Cincinnati - Bicycle Friendly ?
The city is closing in on making Cincinnati a more bike friendly place. sort of
They plan on posting signs & painting lines & pictures on the road. You can read about what they are up to here.
Will these images resonate in the skulls of the Cincinnati cage pilot? Given their inability to grasp the concept of lanes marked by painted lines, I doubt it. The common belief that electronic traffic signals mean "accelerate" when yellow & red are displayed further reinforces my skepticism.
Forgetting socio-economic & racial prejudice, education of the motorist seems to be the single most important thing. (Drivers have just continually gotten worse since driver's education was taken out of the schools.)
Slow moving vehicles are supposed to move to the right. You are supposed to adhere to the lane that takes you where you want to go. This means that a cyclist will frequently be out in the middle of "the road" pavementwise but is actually on the right side of "the road" lanewise while making left turns or going straight where there is a right turn lane. This frequently freaks out the cage pilot. With the additional signage & strange road runes proposed, the poor motorist, who doesn't understand the existing lanes, is likely headed for an aneurism.
Signage would be nice for highway exit ramps so motorists know they have to merge with slow bicycles on the surface street while they try to extend the highway speed limit just a little farther. I haven't seen anything about that but it's definitely needed along the interstates. Maybe in the Revive I-75 plan.....
The next & final open house is May 5, 2010 6:30 - 8:30 pm, at the Clifton Cultural Arts Center, 3711 Clifton Avenue.