more line woes

[Zack Barowitz]

Mike, et al;

This morning I noticed fresh paint on the bike lane on Congress between 295 and St. John Street. Unfortunately, they once again striped the lane from Huntress to County Way too wide. So that rather than having a luxuriously wide bike line, the lane is used by motorists; particularly in busy traffic and to turn onto Westfield Street.

This line striping has been toggling back and forth for a few years now: First it was striped perfectly, then it was re-striped incorrectly, then it was re-striped correctly, and now incorrectly again. This seems like an area where some level of consistency can be maintained. 

Along the same lines, we are still awaiting some resolution to the right-most lines along Congress Street from 295 to the South Portland line. As noted before, the contiguous line alternates quite subtly from fog line, to shoulder, to bike lane, and back all along the corridor. The same condition exists coming inbound on Forest Ave at Woodfords Corner where the bike lane narrows into a shoulder (or perhaps a fog line). Is there nothing that can be done?

Zack

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[John Brooking]

I’ll piggy-back on this to say I’ve been noticing that the striping at the intersection of Preble Extension and Baxter has been a confusing mess recently, especially in both inbound directions. I haven’t said anything because I’ve been busy and because it still looks like a work in progress, but maybe the latter is actually an excellent reason to complain sooner rather than later. I’m glad to go into more detail if desired. Are the final design plans for this intersection available?

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John Brooking

Cyclist, Cycling Educator, Technologist

http://cyclingsavvy.org

[Zack Barowitz]

Here are a couple of pictures to show how one might find striping confusing. The lines could be a palimpsest, or a narrow inter-lane bike lane, or a bike lane buffer. 

Zack 

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[John Brooking]

Another thing I notice constantly, as in these pictures, is incomplete restriping. Certain lines are refreshed, others are not, and often the bike lane stencil is not refreshed either. Having the stencils and some lines fainter than others seems confusing to me: Are the faint lines meant to still be in effect? Is this a cost-saving measure? For example, on Outer Congress nearing the stroudwater, crossing the RR tracks and Frost Street, I don't think there's any fresh stencils, and many of the originals are almost completely worn off.

John Brooking

Cyclist, Cycling Educator, Technologist

http://cyclingsavvy.org

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[Zack Barowitz]

Jeremiah,

I have the same questions as John. I’m unclear whether the old lanes are still meant to be serving a purpose such as a buffer. I’m also concerned that the wider bike line is going to be mistaken for a car lane. 

As for outer Congress from the Maine Mall to 295 here is my suggestion: paint a fog line/ shoulder that is a consistent distance from the curb for the entire corridor. Then paint many CAREFULLY PLACED sharrows all along the corridor with great attention to how far from the curb they should be based on the overall road width and make sure each change is well-marked and well signed. This is probably the best we can hope for until a shared use path is built. 

Thanks 

Zack 

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[John Brooking]

I echo the call for transitions to be well marked and signed. I personally don't have any gripes with the basic design of Outer Congress from the interchange to the stroudwater crossing, but I would really like to see the following:

1. Refresh ALL lines and markings at the same time. (None of the stencils were repainted this year, possibly not even last year. Most of them are very faint or completely gone.)

2. Properly communicate the beginning and end of the bike lanes with signage and dashed striping. (Currently the lines remain solid the entire way, with no signs, so it's impossible to tell exactly where the bike lanes are supposed to begin and end. It shouldn't be a guessing game or a surprise, especially ending. Cyclists and motorist alike need to have enough information to plan ahead.)

3. At the diagonal RR crossing, use warning signs and/or markings to guide bicyclists to make use of the extra pavement provided (thank you!) to cross the tracks perpendicularly.

4. In the 4 lane no-bike-lane areas, place regular shared lane markings in the center of the rightmost through lane, augmented with Bikes May Use Full Lane signs. (Refresh these yearly too!)

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[Zack Barowitz]

Jeremiah,

I echo-chamber John's comments (especially on having all striping done at the same time (or else it is like replacing one shoelace) and would add that ideally, the buffer would be hashed (striped) to give cyclists a bit more space and more clarity to everyone.

Thanks,

Zack

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[Winston Lumpkins]

I like the discussion around Buffers & their ideal implementation...  I haven't thought about it nearly enough, but it's pretty chaotic all over town.

Really very seriously submit these striping concerns to the Planning Dept & planning board- the buffers are described in the Technical Manual, but, pretty vaguely! 

I've included a screenshot of the bike lane buffer section as seen in the latest draft.  I would love it if you would both send in your ideal version of this paragraph to the Planning Department & Planning Board.

Actually. 

 Ideal Stripping guide.

There- Edit that & then once it looks like something you can agree on, you can both send a copy to the Planning Dept & Board, I'll  & if they don't include it in the final draft we could hold a vote & send an official letter to the planning board asking they change it.  As far as I know, they can make additions to the Technical Manual at any time. 

Just email to

plan...@portlandmaine.gov, 
planni...@portlandmaine.gov & h...@portlandmaine.gov with "Comments on Draft II of the Technical Manual"  & they'll probably be included as public comment for the eventual hearing/will be seen by staff now & possibly included in the final draft, which will come into effect as soon as the Planning Board Votes on it!   The hearing might be on November 8th...

Imagine if we didn't have to have this back and forth, because it's just laid out as it should be in the Technical Manual :). 

~Winston

Winston Lumpkins IV (he/him/his)

Chair, Portland Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee
https://www.portlandbikeped.org/

winston....@gmail.com
207-408-1508

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[Zack Barowitz]

Jeremiah;

Hello again. I just saw that the lane has now all been freshly striped so that clears up a lot of the ambiguity, thank you. I also noticed that when the bike lane pulls off the edge and runs between the travel & turning lanes the width shrinks to under 4' which is pretty narrow. I don't know if this is a new change but I noticed myself riding on the far right side of the lane to avoid close passes on my left.

Zack

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