For quite some time I’ve had the dilemma of whether I should cycle through Dunedin’s various barnes dance crossings or dismount then push/scoot my bike through.
I’ve usually gone for the latter because, as far as I know, the only barnes dance crossing that has a green light for cyclists to go through alongside pedestrians is the one at the intersection of Albany and Cumberland Streets.
I’ve concluded that from now on I’ll just carefully cycle through. The deciding factor has been the fact the traffic planners for the newly redesigned George Street clearly have no problems with cyclists weaving through busy pedestrian traffic. As evidenced in the second picture here, the demarcated lane for cyclists heading north up George Street suddenly disappears and it seems cyclists are expected to just merge with pedestrians. Either that or those signboards have been placed on the section where the cyclists are supposed to go and the DCC hasn’t enforced any rules with the retailers.
I’ll probably end up sending a fix-o-gram to the DCC, requesting that green lights or signage on the barnes crossings are changed to make it clearer that cyclists are allowed to cycle through, and/or that the sandwich boards on George Street are removed. What are others’ thoughts here?
I have had this dilemma too but with the Barnes dance on the cross-section of Frederick Street and Great King Street near the hospital.
My approach has been to wait for all the pedestrians to cross, and then go across the junction with the other cyclists as there is often plenty of time left over. It would be nice if they’d formally endorse her this approach or put a left turning lane for cyclist going from Fredrick Street onto Greek King Street as many people going to the hospital often mount the pavement to go around the corner if they don’t go during the pedestrian crossing time.
Kia ora e te whanau,
I agree and think that the considerate approach is the best to take - to make sure pedestrians have priority and are well looked after. If there are many pedestrians I will hop off and push along but if there are not many around and I am definitely not making it hazardous I slowly bike through as well. I have had comments from close family members (who don’t bike) that they find it annoying seeing cyclists not hopping off - but again - if you have not cycled then this is a harsh judgement I think,
Hello Fellow cyclists.
I too have often wondered about the Barnes dance dilemma. That is, to cycle or not to cycle.
I see from most posts that people are generally going with the ‘give way to Pedestrians, but otherwise go for it’ approach.
I can see the point made in one post that the new layouts in George St appear to be even more unclear (i.e. cycling with Pedestrians and both ways?), and thus going with the give way idea makes some sense.
However, I am of the opinion that road rules are road rules for a reason. It is clear on the DCC website that at Barnes Dances ‘all vehicles’ must stop. Bikes are a vehicle so therefore we need to stop. That said, there are some Barnes dance lights that have cycles in the lights and clearly with those we can go. I also see that particular differentiation (i.e. some Barnes lights with cycles and some without) as evidence that we should be stopping at those without, otherwise why have the differences in lights (i.e. some with cycles, some without).
As a final note, I have noticed both pedestrians and cars getting annoyed when cycles cruise through the Barnes dances, and feel it makes us look like we are above the law and everyone else (arrogant).
We are all road users and the more we stick to rules and show due consideration the more respect we will get.
And don’t get me started on the number of cyclists who ignore general red lights (including cycle lane reds) and stop signs.
Once again, if everyone sticks to the rules, everyone stays safe. Surely a few moments waiting is worth a bit of road harmony. After all, why piss off people driving bone crushing tanks? Better to show courtesy, abide by the rules and as Jack Nicolson once said, "why can’t we all just get along’. Happy Cycling, Mike
With Barnes dance crossings in general, opinion is divided as to be the best course of action:
Some cyclists stick rigidly to the traffic rules to avoid giving motorists more examples at how cyclists “always break the rules”.
Some hop off and become pedestrians for 15 seconds
Some wait until the pedestrians are out of the way and then slowly ride the junction
Some cycle it at speed as if they have the right
I generally do the middle of the options: if the traffic is bad and I’m probably going to be faced with finding a gap in the traffic to turn across the flow of traffic, I’d rather get over the junction ahead of the cars. If I’m at the front of the queue of traffic and I know the lights will be in my favour shortly I probably wait.
It would be really really nice if there was an accepted / legal way to be able to use the pedestrian phase.
