The above last two photo's are called 'motor vehicle restriction points' that reduce the pathway width to 1.4 metres at the midpoint of the rails on a 2.4 metre shared path, though I would say that are also cyclist restriction points.
These are quite dangerous for cyclist and I note that Bicycle Queensland recently had stated that these type of barriers are dangerous and had asked the Queensland Road and Transport department to have them removed. But as road traffic engineers who no nothing about adequate cycling infrastructure they obligingly refused.
In the Netherlands motor vehicle barriers look like this......
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| David Hembrow |
They are also used to slow mopeds down while riding on the cycle paths. No chance of impaling yourself anywhere here. Infrastructure that is designed to be respectful of cyclists and not to enforce barriers to cycling.
Hello there Bicycle Canberra
ReplyDeleteI actually don't mind the candy striped ones - I like how they GLOW insanely at night, and alert drivers, especially at night, that there is a bike crossing, and also alert cyclists, especially at night, that there is a road crossing up ahead. This is handy when cycling along unfamiliar paths at night. And in practice they are wide enough apart for two bikes to pass.....given that folks generally slow down for road crossings anyway, and they are handy to hold on to when waiting for cars to go through......I like it when I don't have to put my foot down when waiting for cars....But I guess their main benefit is to stop cars from driving onto the bike paths to get access to all the cool places and trying to mow us all down like dogs?
The little bunny hop ones from Amsterdam look fun though....lots of opportunity for sick air.
Some of the barriers I have seen in Amsterdam between roads and cycle only roads are actually just short cement pillars - hardly safe, but OK given that people should be slowing down to enter or exit traffic.....
Its all very interesting though, thinking about what OPTIMUM bike/car interface design might be...
happy cycling! keep up the great work.
Can I use Vehicle Barrier on Bicycle?
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