| Where the rules meet the road |
By: DAVID HENKE, Staff Writer
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Posted: Friday, July 17, 2009 11:10 pm
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The city has a little catching up to do. At least according to Bill Ostrem.
Ostrem, the chair of the Non-Motorized Transportation Task Force, is glad the city has thrown its weight behind infrastructure projects — like the bicycle lanes on Fifth Street — that promote bike riding and other alternative forms of transportation.
But a more bicycle-friendly infrastructure means more bicyclists, many of whom aren’t aware of basic bicyclist safety and traffic procedures.
The answer, Ostrem says, are more bicyclist safety and traffic awareness programs, an area where Ostrem believes the city and other local institutions have so far fallen short.
“We definitely have further to go,” Ostrem said. “I still see people riding on the wrong side of the road with bikes, riding on the sidewalks downtown and not stopping at traffic signals.”
Ostrem’s observation is echoed by Northfield Police Chief Mark Taylor, who says his department sees at least a half-dozen accidents involving a bicycle and a motor vehicle every summer — not to mention the relatively frequent, bicycle-related complaints he receives throughout the riding season.
Bicyclists are no different than any other vehicle on the road, and have to adhere to the same rules, Taylor said, but he believes that many bicycle regulations aren’t well-known in the community.
Combine that lack of understanding with the new bicycle-related infrastructure the city has incorporated in recent years, Taylor believes, and the risk of an bicycle-related accident occurring rises.
Last month, a Northfield teen was struck by a car while riding bike in a crosswalk. After looking into the related ordinance, Taylor determined that, while the law does not require bicyclists walk their bike across a crosswalk, it does say that bicyclists lose their pedestrian right-of-way when they ride their bike through an intersection.
Proper education for motorists and bicyclists alike may be the key to reducing the number of bicycle-related accidents in the community. While Taylor would like the police department to sponsor more bicycle safety courses, lack of staff and resources, he said, mitigates its efforts.
A small staff, Taylor added, also keeps the police department from enforcing bicycle ordinances consistently.
“When you only have two or three officers on, they’re busy taking calls and doing other things, and it just gets down to a time issue,” Taylor said.
Nevertheless, the police department and the city have made some steps toward building a bicycle education infrastructure in Northfield.
Taylor hopes to hire an intern next year who would be responsible, in part, for teaching bicycle safety courses. In addition, School Liaison Officer Thad Monroe and two other community members have become League of American Bicyclist-certified bike instructors, and will host traffic safety classes geared toward kids and adults later this year.
Monroe, who teaches bike safety classes to students in the Northfield School District, is skeptical about the effect the classes will have, especially on adult riders. Many of the bikers who need safety and awareness education the most won’t be inclined to attend the course, Monroe said, and without making the courses mandatory community-wide, reaching those individuals will be difficult.
Ostrem believes public notices would help get the word out. Along those lines, Ostrem said, he would like to see the city insert bike safety information on its Web site and in its newsletters.
City Engineer Katy Gehler-Hess also believes the city’s approach to non-motorized transportation is suffering from a few growing pains. Part of the problem, she said, could be resolved by several new or ongoing transportation studies, particularly the city’s Safe Routes to School study and an evaluation of Hwy. 3 and Hwy. 19 — two particularly troublesome corridors in town for non-motorized transportation. Still, education and awareness also need to be addressed, Gehler-Hess said.
“I don’t think the city or the police department will ever be done dealing with it,” Monroe said of bicycle safety issues in the community. “We’ve got a good start on the infrastructure and now it’s time to start teaching the bike users how to use it safely.”
NORTHFIELD BICYCLE-RIDING ORDINANCES
• Bicyclists have the same rights and duties on the road as the driver of any other vehicle.
• A bicycle cannot carry any more people than it is designed for, except in a baby seat attached to the bicycle.
• Bicyclists cannot attach themselves to or be pulled by any car or vehicle traveling on a roadway.
• Every bicyclist riding on a road must ride as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the road, except in any of the following situations: when that person is overtaking and passing another vehicle proceeding in the same direction; when the bicyclist is preparing for a left turn at an intersection or into a private road or driveway; when necessary to avoid conditions that make it unsafe to continue riding along the right-hand curb or edge.
• If a bicyclist is traveling on a shoulder of a roadway, the bicyclist must travel in the same direction as traffic on that side of the road.
• Bicyclists cannot ride more than two abreast on a road, and cannot impede the normal and reasonable movement of traffic.
• When turning left or right, bicyclists must signal with their arms continuously within 100 ft. of the turn, unless the arm is needed to control the bicycle.
• Bicyclists are not permitted on the sidewalks, riverwalk and pedestrian bridge within the central business district of Northfield.
— David Henke covers city, business and youth issues. He can be reached at dhenke@northfieldnews.com or 645-1100. |
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Member Opinions:
By: Townie on 7/18/09
A good reminder to brush-up on our responsibilities and regulations of bicycling.... and please stay off the downtown sidewalks!
By: SDHO on 7/19/09
A good article, but it could have been more direct about left turns. A bicyclist turning left should be IN THE CENTER OR LEFT SIDE of the car travel lane. So a bicycle on Fifth Street turning left on to Division should not be in the bike lane. (Bill Ostrem is in the correct place in the small picture in the print edition, but this is not mentioned in the text of the article.) Another important thing that could have been mentioned is car door clearance, which is a particularly strong concern downtown. Bicycles should stay far enough away from cars to allow the door to be opened a few feet without striking the cyclist (rule of thumb: if you could reach out and touch the car, you're too close). On Division Street, this basically means being mixed with the cars in the travel lane.
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