199th & Ridgeview Intersection, featuring dedicated left-turn lanes on 199th

199th Street West of Ridgeview – Why is there no shoulder at the intersection?

199th Street West of Ridgeview – Beautiful wide shoulder

199th Street Near Woodland Road – Once again, the shoulder disappears.

The new section of 199th Street features a wide paved shoulder, making for what should be a very safe and convenient mile for both bicycles and motor vehicles. Unfortunately, the shoulder is not carried through the intersections, either at Ridgeview or at Woodland. The shoulder just disappears into nothingness, and it’s unclear why. There was certainly plenty of space on both sides of the road for the additional few feet of pavement.

With the construction at Highway 69 also completed, 199th Street is once again rideable from the state line west to Edgerton (with a small detour at Woodland, as the overpass is still under construction), and Ridgeview is also open from 191st to 207th.

It’s probably only a question of time until the remainder of 199th is similarly widened. It’s a bit of a mixed blessing, as better roads will probably lead to more traffic, but still, it’s a worthwhile tradeoff. As long as there are reasonable shoulders and reasonable speeds, the increased traffic is not a problem (see 175th Street, which made that same transition a few years ago, and is now one of the safest and most popular cycling routes in southern Johnson County).

According to the Kansas City Star:

Police said that the two were riding near Harry S. Truman Drive about 6:39 when the collision occurred. Police said both bikes were properly in the right hand lane of traffic. Police have found no signs that the pickup driver was under the influence of alcohol or drugs, leading them to believe that driver inattention might have played a role. Police are continuing to investigate.

Over 600 area cyclists rode in a slow, nearly-silent procession around the lake, taking the same route the Gaunts rode on their last ride. A local bike shop set up white “ghost bikes” to mark the site of the collision, and the entire mass of cyclists stopped there for a moment of silence to pay their respects to the fallen, before continuing on the circuit of the lake.

This was the first event of this type I’ve ever been involved with, and I must say that it was rather moving. The realization that a tragedy like this could happen to any of us at any time seemed to be an unspoken thought in everyone’s mind. To look at the roadway where they were killed, and to see that it’s an absolutely straight and level piece of road with a wide shoulder and clear sight-lines, makes it hard to fathom how something like this could happen.

I also imagine that this event was very meaningful to the Gaunt families, to see that so many people cared enough to take time to participate. I know that I was proud to be there. It felt like the right thing to do.

Here are some photos I took of the ride:

Some additional information about the accident and the memorial ride:

• Kansas City Star: Bicycling girl, grandfather both die, Another bicycle tragedy highlights need to safely share the road, Tougher penalties needed when driver error takes a life
• KCBike.info: Fatality in Grandview, Gaunt Memorial Ride
• KC Bike Commuting: Larry and Sierra Gaunt Memorial Ride Photos
• CommuterDude: Larry and Sierra Gaunt
• Missouri Bicycle Federation: 659 bicyclists gather to ride in memory of Sierra and Larry Gaunt
• WDAF-TV 4: Two Bikers Fatally Injured In Grandview, Cyclists Remember Two Bikers Killed While Riding
• KCTV 5: Riders Remember Bicyclists Killed
• KMBC-TV 9: Pickup Hits, Kills Grandfather On Bicycle, 2nd Bicyclist Dies From Pickup Collision
• KSHB-TV 41: 2 Bicyclists Killed After Crash

Missouri Highway 13 Shoulder

I really don’t understand this shoulder. It just makes no sense to me. Where is a cyclist supposed to ride? I’ve marked it up into sections:

• A – This section, between the white line and the edge of the concrete, is a great surface, smooth and clean. But it’s only about a foot wide. You could ride here, but would likely be blown off the road by passing trucks.

• B – This section features wide, deep, and continuous rumble strips. You couldn’t ride here for more than a few seconds without serious discomfort, and perhaps damage to the bike.

• C – This section features comparatively narrow and shallow, but still continuous, rumble strips. You could ride here if you had to, but it wouldn’t be pleasant.

• D – The section between the small rumble strips and the outside edge of the shoulder is the only possible place to ride. In this picture the surface is fairly wide, smooth, and clean, but that’s not always the case. This is the area where road debris such as rocks, sand, wire, glass, and nails tend to accumulate. This area of the shoulder is also the first section to disintegrate and break up into rubble. Along this section of Highway 13 I witnessed all those problems, to varying degrees.

So what’s a cyclist to do? Seems to me it’s either take your chances on the main road, or take your chances on the far section of shoulder. It’s not a great choice.

But what bugs me is that there’s no reason at all for this mess. This new roadway has a beautiful wide shoulder that’s been rendered nearly unrideable by rumble strips. I understand the reason for the rumble strips, but why are there two sets? Wouldn’t one set be enough? And what’s the point of section A? I don’t get it.

The Missouri Department of Transportation (MODOT) rumble strip guidelines call for a narrow rumble strip located under the edge line, which makes sense. The guidelines came into effect before the roadway was opened for traffic, so why weren’t these guidelines followed here?

Granted, this highway probably doesn’t receive a great deal of bicycle traffic, and the roads that connect to it (Highway 24 and Highways 13 south) are even worse. However, it is part of Adventure Cycling’s Lewis & Clark Trail, as well as being a significant north-south route and one of the few ways to cross the river for many miles in either direction.

MODOT, how can you allow a brand new road to be so screwed up, and why hasn’t it been fixed?

The one on the left was taken several months ago. In case you can’t quite make it out, that’s a hole in the center of the sign, left by a large-caliber bullet.

The one on the right is the new, pristine sign, which a road crew installed after a few months.

So why would someone do this? Either the sign was shot at random, in which case it means nothing, or someone purposely shot this particular sign. Since there were other nearby signs, and none of them were shot, you have to assume that this one was specifically targetted.

Was this intended to intimidate cyclists? From my point of view, it’s hard to look at it any other way, and it’s not a comforting thought…