>>1408025>You just want all the bike stuff for free without having to pay more.I don't, though. I'm actually against bike lanes.
Bike lanes that are just painted onto the shoulder of the road create a false sense of separation for drivers that then think they don't have to take any kind of caution when passing a bike, assuming that the bike can never leave that lane for any reason (even to turn left, for example).
When there's street parking involved, bike lanes force bikes into the dangerous door zone and again because the drivers on the road assume the bike cannot leave that lane it becomes more dangerous to try to bike a safer distance away from the doors of the parked cars.
It also promotes the idea that bikes can ONLY travel in bike lanes and that if there is no bike lane on a road then bikes can't be allowed there even if that road is not motor-exclusive.
Separated bike lanes make traveling by bike far more difficult and cumbersome for no reason, actually physically trapping you and making you unable to make free use of the road to turn when you need to and, again, sometimes trapping you in the door zone near parked cars and further promoting the idea in drivers' minds that bikes do not belong on or near the road.
My city has even gotten the bright idea to add "bike paths" near a couple busy roads, which are just essentially widened sidewalks that only exist on one side of the road and only for a couple miles at a time, meaning that only if you are already biking on the sidewalk (illegally, mind you) can you actually make use of them. But again their existence makes some drivers believe that bikes belong on the sidewalk and damages driver/cyclist relations.
I actually tend to AVOID roads with bike lanes if I reasonably can because I think they create a more negative and unsafe environment for biking. Biking in the lane forces drivers to consider my existence, take care when passing, and watch out for when I need to take the lane or change lanes to turn left.
