Saturday, March 26, 2016

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.

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