Avoid A New Bike Lane?

As odd as it sounds, we’re suggesting that riders avoid a new bike lane in Cleveland.

Riders traveling eastbound on Lorain Avenue at W20th Street will now see a new, green highlighted bike lane heading up onto the span of the Lorain-Carnegie Bridge. We highly suggest that you do not take it. It is short-lived, and quicky disappears and drops riders into the sharrow (shared) lane that has existed there for years.

We suggest that riders continue to use the separated bikeway on the north side of the bridge. It is an overwhelmingly safer option on a bridge that is well-known as a haven for speeding motorists on the move to make the highway connection on the other end. Riders should carefully merge into the left turn lane, OR do a “Copenhagen Left” at W20th to connect with the bikeway. The “Copenhagen Left” is a 2-stage turn where you ride most of the way through the intersection, but then stop, turn your bike in the direction you want to go and wait for the green light to proceed across Lorain and onto the bikeway.

But there is good news. While the lane described above should be reconsidered by the City, and replaced with a formal 2-Stage Turning Box – there are buffered bike lanes being installed on Lorain between W25th and the bridge that will serve as a temporary connection until the protected 2-way cycletrack of the Lorain Midway project comes online. These buffered lanes are a welcome addition to the corridor in the meantime, and will also include delineator posts in the very near future.

Westbound Lane

Eastbound Lane