The Bike Lane Battle...

As gas prices go up, environmental concerns increase and people realize how lazy of a society we've become, the popularity of cycling has been steadily climbing. With more bikes being sold (and coming out of the garage) and being put on the road, the need for appropriate lanes of travel has also increased.

A huge push coming from the cycling world is the desire for more bike lanes. These lanes are for cycling only and usually do not allow parking for other vehicles. Having bike lanes allows cyclists a relatively safe path of travel since they won't need to travel along busy roads with traffic whizzing by only a few inches away.

But bike lanes can not simply be tossed on the road by painting a few lines and throwing up a few no parking signs. Most existing roads were designed primarily for cars, with a specific width of the road and maybe shoulders for safety and/or parking purposes. Bikes were rarely taken into account. Adding in bike lanes onto these roads is anything but simple.

The car lanes would become thinner and more dangerous, perhaps making it impossible for larger vehicles to safely travel. Parking bans would require that parking be made available in a different location. You could always simply widen the roads to allow for bike lanes without messing up the car lanes, but that could be a massively expensive, labourous and disruptive undertaking.

A lot of the opposition for increasing the number of bike lanes is actually coming from cyclists themselves. Many argue that the funding for these lanes is being taken away from separate bike and walking paths, which, they argue, are more effective and safer for cycling. They also point to the limitations of bike lanes. When streets get swept, all the dirt and debris (including a cyclists worst enemy: glass) gets moved into the bike lanes, making it dangerous and inconvenient for cyclists. I, for one, have had numerous flats caused by crap sitting in the bike lane. In the winter, snow plows cover the bike lanes in mounds of snow, effectively wiping out the lanes altogether.

So what to do? Bike paths and trails are great, but can be expensive and generally require going through untouched land like forested areas. Bike lanes are one option, but they aren't without their own problems. But we better figure it out soon, before people put their bikes back in the garage.