@mrbarricade: Protected bike lanes are only as safe as what happens at the intersection. In this video, I’m showing a New York City style mixing zone, where right turning cars cross over the protected bike lane before the intersection. In this case, the bike lane continues straight and is raised like a speed table, while the right turn pocket sits to the right of it. That means the conflict between bikes going straight and cars turning right happens in advance, instead of right at the signal. The reason cities use this design is simple: if you move the merge before the intersection, you can often avoid needing a separate bike signal. Bikes and turning cars sort themselves out ahead of time, similar to how a conventional bike lane works when vehicles merge across it before turning. But this is also where design philosophy matters. I generally prefer a more protected intersection design, where the bike space stays protected all the way up to the corner with a corner island, tighter geometry, and clearer separation of movements. If bikes stay to the right of a dedicated right turn lane all the way to the intersection, then you usually need a bike signal or some kind of protected phase, because otherwise right turning vehicles are cutting directly across a through bike movement at the intersection itself. That conflict has to be managed somehow. Another option is to skip the exclusive right turn pocket entirely. Let right turning drivers cross the bike lane from a shared through lane before the corner, which can reduce signal complexity and still work well if volumes are manageable. But when right turn volumes are heavy, cities often feel pressure to create a turn pocket, and that is where mixing zones come in. They move the conflict upstream. I still tend to prefer handling that conflict with stronger protection and signal separation at the intersection itself, rather than asking people biking and driving to negotiate it in a merge area. New York City has used mixing zones for years on many protected bike lane corridors, especially where they were trying to fit a lot into limited space. But over time, NYC has also pushed many newer projects toward stronger intersection protection, including offset crossings, hardened corners, and more protected treatments that better control turning speed and improve visibility. That evolution shows an important lesson: building a protected bike lane is only step one. The real test is how you carry that protection through the intersection, where most of the serious conflicts happen. #ProtectedBikeLane #ProtectedIntersection #BikeInfrastructure #UrbanPlanning #StreetDesign

MrBarricade

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Wednesday 01 April 2026 05:16:27 GMT