Bloomington, IN — 7-Line East

Bloomington, IN — 7-Line East - benfulton

benfulton — Wed, 15 Mar 2023 15:04:37 GMT

@activenashville Yes, directly ahead is the next part of the 7-Line. I happened to turn right that day, but I'll do another video on that part, because it's a terrific biking route!

I have to think that they have future plans for the single block between the guard shack and Woodlawn, because the entire route is great for biking except for that block. You saw the problems travelling west, but travelling east can be even worse - there's no bike lane and cars can back up trying to get into that parking lot, so you either have to suck exhaust while waiting them out, or rudely jump up on the sidewalk and dodge pedestrians to get around them.

Bloomington, IN — 7-Line East - Alexander Harding

Alexander Harding — Wed, 15 Mar 2023 14:58:29 GMT

@benfulton Oh that makes sense, it sounds like you're on an ebike. And thanks for the information on width. This style of "pinch point" is something I want to push for us to do in Madison because we haven't yet - the narrowest we've ever gone is 10' travel lanes with 2' gutter. Our bump outs always maintain the travel lane width unfortunately

Bloomington, IN — 7-Line East - benfulton

benfulton — Wed, 15 Mar 2023 14:50:18 GMT

@alex Yes, the bumpouts are nice! Generally the design is to have the road width at 18 feet, with an 8-foot speed cushion in the middle, so a five-foot lane on either side.

That protected corner is a nice way to minimize the distance you have to go to cross Union Street, but there isn't enough traffic there for a fast biker to use it - it's easier to cut diagonally across like I did. On a scooter, or biking with children, it would be pretty handy!

Bloomington, IN — 7-Line East - Active Nashville

Active Nashville — Wed, 15 Mar 2023 14:14:19 GMT

A nice ride, thanks for posting it!

0:02, I wish planners would just stop putting in swooping bends on walking and biking paths for no reason. Biking and particularly walking are slow enough, they don't need to have the distances extended by indirect paths.

I agree with Alexander that the "protected corner" on the intersection at 2:50 is interesting, but seems less functional than how you rode it, staying in the road.

I'm interested in the little bike lane on the left at 5:57, it looks like it turns into a bike path up ahead on the left. The bike rider ahead of you used that lane, but the truck pulling out in front of him/her illustrated some of the conflict that an arrangement like that can cause. Do car drivers eve know that turn lane is there? Perhaps it could use some green/blue paint showing the direction of the bike lane through the intersection.

Bloomington, IN — 7-Line East - Alexander Harding

Alexander Harding — Wed, 15 Mar 2023 03:10:26 GMT

Really looks like a pretty peaceful ride to campus! Thanks so much for sharing, it’s great to see what other cities are doing.

1:15, 1:31, 1:50, 2:04, 2:17, 2:33 Those bump out & speed bump hybrids look very nice to bike though. All of the speed bumps where I live go across the entire street and it sucks. Do you know what the width is, from curb to curb, of those bump outs?

2:52 - that two-way bike path “protected corner” on the intersection is interesting. Do people use it?

4:34 nice two way bike path to separate cars and pedestrians. And people walking seem to be keeping off of it too, even! 😜