This is Central City Mobility Project update #23.

Concrete islands have been installed for the turn wedges at P & 21st, P & 19th, Q & 19th, and just today, at P & 9th and Q & 9th. The planned locations of these turn wedge islands are the intersections of the separated bikeways. The Q & 21st one is not installed yet, and I did not see any on 10th. The other intersections will have a different treatment, rubber speed bumps and vertical delineators.

The islands are centered by stamps red concrete. The curbs are four inches, and sloped at about 45 degree angle. Apparently these are poured on top of the pavement, I did not see any sign of excavation below the surface.

In a brief observation, about 20% of the turning drivers hit these islands. This is not surprising, as they are new, and drivers have gotten used to taking these corners at high speed, passing over what was just painted areas. I admit I almost hit one, as I had been riding straight through these intersections rather than swooping with the markings. But I pay more attention that most drivers, so I didn’t hit it.

Apparently the purpose of these is not to provide a wait area or bike box for bicyclists, but to slow drivers and have them pointing more perpendicularly to the bikeway and crosswalk, so they are more likely to see other people. But they do offer an area where bicyclists can get out ahead of and more visible to drivers.

Updates

P Street, Q Street, 21st Street: No significant changes.

19th St: Markings for the separated bikeway are marked from Q Street at least as far south as S Street. Not observed south of there.

I Street: No change, still just lane marking tabs. Paving was continued to 12th Street, so it is possible the project will be extended that far, but as designed, the separated bikeway and lane reduction ends at 15th Street.

10th Street: No significant change, is largely complete but some marking and delineators are still missing.

9th Street: I had speculated that the project would not be completed from L Street to Q Street, but it has been marked and partially painted now. There is a left side regular bike lane (two white lines but no buffer) from L Street to O Street, then mixed left side bike lane and separated from O Street to Q Street.

5th Street: No change.

This is Central City Mobility Project update #17.

I regularly ride the newly repaved streets with separated and/or parking protected bikeways, because I want to see how bicyclists and drivers are dealing with the new design. Well, the turn wedges are a complete failure. At every intersection where there is a turn wedge for left turns, drivers are cutting the corner and turning at higher speeds than they did before. The city has created a danger that was not present before, when there were regular bike lanes. The city has not completed work on the turn wedges, and for now, they are an incredible danger to bicyclists. The city has not placed construction signs at these locations, though at least according to the rough designs the city has shared with the public, construction is not complete. Nothing has been installed in the turn wedges. That means that the city has left the project in an incomplete state, but is communicating to the public that the project is complete.

The number of close calls that I have personally experienced at these turn wedges now numbers over 40. As an experienced bicyclist, I know what to watch out for and respond, but having to slam on my brakes to keep from getting run over is not something I or any other bicyclist should have to do.

The city must stop this madness before people die. The city knowingly has installed unsafe roadways, and has not fixed them despite knowing that they are hazardous. This means that the city is legally responsible for any bicyclist-driver crashes that happen at those corners. I will happily testify against the city, and hope that they have to pay our millions for their incompetence. But of course someone will be dead or severely injured, and the city won’t have to be liable for that. Traffic engineers depend on ‘approved’ designs to isolate themselves from direct legal responsibility, but these are not approved designs, they are ones that the city invented using pieces and parts of internationally recognized designs.

City, fix this now, or suffer the consequences!