One of the countries original bike boxes got it’s start right here in Eugene. However, if you’ve ridden by it in the past few years it’s easy to see how you might have missed it. The bike symbols and stop bar paint had long ago worn off, though the “Stop Here on Red” signed remained and compliance by motor vehicle drivers was pretty decent considering. However, most cyclists when asked about it had no idea it was there or what it was.
Eugene's Bike Box (Pre-Paint Job)
The main reason for this bike box is different than other boxes installed in other cities. It is meant to aid cyclists in their move from the left side bike lane to the right side bike lane. Between 7th (this intersection) and 6th there are bike lanes on both sides for a short distance but you need to move to the right to continue through past 6th (and on down to the river). Most bike boxes are meant to help in the prevention of “right hooks” and to give cyclists visibility and a slight advanced start.
The great news is that this bike box has been repainted!
The new and "improved" bike box.
The not so great news is that despite encouragement from GEARs and advice from the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) it’s not quite up to snuff with other bike boxes in Portland and New York. It lacks the green paint that other communities have already found effective. By not painting the box green the city has shown a lack of forward thinking and a vision of creating a safe and comfortable environment for cyclists. Those who have ridden in communities where bike boxes have been implemented, traffic engineers who have implemented them, and the bike community at large have found the color to be a major improvement to the look, feel, and effectiveness of the bike box. The City has stated that they are open to painting the box if they find it necessary but I wonder, as we attempt to encourage more people to bike and we have a tool that has already been shown to be effective in that, why not use it now?!
The way a real bike box looks. via bikeportland.org
We, as a community, as an advocacy organization, and as a city need to be pushing the envelope on programs and infrastructure that encourage people to use active transportation. If we can’t even put some paint on the street that makes it better for cyclists how can we say we are doing that?
11 responses so far ↓
1 Mike McCann // Sep 24, 2009 at 8:13 pm
Like you stated, its better than before. This morning as I rode to this intersection there was a car stopped in the bike box, directly over the left side bicycle image. I guess they didn’t get the point.
2 Mike McCann // Sep 24, 2009 at 8:45 pm
I ride through this intersection almost every morning. Anything is an improvement, but when the City told me last spring they would be repainting the bike box on High St, I envisioned something more like what they have in Portland.
3 Hans Kuhn // Sep 24, 2009 at 8:49 pm
It would help to know two things:
* Who at the city has been contacted already?
* Who gave the answer that “if it’s needed we will consider painting it?
Once we know this, we can further encourage those staff people or look for more sympathetic people in city hall.
Given how long that bike box has been defunct there needs to be a pretty clear indicator to motorists what is expected of them. Portland not only applied paint, they also rolled out an education and enforcement campaign to ensure compliance.
http://bikeportland.org/2008/03/26/meet-mr-smooth-pdots-new-bike-box-spokesman/
4 Seager // Sep 24, 2009 at 9:46 pm
I’ve never ridden in a Portland bike box, but large areas of paint make me cringe. I find most pavement paint to be deadly slippery, do they get around this somehow in the Portland bike boxes?
5 Shane Rhodes // Sep 25, 2009 at 7:03 am
Seager,
I totally understand that concern, slippery paint, manholes, and grates are no fun! But that issue has been addressed in other areas with something added to the paint that helps grip better than the old slippery stuff.
Even in wet Portland the bike boxes are working well.
6 Shane Rhodes // Sep 25, 2009 at 7:06 am
Hans,
The BPAC and GEARs have both talked with the Transportation Planning Department and Traffic Operations Department about this and suggested to both that they apply the paint. Both are within Public Works.
Traffic Operations gave the answer that if it is needed they would consider it.
Also- fittingly bikeportland.org reported on a project by the New York DOT that was so forward thinking a local advocate said they were “thinking SO outside the box, I wouldn’t have even proposed that!”. Check that story out here: http://bikeportland.org/2009/09/24/a-look-at-nycs-cycletrack-on-steroids/
7 rex // Sep 25, 2009 at 12:23 pm
If the blue bike lanes at River Road and Beltline are any indication, any paint at 7th & High will not last very long. Remember all that “paint” ends up in the river as it wears off.
8 steve // Sep 29, 2009 at 11:23 am
A green painted bike box is what we need.What is traffic operation e-mail i do think it is time to send them as many e-mails as we can for the green painting.
9 DC // Oct 5, 2009 at 2:05 pm
Seager,
I totally understand that concern, slippery paint, manholes, and grates are no fun! But that issue has been addressed in other areas with something added to the paint that helps grip better than the old slippery stuff.
Even in wet Portland the bike boxes are working well.
10 John S. Allen // Oct 26, 2009 at 7:15 am
Let’s try to see another side to this, and let’s not put the cart before the horse. Responsbile engineering and political decisions can not always bow to pressure from advocacy groups. Research is presently underway in Portland about the effectiveness of green paint in bike boxes. Lacking experimental evidence that it is effective, there are valid reasons for a community not to use it: expense, and that as a nonstandard treatment it may lead to litigation. Advocates may generate more antipathy than support among the government officials they are trying to influence by pushing for it.
11 Shane Rhodes // Oct 30, 2009 at 1:09 pm
John,
We’ve already put the cart before the horse and this is an attempt to correct that error. We’ve already had plenty of “engineering” for the automobile and very little engineering to encourage cycling. This type of treatment creates a better environment for cyclists. If you don’t think that is true I wonder if you’ve used them or seen the effectiveness of them in practice. Moms, kids, and average citizens aren’t going to ride in an environment they don’t feel comfortable. We need to increase comfort. A bike box is clearly a tool to do that. Studies weren’t done when we put in the Eugene path system to see if they were “effective”. The community advocated for them and government officials were influenced and installed them. Now people love the system because it’s a comfortable place to ride. We need more of them.
Leave a Comment