I can either commute via the expressway or by taking a four lane road (East Ave) that makes its way through mostly residential neighborhoods into the downtown area where I live. It wouldn’t be a bad bike route except the fact that it has four lanes means a cyclist forces traffic in their lane to move into the left lane to pass the bike.

There is no reason to have four lanes on this road. If we took one lane and split it to make a bike lane on each side and then created a center turning lane we’d lose no driving convenience whatsoever. This would essentially only involve restriping the road to the new configuration.

Our city is criss-crossed with these four lane, 35mph arteries. A county-wide plan to create bike lanes would help change a lot of perceptions about bike commutes. We could even use them as scooter lanes for low-powered scooters with a low speed limit (20mph?).

With our winters I know there are skeptics about bike commuting. However those winters are getting shorter and fall and spring are great cycling weather periods. Competition with cars is a major factor when considering a commute. Dedicated lanes would help. They would also keep people riding on the correct side of the road (with the traffic). Riding against traffic or on sidewalks is a major safety issue because drivers don’t expect anything there.