Bicycling

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“Oops, bike lane was a mistake… Uh, good luck turning right”: Commuter protests “worst cycle lane in the world” – which runs down the middle of the road and was designed “just to save 20 parking spots” – with homemade signs

From the boulevards of Paris to the sunny streets of San Francisco… Never say I don’t take you anywhere on the live blog.

Well, over in San Fran (that’s what they call it, isn’t it?), a controversial cycle lane – which runs, for some reason, up the middle of a main city street – and the “dangerous, ridiculous” construction signs which currently run along it, have inspired one bike riding commuter to install her own, cutting bike lane signs. Valencia Street cycle lane signs 4 (Danielle Baskin)

The new cycle lane on the Californian city’s Valencia Street runs down the middle of the road, with traffic passing on either side.

Cyclists using it are protected by the odd plastic bollard and small rubber kerbs. They have also had to, for the last three months, navigate the large construction signs currently lining the centre of the bike lane for its duration.

Mission Local reports (link is external) that plans for the cycle lane were approved, despite lukewarm support, in a bid to avoid removing delivery spaces on either side of the road. As the bike lane has been built, several cyclists have crashed – including into the signs – and traffic experts have been scathing of the scheme (link is external), describing it as “an abomination” and the “worst infrastructure I have ever seen anywhere in the world”.

Over the past week – in a bid to highlight the absurdity of the cycling ‘infra’ – a local cyclist has launched her own protest by swapping out the much-derided constructions signs with satirical ones of her own making. Valencia Street cycle lane signs (Dylan Hunn, Twitter)

Nine new signs appeared along the cycle path last week, each highlighting the problems with the lane’s layout.

“Uh, good luck turning right,” read one, while another said: “LOL IDK how you will merge.”

Others included: “We regret this bike lane”, “Good luck cyclists”, “LMAO We didn’t think this thru”, “If fire truck comes IDK”, and ““Oops bike lane was a mistake”.

The anonymous jokester, who commutes on Valencia Street every day, told the local paper that she installed the homemade messages because she finds the original signs “pretty ridiculous”.

“They’re an obstruction to cyclists, and also extremely confusing,” she said, noting that on one of her rides she saw one of the signs cracked in half after a cyclist hit it. That inspired her to make slogans lampooning the “dangerous” nature of the signs themselves. Valencia Street cycle lane signs 3 (Danielle Baskin)

Explaining her “good luck turning right” sign, she said: “If you have a green light and the cars have a green light, there’s this little square you have to wait in, but you don’t have much time. You have to make eye contact with drivers and let them let you make a right turn.”

Meanwhile, her fire truck-related sign was a result of the local authority’s decision to also make the cycle lane the designated lane for emergency services.

“Imagine you’re on your bike and there’re cars on both sides, and then the fire truck comes down. Where do you go?” she asked. Valencia Street cycle lane signs 2 (Danielle Baskin)

Despite encountering some opposition from the local authority – who promptly took the signs down – the cyclist returned over the weekend to keep spreading the message.

“Ultimately, I don’t think it’s the best vision for Valencia Street,” she said of the much-maligned cycling infra.

“They did all this just to save 20 parking spots. It’s frustrating because Valencia would be such a nice street, if the focus was on bikes and pedestrians.”