Eyes on the Street: Oakland's Impossible Bike Cut-Through is Open - Streetsblog San Francisco

"Oakland cyclists are watching with delight as the city makes steady progress with its Lakeside Family Streets project, which is adding concrete-protected bike lanes on Harrison and Grand, plus safer pedestrian crossings. Another short but sweet feature of the project just opened: a cut-through ramp for cyclists going north-south on Harrison (see lead image). Bike East Bay's Robert Prinz recently "took the liberty of biking through it ... I don't know if it is officially open yet or not, or if someone moved the barriers, but it seemed to work for me.""

"The argument was that it was impossible to do because of the roots of the trees in the pictures. Instead, northbound cyclists would be expected to turn east, make a U-turn, backtrack to the corner, and then turn north again to continue."

"Oakland made this an issue only because they insisted on having six lanes for cars on Harrison (two for drivers going north, two for drivers going south, a parking lane, and a new right turn pocket for northbound drivers on Harrison to turn east onto Grand). Why the new turning lane? When they closed the dangerous slip lane that used to exist here, they converted the existing northbound bike lane into a turning lane for cars. So yes, even on a bike safety project, avoiding even a minute of driver delays was still the highest priority."

The Lakeside Family Streets project adds concrete-protected bike lanes on Harrison and Grand and improves pedestrian crossings. A newly opened cut-through ramp now allows cyclists to travel directly north-south on Harrison. City engineers initially avoided a direct route, citing tree roots, and planned a detour requiring eastward turns, a U-turn, and backtracking. The project preserved six car lanes on Harrison and added a right-turn pocket, which converted the former northbound bike lane into a turning lane for cars. Advocate pressure prompted engineers to devise a direct ramp solution, though the ramp includes a notably steep 16 percent grade.

Read at Streetsblog