The sub header of the article describes it best.

“This can only end well,” said anyone who has ever ridden a bike through traffic, ever

  • grue@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    This design is actually good – it’s a Dutch-style shared street. (See other examples here and here).

    Edit: and here’s a NotJustBikes video that shows the design.

    Don’t fall for Jalopnik’s pro-car spin.

    • numbscroll@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      I trust the Dutch with this design, bikes are treated as priority with a lot of respect. Not the same in the US… and in this test, I especially wouldn’t trust college town kids and local drivers who asked for (and got) additional parking on the same street.

      • grue@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        You never arrive at your destination unless you start moving towards it. Knock it off with the defeatist American exceptionalism.

        • numbscroll@kbin.social
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          1 year ago

          I’m going to assume positive intent and not the hostile tone “knock it off” reads like to me.

          True… roundabouts took some time but are pretty prevalent now in my region and people have gotten used to them. I don’t think the US shouldn’t try things, just pointing out a difference in culture and attitude towards cars & bikes in the US compared to Dutch. I also don’t think a college town is the right place to test something like this, maybe I’m wrong and discounting younger drivers too heavily.

    • CanadianCorhen@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      We have a couple of these in my local community. Same thing happened, a bunch of hysterical postings, and then it worked and people just forgot about it

    • klieg2323@lemmy.piperservers.net
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      1 year ago

      Glad someone made this comment before me. Here’s the MLive article the clickbait is based on. You can learn more about edge lane roads here.

      Generally these are good for slower speed routes that don’t seea lot of traffic. Residential streets are a perfect example. It’s basically how drivers instinctively navigate down slow narrow streets. Not too familiar with that area of Kalamazoo to know if it’s a good fit for that road but I’m generally in favor of this road layout and think we need more of them in the US so it’s not seen as some scary confusing thing by motorists.

        • klieg2323@lemmy.piperservers.net
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          1 year ago

          Considering Edge lane roads have reduced crashes by 44% in the US I’d say they fare pretty well with American vehicle ownership. When drivers are sharing the lane with oncoming traffic, it tends to slow their cars down a bit regardless of size. I’d even wager that larger trucks feel the calming effects of this tight road design more than a small car.

          Plenty of neighborhoods in the us with parked cars on both sides of a bidirectional travel lane wide enough for one car. Cars go slow and negotiate for space. It’s a very similar concept here.