In Northwest Las Vegas, I motor from time to time along Lone Mountain Road between Jones and Decatur boulevards.<\/p>\n
Recently, these streets have been repainted with solid white lines designating bicycle lanes. In addition to the re-striping, the city of Las Vegas has posted reflective metal \u201cBike Lane\u201d signage, 10 to the mile.<\/p>\n
When the city marked bicycle lanes on the stretch of West Charleston that leads to the popular recreational route past the Red Rocks, that was fine by me. I have nothing against bicyclists.<\/p>\n
But I drive these streets I\u2019m talking about in the Northwest at all hours of the day and night, and there are no bicycles. Maybe an occasional teen-ager peddling a few blocks from home to the convenience store (mostly sticking to the underused sidewalks, which I happen to think very wise of them, even though that\u2019s now apparently illegal.) But in effect, streets that once carried three lanes of motor vehicle traffic in each direction have now lost a full motor vehicle lane on either side, with that space now dedicated to the use of imaginary bicyclists.<\/p>\n
The new bike lanes aren\u2019t up against the curb, you see. They\u2019re set five feet OUT from the curbs, creating a strange, five-foot-wide \u201cdead zone\u201d between curb and (imaginary) bicyclist, while placing the left handlebar of the (imaginary) bicyclist within inches of motor vehicle traffic which often zips along these thoroughfares at 50 miles an hour.<\/p>\n
Las Vegas city spokesman Jace Radke explains in an e-mail \u201cThe layout of the new bike lanes on Lone Mountain eliminates the need to constantly shift the bike lanes away from the curb at exclusive right turn lanes and minimizes conflicts between right turning traffic (the biggest complaint we get from bikers)\u2569and bikes. This layout provides an auxiliary lane along the curb that can be used for parking associated with utility maintenance, landscape maintenance, bus stops or deliveries. There is no congestion on Lone Mountain during peak hours because the traffic volumes are easily handled by two travel lanes in each direction. …\u201d<\/p>\n
Given that many automobile drivers who get into accidents with motorcycles often say they literally didn\u2019t see the motorcycle, the idea that safety is enhanced by putting even smaller, quieter bicycles with minimal lighting well out into a street in parts of town where no one expects to encounter them seems a bit odd. Nor could the city spokesfolk explain whether motorists will now be ticketed if they cross the solid lines of the unused bike paths, referring those questions to the Metropolitan Police Department, which means they\u2019ve put this plan into effect without even asking.<\/p>\n
(A Metro spokesman says officers will use discretion, but \u201cextended travel\u201d by a motor vehicle in a bicycle lane is out.)<\/p>\n
The cost of creating these bike lanes, by the way, is $3,500 per mile, and \u201cThe city maintains about 350 miles of bike lanes (this includes bike lanes on both sides of the street),\u201d Mr. Radke adds. \u201cThe bike lane network has been funded by a wide variety of funding sources including federal funds and grants. …\u201d<\/p>\n
In fact, at a time when government at all levels is pleading poverty, when the Obama administration is whining the stingy Congress won\u2019t even give them enough money to run White House tours or keep control towers open at rural airports, Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada spokesgal Angela Torres and the RTC\u2019s bicycle guy, David Swallow, confirmed last week that the RTC is currently administering a $3.1 million federally funded contract to create dedicated bike lanes on 96 miles of additional roadways, along with another 28 miles \u201cwhere you have the \u2018share-the-road\u2019 signage.\u201d<\/p>\n