[BikeLongmont] MountainView Traffic circles

[Lauren Greenfield]

I have not yet seen these new circles, but will try to get to see them soon.  Typically, when approachng a traffic circle, I would encourage cyclists to "take the lane" (Check first, of course, before merging left) and continue through as any vehicle would do.  I'm curious, though as to whether there is signage at the approaches which might alert the motorist and/or the cyclist that cyclists should and will "take the lane" and that motorists must yield to such cyclists.  If not, maybe that's something that the city could look into for the safety of everybody, as well as the educative perspective of "sharing the road."  

----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Craig D. Smith 
  To: bike at bicyclelongmont.org 
  Sent: Saturday, February 19, 2005 1:54 PM
  Subject: [BikeLongmont] MountainView Traffic circles


  Thanks, Victor, for raising this issue.  I biked East on MountainView from Airport to Hover a couple days ago and share some of your concern - certainly not the nice dedicated bike lane through the circles as exists on other parts of that road.  



  On a more hopeful note, a lot of the current construction there has a "temporary" look to it.  Perhaps we have not yet seen the final provision for biking through them.  I do know that the city takes the well-being of cyclists into consideration in their street designs.  Perhaps someone from the city will post to this board with a description of how these circles will function for cyclists when they are completed.  



  If you've been following the local news, you know that we will probably be seeing more traffic circles in the future in Longmont, along with other "traffic calming" devices on residential collector streets such as MountainView.  I'm very much in favor of this.  The intent is to slow down the average speeds on these roads and increase safety for pedestrians and cyclists as well as increase the "livability" of the area.  As you point out, however, as we do this we must have a plan for getting cyclists safely through the "pinch points" such as traffic circles.



        



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