I know that this rant is ultimately going to be pointless but I'm at least hoping it will make me feel a wee better. A group of us ride 100 or so miles every weekend. Usually we ride in the north hills. Often we end up at some point on Saxonburg Blvd. (as do many other cyclists). This weekend was no different but since the last time I was there someone, I'm assuming Penn DOT, put those damned grooved rumble strips down the white lines for most of the blvd. Maybe it's a safety benefit for cars but I predict someone will be seriously injured or die because cyclists are now forced into the traffic lane. There aren't that many cars but they move fast and there are plenty of blind curves. This isn't the only example that makes no sense. Check out the section of Rt. 50 that makes up the gap in the Montour trail at Venice, same thing. Does any one at Penn DOT ride a bike?
We've talked with PennDOT time and time again on this. Since their mission is safety first, and sometimes safety only, PennDOT loves the white line runble strips.
We've tried to work with them to stress the importance of maintaining bike access to the shoulder by breaking the rumble strips at regular intervals. I assume that was done on Saxonburg Blvd? Can you get to a shoulder that is safe to ride on at all?
The rumblestrips on Saxonburg qualify as an annoyance more than a hazard.
There are breaks in the rumble strips but what good are they unless cars are zipping by exactly a the same time that a break appears? The road does have a shoulder but this time of year there is too much debris to just stick to the shoulder so you'd end up weaving back and forth from road to shoulder as the breaks in the rumble strip allowed. It's very unsafe adn someone is going to get nailed.
If they care so much about safety they should be lowering the speed limit, not installing devices to remind people to get back in the lane.
I think motorists who are inclined to drive off the side of the road should be encouraged to do so whenever possible. It might increase the number of single-vehicle accidents, but at least they're not taking anybody else with them.
...except for the cyclist riding on the shoulder
There is no evidence of lower rates of hit-from-behind cyclist fatalities on roads with rumble strips than on roads without them. These things are meant to protect motorists from the consequences of their own poor choices - usually DUI or failing to pull off and sleep.
I was just pointing out that there are definitely other people who get hurt/killed by cars driving off the road, and unfortunately those people are us. I don't think the rumble strips are going to do anything to help that - even if they do rouse the sleeping/drunk motorist, it's likely too late for the cyclist anyways.
I was just wondering about Saxonburg blvd as a northern route out of the city... best to avoid? Alternatives?
Exactly right. But they only hurt us if we're there - and most of the time we aren't. Given that, it's better if they run completely off the road the first time, rather than drive off onto the shoulder and back time after time after time. See what I mean?
SPC just posted the draft bike suitability maps for Butler County earlier this month. Saxonburg shows up as bike friendly in stretches, average for cyclists in others. But, it is far more friendly than some other roads heading north in that general vicinity. http://www.spcregion.org/pdf/biketrailmaps/evalmaps/butler/Map13_BUCO.pdf
Meh.
I just rode this on my road bike this morning. Not at all an issue on 700x25s. I rode it last week on a full suspension mtn bike with 29x2.25s, as expected, not at all a problem. I don't at all see how these would force anyone to ride in traffic any more than a stripe of paint would do so.
No mention of the rumble strips from the 4 or 5 co-workers who have ridden the same stretch either.
Don't know. Maybe it's just me being overly paranoid but the rest of the group I was with felt unsafe. It could also be what we were riding 700X23 tires and we were in a pace line. Unless it's wet I'm usually on or just to the right of the white line on Saxonburg. I guess we could stick to the shoulder but that didn't seem like a consistent option. The section we rode was from Cherry Valley to the Eat'n Park. Eric, where were you usually located this morning? (traffic lane, white line, shoulder)
I'm probably not going to make any friends saying this, but riding a paceline is an inherently dangerous thing to do on public roads. Yes rumblestrips add to the danger, but the danger only exists from the close following distances in the first place.
I spend most of my time to the left of the white line, leaving the shoulder as a buffer to move into to allow traffic to overtake me when I deem it safe. I've always found riding too close to/on the white line invites drivers to pass in my lane, and too close to me for comfort.
