Strolling around the perimeter of Golden Gate Park I noticed something unusual and, what appeared to be, slightly uncomfortable: cyclists riding down the center divide of two-way vehicle traffic through an intersection. “What the heck is this?” I wondered. Then I laughed. The city had created an intersection where, on one side, the median had nice landscaping and a bike path and, on the other side, the median was just a concrete median where they ran out of the necessary width to continue the path.

Cyclists were intended to enter the path via crossing halfway in the crosswalk and riding down the center of the intersection to the opposite side where the path begins. Exiting the path cyclists where intended to cross down the center to the opposite crosswalk and cross to ether side when the light changed. Now notice to get to or from the bike path there is going to be some sort of delay because you're waiting for a phase change before you can proceed.

This is one of those special situations where cyclists ask themselves “Do I really want to cross traffic to access a separate bike path with a bunch of other pedestrians and cyclists or should I just ride up the road 'cause it would save me time?” The answer will probably depend on whether you're riding for enjoyment, a certain level of recreation, or as a commuter. You could be the super savvy rider who crosses through traffic to access the path but this takes a level of skill and, again, the effort would be related to the purpose of the ride (or maybe how much you want to show off).

On a Saturday, waiting for a signal phase change to access this particular bike path was appealing to almost every cyclist. Must be a good path. With that much interest it got me thinking about medians everywhere. For areas where medians are relatively uninterrupted by intersections maybe we should consider median paths more often. Unfortunately I can't think of too many places they would be useful, at least in Eureka. But its worth some more thought. New traffic designs always present conflicts with existing infrastructure but, once in place, they can also force the future design of mobility. As people prefer certain designs over others, as they are presented with a variety of options, we may find ourselves commuting around a completely different city; one that may cater to our mobility and allow us to breath a little easier. Cheers to problematic design concepts!