Reactions to Cleveland's Backwards Bike Lane

Cleveland is experimenting with an interesting design for bike lanes, one where a marked buffer lies not between bikes and vehicles, but between bikes and curb. Please see the article for a photo of the actual situation in Cleveland. It differs a lot from the usual buffered lane. From the article by Michael Andersen: "If you've got at least two feet of roadway to spare, you lay down some hash marks between car and bike lanes and double the comfort of biking on a street."

Nathan Wilkes of the Austin transportation department remarked, "The only use I have seen as shown in the photo is if there were parked cars to the right of the bicycle lane where there was more concern about the door zone than the moving traffic. In short it looks to be a waste of buffer material applied incorrectly."

Cleveland engineers argued that their design reduces the chance of cars turning right in front of bikes. Other reasons for the curious design might include using the wind from passing trucks to clear debris, or to make plowing snow easier.