I was vacationing somewhere that had a lot of very nice looking bike paths, but 90% of the cyclists I saw were on the road. I asked the LBS about it and they said the paths were far too dangerous, motorists coming out of driveways and entrances to housing developments had all their attention on the main road they were entering and often didn't see cyclists on the paths. Car/bike collisions were common. So most of the experienced cyclists opted to ride the road instead.

And I second the advice to walk your bike when using a pedestrian crosswalk. The closest I ever came to getting hit was when I rode on a crosswalk. Now I either get off and cross as a pedestrian, or get in line with the cars and ride right in the lane. For 4 lanes of traffic plus turning lanes I would probably take the pedestrian option.