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Apr

23

I ♥ Copenhagen

Filed Under Bicycling, Cities, Copenhagen, Sustainability, Transportation 

Note: Ryan Miller is a Seattle University student majoring in Political Science. He is currently studying abroad in Copenhagen and will be writing blog posts for Great City about his experiences and impressions of the Danish Capitol (and possibly other locations around Europe).


Left Behind at Lefts

Perhaps this is just me being picky, but I save a special brand of disdain for taking left hand turns (by bike) in Copenhagen. Unlike in the United States, where making a left hand turn merely involves signaling and turning, the Danes have adopted an entirely different system. In Denmark, one must cross the street as if you were going to proceed normally, signal, stop, manually back your bike out of the cycle-track, wait for the next light to change, and then finally continue normally (See illustration below.)

The Copenhagen Two-Step
Sketch credit to Between Yellow and Blue – http://betweenyellowandblue.wordpress.com/2009/04/08/copenhagen-to-two-wheels-part-1/

There are good reasons Copenhagen has adopted these measures, most notably that cycle-tracks and Danish traffic law do not allow cyclists to move over to the left turn lanes that cars use. As such, if they attempted the kind of left hand turn you are accustomed to in the States you would be darting across not only traffic moving in the opposite direction, but also any traffic moving in the same direction as you while you are in an intersection, which would be understandably unsafe and chaotic. However, this “two-stage” or “jug handle” turn does have its downsides.

First, you are waiting two cycles of a light to make a traffic maneuver that cars can accomplish in one cycle. It hardly seems like you are accommodating cyclists by forcing them to wait twice as long as cars to do a relatively simple maneuver.

Additionally, guess what the law in Copenhagen requires cyclists to do in intersections that have no cycle-tracks? The exact same thing. This bewilders me to no end. I can understand the practical problems cycle tracks create in regards to left hand turns which necessitate the two-stage turn, but when there is no cycle-track, why are cyclists still required to make this style of turn?

This style of turn is not even remotely useful for situations when a cyclist needs to make a left hand turn outside of a controlled intersection, especially when on a street with cycle tracks (for example, turning left onto a side street, notably one at a T intersection). The Copenhagen traffic code offers two possible remedies to the solution. One can either go to the next controlled intersection and make two separate two stage turns (although I have seen the maneuver made using only one by not crossing the street the first time) to make a U-turn or you can stop on the side of the cycle track and “wait until it is safe to proceed” then cross the street. Mind you, this second option is not feasible on larger, multi-lane streets, as there will rarely be a time when the lanes in both directions are clear.

The stopped bicyclist heading toward you in this photo must make a left turn by backing into the blue pocket on the left and waiting one aditional signal phase before proceeding. (Photo – Phil Miller)

Having waited for the second signal phase, these bicyclists continue on with the aid of an advanced signal. An American making this turn in the usual fashion would be a half mile away by now… (Photo – Phil Miller)

As a slight aside, when I was looking for a good illustration of what a “two stage” left looks like, I found this video from BikePortland.org describing how cyclists should adopt a Copenhagen style left hand turn in favor of the city’s plan to have riders do the EXACT SAME THING without crossing the street (Mind you, in the video, the creators claim the city’s plan requires riders to dismount their bicycles, later in the accompanying article it is clarified by Tri Met that they do not have to, contrary to what the video proclaims).

http://bikeportland.org/2009/03/03/oregonian-is-copenhagen-left-a-better-way-to-turn-on-portland-mall/

I find it interesting how the Oregonian paints the “wait” for the signal with the Tri Met (Portland) plan to be entirely unreasonable, yet the same waiting period with the “Copenhagen left” is strangely seen as just fine.

But I digress.

Surely I shall see the light soon. Maybe in about two signal cycles…

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