Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In

We have bike lanes like this where I live, especially after winter: The ones so faded you can barely make them out.

This faded bike lane sits right outside the Minneapolis Bike Coalition's office. Photo: Streets.mn
This faded bike lane is outside the office of the Minneapolis Bike Coalition. Photo: Streets.mn
false

Scott Shaffer has noticed this problem in Minneapolis, and he makes an interesting point about it at Network blog Streets.mn.

That last photo [at right] is right outside the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition’s office, poignantly enough. These bike lanes have been erased by cars driving over them. The paint has been worn away.

It’s not just the bare pavement that’s the problem. It’s the etiology of the faded paint that destroys the bike lane. (Etiology means the study of causes. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire, essentially.) A bike facility with faded paint can still function. The paint has faded on park trails and the Midtown Greenway, but these bike facilities still work great. What I’m talking about it when the paint is worn away by a torrent of car tires, which not only removes the paint, but more importantly it weakens the belief that the pavement is dedicated to bicyclists. The street is saying, “Cars drive here. This is not a dedicated space for bikes. Ceci n’est pas une bike lane.

A bike lane isn’t just a physical thing — it’s a social construct. Like money, it only matters because we all act like it does. Bike lanes serve their purpose if and only if street-users agree that these striped strips of pavement are dedicated for people on bicycles. Not for parking, not for snow storage, not for walking, not for corner-cutting cars, but for bikes. The fading of the paint, and the cause of the fading, erodes this foundation. It erases confidence in the bike lane, not just the paint.

Shaffer notes that drivers respect curbs more than paint. What Minneapolis needs now, he says, is protected bike lanes.

Elsewhere on the Network today: Transportation for America shares President Obama's warning that federal transportation funding insolvency could cost the nation as many jobs as there are people in Denver. Mobilizing the Region offers a compendium of proposed solutions for the Highway Trust Fund revenue shortfall, and wonders whether Congress will act on any of them. And Keep Kids Alive, Drive 25 argues that Americans' squeamishness about death prevents us from confronting the serious risks associated with driving.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Monday’s Headlines Are Dragging Their Feet

The Trump administration claims the Biden administration left them with a backlog — but they've actually been far slower at getting transportation money to states than their predecessors, a new analysis finds.

July 14, 2025

These U.S. Communities’ So-Called ‘Complete Streets’ Policies Don’t Even Deserve the Name

Any city can call itself a "Complete Streets" champion. But not all of them are walking the walk — and if they don't, a top organization says they'll no longer give them a platform on its esteemed "best of" ranking.

July 14, 2025

Communities Rally To Reclaim Streets From ICE Terror

"This is an attack on Los Angeles. This is an attack on California. On all of us."

July 11, 2025

Friday Video: The London Neighborhood Where Bikes Outnumber Cars

...and how they got to that impressive milestone.

July 11, 2025

Friday’s Headlines Battle Galactus

Like the Marvel supervillain, U.S. interstate highway system seems to eat up everything in his path. A new book explores how to stop it.

July 11, 2025

New Report Shows Pedestrian Fatalities Drop — But Experts Say Not Enough

The Governors Highway Safety Association report showed a 4 percent drop in the number of pedestrian deaths last year, putting a slow on a dangerous trend — but advocates say the drop isn't nearly big enough.

July 11, 2025
See all posts