This Brand New Interchange is Already Flawed

Sometimes road designs leave out a vital aspect.

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References:

Florida interchange location:

Ohio interchange location:

Full-resolution concept images used in this video:

Chapters:
Intro 0:00
How it works: 0:25
What Went Wrong 2:46
Bike Problem 4:42
Imagining Improvements 5:33
Main Problem 8:34
What You Can Do 9:14

[quadcorelatte]

That bike lane looks absolutely deadly.

I dare the designers of this interchange to bike there

[gingermany]

Based on how projects are funded by my MPO, my guess is that the purpose of that bike lane was not to be useful for cyclist and ONLY to ensure the project could receive additional federal funding meant for active transportation projects. They don't expect any cyclist to use it but they do expect to use money allocated for cyclist for more car infrastructure.

[cranelord]

It should be required for every road designer to be asked "would you let your child take that bike path" because wow that thing is deadly.

[Ninjabeefyschtick]

Designers and government officials should be forced to bike on the new lanes they designed during rush hour on a normal day

[andywolan]

5:30 - "Should this bike lane be here? No". Thank you. So sick and tired of bike lanes being placed in precarious locations along roads. This has to be the worse location of a bike lane I have ever seen in my life.

[michaelkinsella]

From a Scottish viewer. That is not bike infrastructure, it’s called a “death strip” in active travel chats.

[green]

I actually laughed in the intro when you showed the ‘bike lane’. The designers were definitely on something when they thought, “Lets put a bike lane one foot away front traffic right in the middle of the road”. One tumble the wrong way or a distracted driver is certain death

[alexflosho]

Hiya. Local resident here. This interchange makes the road to the west a living nightmare. Everybody who missed the ramp to go SB will make a U-turn to get on the SB ramp the other way. Plenty of backups.
I’m a part of some local bike groups and when they do group rides, they go over an overpass a bit to the south. It’s great for riding for the purpose of riding but impractical if you’re trying to go somewhere.
The main issue you would run into with the tunnels for the bike lanes is the water table. Houses here don’t even have basements because they would flood. There’s no way you could fit a tunnel in there. I live nearby (and I would argue even somewhat uphill) and my approximate elevation is 10ft. The ponds shown adjacent to the freeway are a great example for this.

[stevieinselby]

From my (admittedly limited) experience of driving in the USA, I remember being appalled at the directional signage along main roads, or rather the lack of it. Vague signs giving minimal indication of where any road goes or what path to take through the intersection for it, and little or no advance warning – which is not ideal when you've potentially got 4 lanes of traffic to cross to get into the lane you need!

[wimboselie]

I am Dutch and couldn't believen my eyes. A bikepath in the middle of a highway! It is mulder in the first degree.

[rockit]

First and foremost: A wonderful video with great visual design. Your solutions are so obvious from my European perspective - it's crazy that there was enough money to build a nine-lane highway with such complex traffic light features, but not enough to widen the sidewalk a bit to allow for safe cycling.

[ryn]

Sometimes in Dutch newspapers there are stories of tourists somehow ending up cycling on a Dutch highway. It never made sense to me how anyone in their right mind could end up there. I'd think 'ok maybe you confusedly took a wrong turn somewhere, I get that, but to then notice that it is a highway and just keep on cycling? That I do not understand.'

Seeing this, it makes more sense now. You guys' countries are wild.

[AndresMartinez-spjb]

OMG that "bike lane" is insane. I'm an urban cyclist in Mexico City, so you can imagine the everyday challenges and my level of craziness, but I would never ever ever use that "lane". Great video, keep going bro!

[FlyingOverTrut]

My jaw dropped at that bike lane. That seems like something out of a dystopian scifi film.

[colinpovey]

This is Florida, coastal . NO tunnels. With our heavy summer rains, the tunnels would flood, then bring in mosquitoes. Signs, lights, or at best, a bridge.

[lostcarpark]

That is the most terrifying bike infrastructure I've ever seen! Totally agree with your design.

[TaxYourLane]

Sarasota and Bradenton are a booming nightmare that only gets worse as developers continue to miss the mark in the area. As an urban planner working in the Tampa Metro I'd love to chat about some similar infrastructure failures that are developing around the Bay Area!

[Addfour]

This looks like the first and second sign are in the wrong location. Flip them and this will instantly reduce the last min lane shift. Love the commentary about the bike lanes.

[JM_RedCoat]

I'm so glad to see another urbanist from a nearby area! We need more people like you in discussing these topics and issues.

[scottthewaterwarrior]

Even ignoring everything else, a 50 MPH road with no physical barrier between the bike lane and automobile traffic is just crazy!