belle etc), one could reconstruct the roadway by adding bike lanes and curb and gutter. The travel lanes could be 11′ wide and the bike lane 5′ wide, more than likely we’re only talking about adding 4′ of pavement rather than 20′.

I’d rather bike lanes be a min. 5′ wide excluding the gutter pan. For clarity’s sake, I’m not talking high speed rural roads, but lower speed 25-35 mph two-lane roads like we have all over Orlando.