Bulb-outs, while useful in most cases, do have a number of drawbacks. They are very expensive to build, and often cause conflicts for bike lanes. It is much better to do these projects as full-blown Protected Intersections — which as it turns out can be much cheaper:
In 2010, Berkeley received a Safe Routes to School grant to add pedestrian bulb outs at this busy intersection. Hundreds of students cross this section everyday, which connects the North Berkeley Branch Library with neighboring parks and schools. Bulb outs shorten crossing distances for walking and place pedestrians where they are more visible to drivers. However, because bulb outs cause water to drain differently on the street, they are costlier to design.
When the project was delayed due to engineering staff constraints, Caltrans threatened to rescind the grant to fix the intersection. To their credit, Berkeley staff jumped into action. They quickly figured that the drainage design challenges are minimized by moving the bulb outs into the street. This move allowed them to maintain existing curb lines and drainage. Then, by moving the bike lane behind the bulb outs – abracadabra! – Berkeley created a protected intersection.
All bulb-out projects should be done this way.
It seems like this would cause more right hooks. How do they prevent that?
Protected intersections are designed to reduce the risk of right-hook by improving the sight-lines between drivers and cyclists. Motorists turning right are more perpendicular to the cycle path, giving better view of oncoming cyclists. The turn radius is also reduced, to slow turning cars.
Where’s this quote from?
BikeEastBay – https://bikeeastbay.org/news/clever-design-brings-protected-intersection-berkeley
[…] All bulb-outs should be designed as protected intersections (Systemic Failure) […]
I wonder why they don’t just build a ring path around a single-lane roundabout. What are the advantages of this design compared to a roundabout with a ring path?
The Berkeley fire dept would probably not approve of a round-about on a major arterial like this.