Susan from Denver writes, “What's driving you crazy? On 7th Avenue there is a parking lane, bike lane and drive lane. What is the appropriate place to make a right turn--go into the parking lane or stay in the driving lane?”
This is a concern for some drivers but more so for bike riders on streets around Denver where a bike lane has been added next to the vehicle travel lane. I went down to 7th Ave between Williams and York to watch how drivers are handling those right-hand turns. To put it simply, they weren’t good at it. I watched driver after driver drift across the bike lane and the parking lane to make the right turn. I only saw one driver over a 2-hour period turn correctly from the vehicle travel lane.
The way the lanes work, specifically on 7th Ave, is drivers should already be in the vehicle lane that is to the farthest left of the roadway. Then there are two white lines to the right of the vehicle. As you should know from previous Driving You Crazy stories, we aren’t supposed to cross double white lines. Those lines separate the vehicle lane from the unprotected bike lane. Then there is the bike lane and to the right of that are two more double white lines that separate the dedicated bike lane from the on-street parking lane. Parking is allowed along 7th Ave except for the 1st Thursdays between April and November for street sweeping.
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The way you make a right turn, now knowing how the lanes are laid out, let’s say you are driving west on 7th from York and want to turn right on Vine Street where there is no stop sign. You stay in your travel lane, watch for bike riders who may be beside you or behind you and then turn right onto Vine Street. Don’t drift over the double white lines into the bike lane or into the parking lane to make the right.
If you wanted to turn right a bock farther down at Race Street where there is a stop sign, you do the exact same thing as you did at Vine Street. Stay in the vehicle travel lane, watch for bike riders, stop at the sign, watch for cross traffic on Race Street and then make the right from that vehicle lane. Don’t drift over into the bike lane or parking lane before stopping at the sign and making that right turn.
According to Denver Police, drivers can be cited for “Disobedience to a Lane Assignment” by crossing the double white lines before making that right turn, however, they say drivers are permitted to cross the lines to enter or exit a parking space.
Denver’s Department of Transportation and Infrastructure (DOTI) tells me along other roads where they have installed similar bike lanes they have also installed “interventions” where they have seen a high-volume of vehicles using the bike lane to turn right. Those interventions include curb extensions, bollards and flex posts. DOTI says those devices will help increase the safety of both bicyclists traveling through those turns as well as the drivers turning at intersections.
Denver7 Traffic Expert Jayson Luber says he has been covering Denver-metro traffic since Ben-Hur was driving a chariot. (We believe the actual number is over 25 years.) He's obsessed with letting viewers know what's happening on their drive and the best way to avoid the problems that spring up. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram or listen to his award winning Driving You Crazy podcast on any podcast app including iTunes, iHeartRadio, Spotify, Podbean, or YouTube.
