Facilities Assignment 2 - Contraflow Bike Lanes

For the second facility assignment, we looked at contraflow road ways. Simply put, a contraflow bike path is a two lane bike path, one lane in either direction, with a single lane being large enough to fit a one way car lane. The name contraflow comes from the counter flow of transportation methods, compared to one another. In this case, as pictured, a one way car and bike line has a counter flow of only bikes, going in the opposite direction. This helps to limit car traffic, slowing them down and promoting other forms of transportation. As such, biking is a priority here and so when a car is present, they must wait for the cyclists. 

What is effectively done is not saying one form of transportation is allowed or not allowed, but rather an encouragement is made for biking. A discouragement is made at the same time for cars, but they are not blocked off entirely. For a residential area, this allows families to still own cars; move bulky items, go on road trips, or even allow someone injured to use a car if needed. Or everyone else, daily life could still be done by bike and so they are encouraged to do so by this method. Similar to the unsignalized intersection, the simple design of a contraflow bike path means cheap and easy installation. 

The image provided could be easily imaged in many neighborhoods around Corvallis, some of which are already one way for cars to begin with. Some new signage and painting could encourage the use of these one way roads as contraflow bike lanes. This might encourage those who live there to bike, rather than drive, to work or school. As more are implemented, in addition to other bike friendly, livable infrastructure, the option to bike would become more and more appealing to daily users.