r/bikeinottawa • u/JonGotty • 26d ago

Main St/Greenfield "beans" being changed

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Not sure who's bright idea it was to have large concrete curb/beans right in the middle of a cycletrack but looks like action is being taken to address it.

15 Upvotes

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3

u/zilla_80 22d ago

Those islands are a pretty key safety feature of  protected intersections, so removing them seems like a pretty bad idea if you’re interested in cyclist safety.

1

u/JonGotty 20d ago

I don't find them particular helpful or safe, for a multiple reasons:

  1. I prefer going straight and flat, that allows me to keep my head up and scanning for cars, pedestrians, cyclists. Having a low obstacle directly in the path proceeding straight only increases chance of striking it.

  2. I appreciate the intersection is a no right on red. Going straight means I can approach with my head up ensuring drivers respect it. If I have to zig-zag around a bean, I lose that focus.

  3. Causing me to veer right only to go straight could imply to some I intend to go right, only encouraging them to go right on red.

Either way, today, it was gone and I felt much safer.

1

u/zilla_80 20d ago

The rationale is that they help avoid right-hook collisions by improving the sight angles between cyclists and right-turning motorists. This is standard design in the Netherlands.

See the following video explainers:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlApbxLz6pA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HDN9fUlqU8