29 people died while biking on Michigan roads last year. So is the proliferation of bike lanes in cities across Michigan to blame? Matt Penniman with the League of Michigan Bicyclists says the painted bike lanes are okay in low traffic areas, but not on busy roads. He says one way to improve them would be to have a barrier between the bicyclist and the traffic.
“A barrier could be a curb, a row of planters, a set of flex posts or solid bollards, there are a few different designs that have been tried and in some areas of Michigan, you have parking-protected bike lanes where there is street parking between the motor vehicle travel lane and the bike lane.”
Penniman says the roads are designed to move traffic along as quickly as possible and not necessarily for the safety of cyclists and pedestrians.
