Rumble strips on CR 14, 5 and 3

[Andy Arhelger]

Was out on Country road 14 west of Douglas Saturday and they were adding rumble strips all the way to CR 5. Also looks like they will also be adding rumble strips to CR 5 north to Pine Island and on CR 3 south.

[annmoyer]

Are they still on the white line? If so, anyone still have the phone number of the guy we tried to call last year? I'd be happy to call him up again to discuss how disruptive the rumble strips are... It just evokes road rage in the drivers as I can't be in the shoulder--already got harassed/yelled at by some guy this spring when I was just up north of Douglas near Pine Island (even called the cops on the guy because I wasn't sure what he was going to do to me).

[Dave Hallaway]

Michael Sheehan
507 328-6001 and ask for Michael Sheehan

[e-mail]

But to be totally honest the time has passed, we went through this last summer, but not enough people showed up at the meetings. Basically we're screwed.

Olmsted County Safety plan (and it doesn't include us).
www.co.olmsted.mn.us/departments/docs/Highway/highwaysafetyplan112509.pdf

[annmoyer]

Unfortunately I wasn't able to make it to any of the meetings, but when I spoke to Michael last summer it sounded as though they were planning to consider the safety of the cyclists as well and were done with the rumble strips. Guess not so much.... I have spent a little time researching on the internet since I couldn't remember the number to call and have found that in the larger scheme of things the rumbles are part of the "toward zero deaths" campaign and have now tried to contact the appropriate parties (they're having a TZD meeting in Rochester May 20 it looks like, but I don't think it is open to the public) and have contacted my Olmsted County district representative. The efforts may not get anywhere, but I wanted to give it another try... Perhaps I'll see if I can talk to Michael again to see what changed since I spoke with him last summer as I'm a little disappointed.

[Andy Arhelger]

Yes, they are on the white line. They are slightly narrower than others, pretty much just on the line. On CR 14 there aren't any shoulders so the rumble strips are right up to the edge of the blacktop. CR 5 is concrete with a blacktop shoulder. I looks like they will put the rumble strips just outside the concrete in the blacktop. On CR 3 looks like they will go down the white line. CR 5 and CR 3 have a 5ft shoulder so the rumble strips really don't get in the way, if you ride on the shoulder.

[annmoyer]

Thanks for the info/update. That's not SO bad then, but I still hate feeling "trapped" on the shoulder and want to know about what other roads they're still planning to add them to....

[Dave Hallaway]

May 4, 2010 10:47:42 GMT -5 annmoyer said:

Thanks for the info/update. That's not SO bad then, but I still hate feeling "trapped" on the shoulder and want to know about what other roads they're still planning to add them to....

Maybe on the wide shoulders when there is not a ton of crap on the roads from the tractors, but we lost what little safety margin we had on the rest of the roads.

The goal is to add rumbles to all the county roads.

[Andy Arhelger]

Just seems ironic to me. Based on the Rah, Rah, Rochester post. Rochester just received some award from the League of American Bicyclists? Rumble strips sure don't make Rochester more friendly to bicyclists...

[annmoyer]

Don't worry, it isn't just Rochester getting the rumble strips. For anyone curious, here's the reply I got back from the "Toward Zero Deaths" coordinator:

"We are very much aware of the effect rumble strips/stripes have for the serious cyclist. The factors we consider are where the cyclist travel (usually on county roads) and the number of fatalities and serious injuries that can be prevented or reduced with low cost, high benefit safety improvements.

In the 11 counties in south/southeast Minnesota, the highest number of fatalities are the result of speed, run off the road crashes and not using a seatbelt. These are the targets the SE MN TZD Steering Committee has committed to work on in order to bring our fatalities down. Rumble strips/stripes are a low cost, high benefit proven countermeasure to keep vehicles on the road.

I don't know which county you ride in, but this year, Olmsted County is putting in several miles of rumble strips on their roadways. Their compromise to help out cyclists is to put several hundred feet of "gaps" between the rumbles so that cyclists can move over safely.

I agree that we should consider all forms of users of the roadway, but the statistics point us to the major focus areas. The stats aren't there for cyclists, however, last year I utilized Mn/DOT's statewide media distribution to send out a news release geared toward educating leisure cyclists about bicycle laws, after one man was killed riding to work on Hwy. 52 through Rochester and one of my co-workers said that a cyclist was seen on Interstate 90 riding through a construction workzone. Obviously, both of these cyclists are prohibited from riding where they were -- and one of them paid with his life.

I'm sure this is not the answer you wanted to hear, but it is the focus of our efforts. We are working toward more bike paths and bike lanes as part of the "Complete Streets" program and put them into our construction projects where it is feasible and makes sense. One such project will be on the Highway 14 beltline through Rochester.

If you would like the contact information for the county engineer in which you live, I can provide that for you.

Regards,
Kristine"


I pretty much got the message that they are more interested in keeping people who probably shouldn't be on the roads to start with from exiting the roads than they are in keeping cyclists safe because there are more drunk/sleepy/inattentive drivers than cyclists. However, I was thinking it would help if they at least put wide shoulders and no rumbles at the crests of hills and when going down hill because those are the places when I feel like the rumble strips are most likely to get me into trouble with the traffic, but I'm not sure if anyone I contacted was actually interested in listening anyway. Not sure where else to pursue it, but I haven't given up yet....

[Dave Hallaway]

Is anyone serious about trying to make a difference?
Maybe we could make this meeting.

www.minnesotatzd.org/events/workshops/SE/2010/

2010 Southeast Minnesota Toward Zero Deaths Workshop

May 20, 2010
Ramada Hotel
Rochester, MN
Workshop Description

The Southeast Minnesota Toward Zero Deaths initiative aims to create a collaborative, comprehensive, regional approach to reduce traffic deaths and severe injuries. This workshop helps facilitate this initiative and provides an opportunity to bring the program into your community.

* Draft agenda (65 KB PDF)

Who Should Attend

Community law enforcement, engineers, educators, emergency medical services, local policymakers, and other traffic safety advocates.
Workshop Goals

* Encourage traffic safety as a priority for policymakers
* Provide a method to bring traffic safety programs into your community
* Spread successes of the Southwest Minnesota Toward Zero Deaths program
* Network with other traffic safety advocates

Credit

Professional Development Hours (PDHs) will be available. Continuing Education Units (CEUs) for child passenger safety, as well as POST credit, are pending.
Cost

Workshop admission is free, lunch provided.
Sponsored By

Southeast Minnesota Toward Zero Deaths Program, including DPS Office of Traffic Safety and Mn/DOT District 6
Hosted By

Center for Transportation Studies, University of Minnesota
More Information

For questions about the workshop, please contact Southeast Minnesota TZD, Mn/DOT District 6, at 507-286-7601.

There is a RSVP form at the web site.

[Dave Hallaway]

I agree that we should consider all forms of users of the roadway, but the statistics point us to the major focus areas. The stats aren't there for cyclists, however, last year I utilized Mn/DOT's statewide media distribution to send out a news release geared toward educating leisure cyclists about bicycle laws, after one man was killed riding to work on Hwy. 52 through Rochester and one of my co-workers said that a cyclist was seen on Interstate 90 riding through a construction workzone. Obviously, both of these cyclists are prohibited from riding where they were -- and one of them paid with his life.

What did that do with rumble strips or bike safety on the county roads? About as much as the an impaired car driver driving through a building or driving the wrong way on a 4-lane highway. This is a common problem when dealing with both the DOT and the County, all discussions regarding cyclist focuses on some bike rider doing something dumb.

We don't help ourselves by blowing stop signs and riding three abreast, and I've told them to ticket us just like the car drivers who blow stop signs and traffic lights, but it is always the focus. Cyclist breaking the law, if we would just wear our little Styrofoam hats and stay off the roads everything would be just fine.

Sigh...
Rochester, Olmsted County, bike friendly, give me a break.

[wstockdell]

I just don't believe there's any way to win. Unfortunately, "advocacy" is focused on bike lanes and bike paths which means any attempts at simply maintaining the usability of roads are countered with "stick to the paths". After all, lots of money goes towards that and LAB hands out awards for it so we must just be a bunch of curmudgeons with an outsized sense of entitlement.

BTW, Dodge County is getting the grind treatment as well.

[CS]

Do we know if Rochester has accepted the LAB award yet? This might be a great opportunity to "respectfully decline" the award citing the significant room for improvement and conflicting policies of the city or county depts. Though our trail system is wonderful and probably deserves the award, but not Rochester generally.

Generally speaking it seems the public misconception that bicyclist are different than vehicles, and therefore deserve different treatment is often the root of problems. As we know, MN law says we are the same, yet "traffic" policies tend to ignore us, as does the TZD initiative.

But honestly, the majority of wide shouldered roads in the county have been rumble stripped already…is spending an evening talking with people who think they are good listeners worth missing a great evening ride?

[brogers]

Here's a link to an NPR interview with Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. Our local officials seem to be unaware of what is going on nationally.

www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126263488&ps=cprs

[wstockdell]

May 6, 2010 11:27:03 GMT -5 @CS said:

Generally speaking it seems the public misconception that bicyclist are different than vehicles, and therefore deserve different treatment is often the root of problems.

And why wouldn't they have that misconception? We lobby for special accomodations like "bike" paths and lanes. We seem to want to have it both ways, special accommodations and to be treated as like vehicles on the roads.