Four Lanes Turn Into Three. Who Gets Squeezed Out?

Four lanes turn into three.  Who gets squeezed out?

This intersection is downtown Minneapolis -- 10th and Park.  Here's a couple of Google Maps images of the intersection.

Can you see the problem?

According to the painted symbols on the street, out of four lanes (from left to right) 1 and 2 must go left, 3 may go left or straight ahead, and 4 must go straight ahead.

The left side bike lane (on 10th) turning onto Park (lane 1) has no receiving bike lane.  I guess bikers are expected to share an 11 foot lane with motorists turning from lane 2?

There isn't proper guidance for drivers on 10th turning onto Park.  A motorist in lane #2 (again counting from the left) may look at the signs and think that they are to turn into the leftmost lane on Park.  That turn could cause a crash with a turning biker.  The motorist in lane #2 should be guided into the middle of three general travel lanes on Park and the driver in lane #3 (if turning) should be guided into the rightmost general travel lane.  That leaves the biker in the leftmost lane where they will, presumably, negotiate their way to the right side bike lane.

The signs make it seem like there's only two lanes.  As you can see, there are four lanes.

Non-Standard Stop Signs

Minneapolis trails such as the Midtown Greenway and the Dinkytown Trail often have stop signs at intersections, exits, and entrances.  This is well and good -- we'll have fewer crashes if everybody knows who gets to go and who must give way.  Many of these stop signs are only 12 inches (or less!) edge-to-edge, yet the standard, the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, requires a size of 36 or 30 or 18 inches on a shared-use path stop sign. (Ref: http://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/htm/2009/part9/part9b.htm ).    A sign that's 12 inches edge-to-edge is about half the area of one that's 18 inches.  So what?  These tiny signs can be easily overlooked, especially at night.

A Minnesota appeals court in an unpublished opinion held that non-standard regulatory signs are not enforceable.  Other courts do not have to consider unpublished appeals opinions as precedent, yet most probably will be swayed by the appellate judges arguments.

Further, the standard requires that stop signs not have other signs mounted to the back.  This is so other driver can see who's got the stop sign and, therefore, who's got the right of way.  Yet often there are signs mounted to the back of stop signs on trails.

The front of a stop sign on the Greenway:

The same sign from the perspective of crossing traffic:

 A front shot of a different Greenway sign with an obscured backside:

 The backside of the previous sign:

 They don't obscure the backs of stop signs on streets:

Why is Minneapolis using these hard-to-see non-standard stop signs?

Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices:

Section 2B.10 STOP Sign or YIELD Sign Placement

Standard:

04 No items other than inventory stickers, sign installation dates, and bar codes shall be affixed to the fronts of STOP or YIELD signs, and the placement of these items shall be in the border of the sign.

05 No items other than official traffic control signs, inventory stickers, sign installation dates, anti-vandalism stickers, and bar codes shall be mounted on the backs of STOP or YIELD signs.

06 No items other than retroreflective strips (see Section 2A.21) or official traffic control signs shall be mounted on the fronts or backs of STOP or YIELD signs supports.

Guidance:

08 A sign that is mounted back-to-back with a STOP or YIELD sign should stay within the edges of the STOP or YIELD sign. If necessary, the size of the STOP or YIELD sign should be increased so that any other sign installed back-to-back with a STOP or YIELD sign remains within the edges of the STOP or YIELD sign.

Another Right Turn Lane to the Left of the Through Lane

Hennepin County marked a right-turn-only lane to the left of a through bike lane ... A potentially deadly conflict.  Here's a picture:

This is 27th Avenue S.E. heading east at East River Road and Franklin.  This is a county road;  It's not just the city that gets engineering wrong.

The AASHTO Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities, 4th ed. says, on pg. 4-24 that, "The correct placement of a bike lane is on the left of an exclusive right-turn lane" and

 "Incorporating the bike lane to the left of the right-turn-only lane enables bicyclists and right-turning motorists to sort their paths by destination in advance of the intersection, avoiding last-moment conflicts and providing the following benefits:

• Bicyclists are encouraged to follow the rules of the road: through vehicles (including bicyclists) proceed to the left of right-turning vehicles.
• Merging movements occur away from the intersection, and are often easier to manage for bicyclists and other road users than a turning conflict."

But, you say, the AASHTO Guide is only a guide.  We need standards.  OK, here's your standard:  The Minnesota Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices 9C.4:

STANDARD:
A through bicycle lane shall not be positioned to the right of a right turn only lane or to the left of a left turn only lane.

SUPPORT:
A bicyclist continuing straight through an intersection
from the right of a right turn lane would be inconsistent with normal traffic behavior and would violate the expectations of right-turning motorists.

Even the NACTO Urban Bikeways Design Guide (2nd ed., pg 19) forbids bike lanes to the right of right-turn-only lanes.

That seems clear enough: putting through bike lanes to the right of right-turn-only lanes is likely to lead to crashes.  Can we get this fixed?

Unclear Precedence at Cecil Newman Lane and Nicollet Avenue

This is a BIG pictures post so you can see the stop and yield signs.

Here's a Google Maps view of the intersections at Cecil Newman Lane, Nicollet Ave, and 29th Street.

Nicollet is an important connector for bicyclist, connecting the Midtown Greenway with loads of Eat Street destinations, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, and downtown.

Cecil Newman Lane westbound has yield signs at Nicollet indicating that drivers on Cecil Newman must yield to cross traffic.

Nicollet Avenue northbound has a stop sign at Cecil Newman Lane indicating that drivers on Nicollet Ave must yield to cross traffic.

29th Street eastbound at Nicollet has a stop sign (as it should because of much lower volumes of traffic off 29th compared to Nicollet), but it's not part of the Cecil Newman/Nicollet intersection.

Who wins?  Who has the right of way between Westbound Cecil Newman drivers or Northbound Nicollet Drivers?  Because there's no clear answer, the Minnesota Manual on Uniform Traffic Devices generally forbids the use of both stop signs and yield signs at the same intersection.

Here are some references:

Minnesota Traffic Regulations:

169.201 YIELD SIGN.

The driver of a vehicle approaching a yield sign shall slow to a speed that is reasonable for conditions of traffic and visibility, and stop if necessary, and yield the right-of-way to any pedestrian legally crossing the roadway, and to all vehicles on the intersecting street or highway which are so close as to constitute an immediate hazard.

169.20 RIGHT-OF-WAY.

Subdivision 1.Approaching intersection.

(b) When two vehicles enter an intersection controlled by stop signs or by blinking red traffic signals requiring drivers or vehicles from any direction to stop before proceeding, the driver of the vehicle on the left shall yield the right-of-way to the vehicle on the right.

Minnesota Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices:

Section 2B.4 Right-of-Way at Intersections

Support:
01 State or local laws written in accordance with the "Uniform Vehicle Code" (see Section 1A.11) establish the right-of-way rule at intersections having no regulatory traffic control signs such that the driver of a vehicle approaching an intersection must yield the right-of-way to any vehicle or pedestrian already in the intersection. When two vehicles approach an intersection from different streets or highways at approximately the same time, the right-of-way rule requires the driver of the vehicle on the left to yield the right-of-way to the vehicle on the right. The right-of-way can be modified at through streets or highways by placing YIELD (R1-2) signs (see Sections 2B.8 and 2B.9) or STOP (R1-1) signs (see Sections 2B.5 through 2B.7) on one or more approaches.

Standard:

11 Except as provided in Section 2B.9, STOP signs and YIELD signs shall not be installed on different approaches to the same unsignalized intersection if those approaches conflict with or oppose each other.