Forgetting suburban roads are wide, maybe too wide at times?

[shootingstar]

Maybe I've been cycling too much within cities but over the last few weeks, I've gone cycling out in the suburbs (Washington state) and suburbs closer to Vancouver here:

I had forgotten how wide some of the roads running through even centre of towns, can be. It actually is a bit ridiculous especially if a town wants people to stop and shop in their central areas but also make it pleasant for people to hang out.

On one hand wide roads great, if there are no bike lanes. On the other hand, it seems to encourage car speeding. In fact, I believe from urban design /transportation planning perspective, this has been proven repeatedly. Then the car volumes build up, with many more speeding cars.

I guess I prefer cycling on medium wide roads with or without bike lanes, roads with maximum of 2 lanes in each direction and a left-hand turning lane. Of course, on high speed highways one wants a wide shoulder or in general, for any road.

[PscyclePath]

Absolutely... in fact some of the more effective means for traffic calming are to narrow the lanes, allow curbside parking, or add trees along the side of the road to give motorists the perception that the road really isn't as wide as it is, and they ought to slow down and pay closer attention.

Some motorists, of course, take a lot more convincing than others ;-)