Complete Streets
Intersections
Reducing Conflicts
Yield to Bikes: motorists turning right must yield to cyclists continuing straight (Photo Richard Drdul on flickr)
Intersection approaches are where most conflicts between motorists and cyclists occur. In most cases, re-engineering the flow of traffic helps to significantly reduce collisions between bicycles and motor vehicles.
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Bike Boxes
Front Row Center: a bike box enables cyclists to proceed ahead of motorists (Photo: Richard Drdul on flickr)
In most countries, it is entirely legal for a cyclist to pass a row of cars in traffic on the curb side to stop at the front of the line at the intersection.
Increasingly, bike boxes, also known as advanced stop lines (ASL), are being added to intersections to assist cyclists to safely proceed straight through the intersection before cars wanting to turn.
Bike Hook Turns
Right to Left: bike hook turn avoids having to turn from left lane (Photo: Richard Drdul on flickr)
This section is under development.
Bike Traffic Signals
Green Bike: segregated cycling facilities must include traffic signals for cyclists (Photo: by the author)
Pedestrian-only signals at intersections imply cyclists and motorists share the road at the intersection. Where sidepath for cyclists exist, so must cyclist-specific traffic signals at intersections to better help cyclists, pedestrians and motorists anticipate one another and to avoid conflicts.
Bike signals at intersections can take one of two forms: a dedicated traffic signal for cyclists (usually on the same side of the intersection at the mouth of the sidepath) or a mixed pedestrian-cyclist traffic light (on the opposite side of the intersection).
Dedicated bike signals and mixed ped-bike signals help to remind motorists to check for and be aware of both pedestrians and cyclists proceeding through the intersection before turning.
Improved Semiotics: a traffic signal for sidepath cyclists and sidewalk pedestrians (Photo by the author)
See the bike-ped infrastructure section for an overview of more measures than can be taken to reduce conflicts between cyclists and pedestrians.
Bike Actuated Signals / Loop Detector
Demand-Actuated: the traffic signal changes when the road sensor detects a bike (Photo: richardmasoner on flickr)
This section is under development.
Green Wave
The timing of traffic signals by traffic engineers for cyclists such that a succession of signals enables cyclists to travel down the road at about 15 km/h without stopping is called a green wave.
The design has been implemented to great response in Copenhagen, Denmark (where a comparatively high number of trips are made by bike) and is being evaluated by other cities in Europe and beyond.
Idaho Stop
The Idaho Stop is a law passed in the U.S. state of Idaho (and being considered in several other states) that allows bicyclists and motorcyclists to roll through stops if the intersection is clear, and to proceed through a red light after a full stop if it's safe to proceed.
Critics of the law claim that the same rights and same rules should apply to motorists and cyclists on the same road.
The approach shares the logic behind shared spaces where you use common sense to react accordingly to the presence of other traffic participants and not just blindly follow the instructions of posted signs.
Cross Ride
This section is under development.
Keywords
sustainable development, urban planning, traffic engineering, complete streets, traffic shaping, traffic lights, traffic signals, traffic signs, controlled, uncontrolled, signage, curb extension, bicycle actuated sigals, signal timing technique, calculated speed, road traffic control, loop detector, rolling stop,
