The "Trying To Protect The Bicyclists On Our Roads" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Driving in the city of Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  Lancaster is one of the oldest inland cities in our nation and has a population of 59,322 people.  When you add the size and population of the surrounding townships and municipalities, that's quite a few people.  And many of them have vehicles and drive on the roads of the city of Lancaster.  So, to help prevent injuries to pedestrians and bicyclists, the city has added a few new lanes to the intersections that are most congested.  As I drove south today on North Prince Street, I came to the intersection of West Liberty and Prince.  Prince is one-way south at that point.  As I crossed the intersection I noticed a lane with green painted on the right-hand side of the road.  This wasn't the first time I noticed it, but didn't know why it was there.  

Corner of West James, North Prince and Harrisburg Pike.
I must admit I am confused by the markings, but they
really drew my attention so I slowed down.

As I approached the center of Lancaster, still driving south on North Prince, I noticed another intersection at West James and North Prince also had green paint on the street.  On my right, as I headed south thru the intersection, another road intersects with Prince and James.  Harrisburg Pike comes in at a 45 degree angle on the right.  At that point was where the green paint was displayed in a few different locations.  Knew there had to be a reason so I naturally "Googled" it when I got home and sure enough, there was a reason posted for the green paint.  The green patches indicate "Watch out!  A bike could cross here!"  Technically, the green patches are called "conflict points" which are designated areas where bicyclists and motorists may meet during travel, and therefore both should exercise heightened awareness about the possible presence for one another.  Good idea, so it is!  The green colored lane helps to enhance the visibility of a bicycle lane and it does work.  

I found this chart online.  I'm not sure I understand the
reasoning that is shown, but that may be me.  Click to enlarge.

At least for now or until the green paint gets so faded that it will blend in with the blacktop.  The city of Lancaster started a bicycle network a few years ago in hopes of getting cars off the streets in the downtown area.  A series of bike stations line the city with about three miles of bike lanes which are reserved for bicycles.  I posted a story about the stations a few years ago, but recently it was found that people just aren't using the stations.  Each station has bicycles you can rent and return to any one of the stations.  The green lanes were to help with the quantity of bikes the city was hoping would replace motorized vehicles.  Sad to say it's not working, but the green lanes do help those that do frequent the city streets on bikes.  I must admit, you can't fail to see the green lanes as you approach so they hopefully will help prevent accidents at heavily traveled intersections in the city of Lancaster.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.