When it comes to poor bike lane designs and obstructions, some of the worst can be seen at the Warrington (UK) Cycle Campaign website.
Pete Owens has been collecting photos of truly bizarre bike lane attractions from around the UK since 2001. This image of a phone booth erected in a bicycle path is just one of dozens chosen as a winner in his “Cycle Facility of the Month” contest.
Here is Pete's comment:
“This month we applaud British Telecom for this novel contribution to road safety. The dangers of using a mobile phone while cycling are becoming an increasing problem. In order to provide cyclists with a safe and convenient alternative, this phone box has been placed in the middle of the cycle path. Cyclists do not need to make a lengthy or time-consuming detour in order to use the phone.”
Some others include bike lanes that dead end at fences, lanes that are narrower than the width of a bicycle handlebars, bike lanes that direct cyclists into oncoming traffic, sidewalk bike lanes with no curb cuts, bike lanes that double as parking lanes.
Aside from cars and garbage cans being parked in bike lanes, the biggest problem I've noticed is the transition from street to bike lane or bike lane to street. I had never seen bike lanes until I moved to Modesto about 20 years ago. They were great, except there would be a sign painted on the road — “Bike Lane Ends” — about 10 feet from every intersection. Cross the intersection and there's another sign — “Bike Lane Begins.” Passing through the intersection, you were on your own, baby!
The BBC also has run some pictures of “Crazy Cycle Lanes.” The Treehugger website (where I first ran across these pictures) liked the idea so much that it is creating its own list of worst bicycle lanes at flickr.com. Check out the Treehugger bike lane article.
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