Bicycles on Garden State Parkway

[andy gee]

I've just returned from a bicycle mini-vacation: New York -> Bradley
Beach -> Atlantic City -> Philadelphia -> New York. US Route 9 between New
Gretna NJ and Port Republic NJ joins the Garden State Parkway for the bridge
over the Mullica River. There are small decals where 9 joins the GSP
showing a bike and a pedestrian in circles with a red slash. There is no
sign spelling out a prohibition against bicycles. The only other option is
a 20 mile detour to the next bridge and back. Needless to say, I took the
Parkway.

Doesn anyone have any background on this? How can it be possible for a US
Highway (i.e. not a state or county road, not an Interstate, etc) to be
closed to any sort of traffic? Is the GSP really closed to bicycles by law
or are they just putting up an unworded sign to scare people away?

--ag


--
-------------------------------
80 miles per pound of kamut
www.graffitirider.blogspot.com
nyc.mybikelane.com

[sally]

"andy gee" <andygee@interREMOVEport.net> wrote in
news:470e24d0$0$11079$4c368faf@roadrunner.com:
> Doesn anyone have any background on this? How can it be possible for a
> US Highway (i.e. not a state or county road, not an Interstate, etc) to
> be closed to any sort of traffic? Is the GSP really closed to bicycles
> by law or are they just putting up an unworded sign to scare people
> away?

Laws may vary from state to state, but I think that freeways can be closed to
bicycles if there is a convenient alternative route available.

[Mark]

On Oct 11, 8:27 am, "andy gee" <andy...@interREMOVEport.net> wrote:
> I've just returned from a bicycle mini-vacation: New York -> Bradley
> Beach -> Atlantic City -> Philadelphia -> New York. US Route 9 between New
> Gretna NJ and Port Republic NJ joins the Garden State Parkway for the bridge
> over the Mullica River. There are small decals where 9 joins the GSP
> showing a bike and a pedestrian in circles with a red slash. There is no
> sign spelling out a prohibition against bicycles. The only other option is
> a 20 mile detour to the next bridge and back. Needless to say, I took the
> Parkway.
>
> Doesn anyone have any background on this? How can it be possible for a US
> Highway (i.e. not a state or county road, not an Interstate, etc) to be
> closed to any sort of traffic? Is the GSP really closed to bicycles by law
> or are they just putting up an unworded sign to scare people away?
>
> --ag
>
> --
> -------------------------------
> 80 miles per pound of kamutwww.graffitirider.blogspot.com
> nyc.mybikelane.com

IIRC a US Highway has a minimum speed limit of 35mph, which that type
of traffic can not meet. No it doesn't have to be 4 lane to be
restricted. The signs are unworded for people who either, 1. can't
read at all or 2. can't read english. It is the international
standard road signs.

[Don Piven]

andy gee wrote:
> I've just returned from a bicycle mini-vacation: New York -> Bradley
> Beach -> Atlantic City -> Philadelphia -> New York. US Route 9
> between New Gretna NJ and Port Republic NJ joins the Garden State
> Parkway for the bridge over the Mullica River. There are small
> decals where 9 joins the GSP showing a bike and a pedestrian in
> circles with a red slash. There is no sign spelling out a prohibition
> against bicycles. The only other option is a 20 mile detour to the
> next bridge and back. Needless to say, I took the Parkway.
>
> Doesn anyone have any background on this? How can it be possible for
> a US Highway (i.e. not a state or county road, not an Interstate,
> etc) to be closed to any sort of traffic?

The jurisdiction actually responsible for maintaining the road --
typically a state department of transportation, but it could just as
easily be a lower-level jurisdiction -- can determine that certain types
of traffic cannot safely use the road, that the road cannot safely
support certain types of vehicles, or put restrictions on traffic usage
just for the hell of it. Just because a road has a US route shield on
it doesn't imply that the feds have any say about the types of traffic
allowed on that road.

For instance, US41 in Chicago runs in part on city streets, where
anything goes, and part along Lake Shore Drive, which is mostly
controlled access with a ban on trucks. As far as I've seen (and I may
be wrong, especially on the south end), the city has never posted LSD as
being closed to bicycles, but you'd have to have a serious deathwish to
try riding it since it's just a couple of notches below being of
Interstate quality and traffic volume. Conversely, a nearby suburb
closed two state-numbered routes to bicycles pretty much because their
village board had a bug up their butt about cyclists.

> Is the GSP really closed to bicycles by law or are they just putting
> up an unworded sign to scare people away?

The unworded sign has the same legal effect as a sign reading "No
Pedestrians or Bicycles".

[bdbafh]

On Oct 11, 9:27 am, "andy gee" <andy...@interREMOVEport.net> wrote:
> I've just returned from a bicycle mini-vacation: New York -> Bradley
> Beach -> Atlantic City -> Philadelphia -> New York. US Route 9 between New
> Gretna NJ and Port Republic NJ joins the Garden State Parkway for the bridge
> over the Mullica River. There are small decals where 9 joins the GSP
> showing a bike and a pedestrian in circles with a red slash. There is no
> sign spelling out a prohibition against bicycles. The only other option is
> a 20 mile detour to the next bridge and back. Needless to say, I took the
> Parkway.
>
> Doesn anyone have any background on this? How can it be possible for a US
> Highway (i.e. not a state or county road, not an Interstate, etc) to be
> closed to any sort of traffic? Is the GSP really closed to bicycles by law
> or are they just putting up an unworded sign to scare people away?
>
> --ag
>
> --
> -------------------------------
> 80 miles per pound of kamutwww.graffitirider.blogspot.com
> nyc.mybikelane.com

uh, the GSP is largely closed to truck traffic, let alone mopeds and
pedalcycles.

I've ridden a bike on the last 10 miles of the GSP heading south
toward Cape May. AFAIK, that is legal as its no longer limited access
at that point. The rumble strips on the shoulder aren't much fun at 25
mph, though, nor are cars buzzing by you at 80 mph.

I'd rather take the back roads, but when you're attempting to catch
the last ferry of the day to Cape Henlopen ... "Get in the fast lane
Grandma, the bingo game is ready to roll ... "

That quote may be copyrighted by Mike Lange.
or it might not.

-bdbafh

[David L. Johnson]

andy gee wrote:

> Doesn anyone have any background on this? How can it be possible for a
> US Highway (i.e. not a state or county road, not an Interstate, etc) to
> be closed to any sort of traffic? Is the GSP really closed to bicycles
> by law or are they just putting up an unworded sign to scare people away?

Lots of non-interstates restrict traffic. The GSP is not the only one
to prohibit bicycles. Signs may be poor, but that's one thing to expect
on the Parkway.

The GSP is very much restricted. As someone else mentioned, it is
closed to truck traffic. I would be surprised if it were not closed to
bikes and "motor-driven cycles" (mopeds) as well. Aside from that, it
would be friggin' insane to try to ride on it. This is a very old
highway. The lanes are narrow, entrances and exits are dangerous, since
there is no room to speed up or slow down, so people kamakazi the ramps
all the time. Shoulders are narrow, where they exist at all. The road
surface is poor in many places.

You're on a tour. You aren't trying to minimize the distance between
two points. Ride on a pleasant road, of which there are many in New Jersey.

--

David L. Johnson

I believe that the motion picture is destined to revolutionize our
educational system and that in a few years it will supplant largely,
if not entirely, the use of textbooks
-- Thomas Edison, 1922

[bdbafh]

andy gee wrote:
> I've just returned from a bicycle mini-vacation: New York -> Bradley
> Beach -> Atlantic City -> Philadelphia -> New York. US Route 9 between New
> Gretna NJ and Port Republic NJ joins the Garden State Parkway for the bridge
> over the Mullica River.

I knew that bridge sounded familiar.
CJBC's Longest Day ride took that route this year (from Port Jervis to
Cape May).

563 S (Past the Hot Diggity Dog stand)
Right onto 542 E
Quick left onto 563 S to the Mullica bridge.

> There are small decals where 9 joins the GSP
> showing a bike and a pedestrian in circles with a red slash. There is no
> sign spelling out a prohibition against bicycles. The only other option is
> a 20 mile detour to the next bridge and back. Needless to say, I took the
> Parkway.

Where do you cross the Delaware River?
Both Rt 179 (Lambertville) and Rt 532 (Washington's Crossing) have
narrow pedestrian walkways that do not permit cyclists to ride bikes
across. One must be a pedestrian to use the walkways.

> Doesn anyone have any background on this? How can it be possible for a US
> Highway (i.e. not a state or county road, not an Interstate, etc) to be
> closed to any sort of traffic? Is the GSP really closed to bicycles by law
> or are they just putting up an unworded sign to scare people away?
>
> --ag
>
>
> --
> -------------------------------
> 80 miles per pound of kamut
> www.graffitirider.blogspot.com
> nyc.mybikelane.com

[jobst.brandt@stanfordalumni.org]

In California bicycle share highways including Interstates with cars,
typically along State route 17 between Black Road and Bridge road, and
Interstate 280 where SR 35 and I280 merge and subsequently diverge
about a mile apart.

I suspect these decisions are made locally for apparent safety
reasons. I see the sign "Bicycles must Exit" at various freeway
interchanges here.

Jobst Brandt

[mark]

andy gee wrote:
There are small decals where 9 joins
> the GSP showing a bike and a pedestrian in circles with a red slash.
> There is no sign spelling out a prohibition against bicycles.

Around here, the sections of Interstate highway that are off limits to
bicycles are marked with sign showing a bicycle in a red circle with a
slash. This is the only notification, and it seems to "spell out a
prohibition against bicycles" pretty clearly to me. There is one stretch
of road near here with a sign spelling out, in writing, "bicycles and
pedestrians prohibited". Ironically, there is no ordinance prohibiting
bicycles or pedestrians on this road, and I frequently wave to the local
police as I ride on it.

mark

[Alex Colvin]

sally <sally@sally.com> writes:

>"andy gee" <andygee@interREMOVEport.net> wrote in
>news:470e24d0$0$11079$4c368faf@roadrunner.com:
>> Doesn anyone have any background on this? How can it be possible for a
>> US Highway (i.e. not a state or county road, not an Interstate, etc) to
>> be closed to any sort of traffic? Is the GSP really closed to bicycles
>> by law or are they just putting up an unworded sign to scare people
>> away?

the GSP is a parkway because it's closed to truck traffic.

>Laws may vary from state to state, but I think that freeways can be closed to
>bicycles if there is a convenient alternative route available.

alternatives don't have to be "convenient".
--
mac the naïf

[andy gee]

I don't think you're recalling correctly. US Highways are frequently the
main street through town and have maximum speeds of 25 or 30 MPH at those
points. They also typically have 50 or 55 MPH limits between towns. Either
way works for me, I did 150 miles of routes 1, 9, and 30 (all US Highways)
at all speed limits with absolutely no problem. My point is that I thought
that while any other type of road can be restricted, a US Highway must be
available for horses, pedestrians, tractors, trucks, bicycles, farm animals,
etc, as well as cars, and I've seen 'em all on this trip. US 9 is also a
mail road which may have special considerations for access as well.

As for the signs, Interstate Highway restriction signs spell out the actual
laws restricting access as well as the international signs. Bridges
carrying US Highways with walkways spell out the authority for making you
walk your bike across. This just seems fishy.

--ag


"Mark" <mblackwell1958@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1192117080.085267.239740@50g2000hsm.googlegro ups.com...

> IIRC a US Highway has a minimum speed limit of 35mph, which that type
> of traffic can not meet. No it doesn't have to be 4 lane to be
> restricted. The signs are unworded for people who either, 1. can't
> read at all or 2. can't read english. It is the international
> standard road signs.
>

[Mike Kruger]

Mark wrote:
>
> IIRC a US Highway has a minimum speed limit of 35mph,

You don't recall correctly.

[Kristian M Zoerhoff]

On 2007-10-11, Don Piven <spamtrap@piven.net> wrote:
>
> For instance, US41 in Chicago runs in part on city streets, where
> anything goes, and part along Lake Shore Drive, which is mostly
> controlled access with a ban on trucks. As far as I've seen (and I may
> be wrong, especially on the south end), the city has never posted LSD as
> being closed to bicycles, but you'd have to have a serious deathwish to
> try riding it since it's just a couple of notches below being of
> Interstate quality and traffic volume.

It should be posted; there's definitely a city ordinance banning bikes, which
is waived during Bike The Drive each memorial Day weekend.

--

__o Kristian Zoerhoff
_'\(,_ kristian.zoerhoff@gmail.com
(_)/ (_)

[Ron Hardin]

Don Piven wrote:
> being closed to bicycles, but you'd have to have a serious deathwish to
> try riding it since it's just a couple of notches below being of
> Interstate quality and traffic volume.

I used to ride I78 and I80 across NJ into Pennsylvania in the 70s, and
in all the hundreds of hours nobody bothered me. They were great bike
routes, owing to the huge shoulder that kept traffic quite distant from
you. Especially compared to the alternative highways.

These days (well, by 1992, the last I checked) they were wall-to-wall traffic
all doing 80mph, and not so great an idea for a scenic bike route. No shoulder.
--
rhhardin@mindspring.com

On the internet, nobody knows you're a jerk.

[Mike Kruger]

Don Piven wrote:
>
> For instance, US41 in Chicago runs in part on city streets, where
> anything goes, and part along Lake Shore Drive, which is mostly
> controlled access with a ban on trucks. As far as I've seen (and I
> may be wrong, especially on the south end), the city has never posted
> LSD as being closed to bicycles, but you'd have to have a serious
> deathwish

The part of US 41 south of LSD is even signed as a bike route.

A fine route around the south edge of Lake Michigan is to take the lakefront
path, then US41 when the path ends, then US12 east through Indiana to New
Buffalo, Michigan. (The neighborhood's dicey in Gary, but US12 is the main
drag and is well patrolled.)

But, hey, Don, where are you at now? Your name comes up at Evanston Bike
Club rides occasionally.

[Don Piven]

Kristian M Zoerhoff wrote:
> It should be posted; there's definitely a city ordinance banning bikes, which
> is waived during Bike The Drive each memorial Day weekend.

I stand corrected; thanks.

[andy gee]

Everyone keeps saying that the GSP is closed to bikes, and I know that, but
it's route 9 that shouldn't be closed. Route 9 was there for 30 or 40 years
before the GSP. Bikes should be grandfathered in or something. Something
should be done about this.

--ag

--
-------------------------------
80 miles per pound of kamut
www.graffitirider.blogspot.com
nyc.mybikelane.com
"bdbafh" <bdbafh@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1192141165.787379.162330@v3g2000hsg.googlegro ups.com...
> On Oct 11, 9:27 am, "andy gee" <andy...@interREMOVEport.net> wrote:
>> I've just returned from a bicycle mini-vacation: New York -> Bradley
>> Beach -> Atlantic City -> Philadelphia -> New York. US Route 9 between
>> New
>> Gretna NJ and Port Republic NJ joins the Garden State Parkway for the
>> bridge
>> over the Mullica River. There are small decals where 9 joins the GSP
>> showing a bike and a pedestrian in circles with a red slash. There is no
>> sign spelling out a prohibition against bicycles. The only other option
>> is
>> a 20 mile detour to the next bridge and back. Needless to say, I took
>> the
>> Parkway.
>>
>> Doesn anyone have any background on this? How can it be possible for a
>> US
>> Highway (i.e. not a state or county road, not an Interstate, etc) to be
>> closed to any sort of traffic? Is the GSP really closed to bicycles by
>> law
>> or are they just putting up an unworded sign to scare people away?
>>
>> --ag
>>
>> --
>> -------------------------------
>> 80 miles per pound of kamutwww.graffitirider.blogspot.com
>> nyc.mybikelane.com
>
> uh, the GSP is largely closed to truck traffic, let alone mopeds and
> pedalcycles.
>
> I've ridden a bike on the last 10 miles of the GSP heading south
> toward Cape May. AFAIK, that is legal as its no longer limited access
> at that point. The rumble strips on the shoulder aren't much fun at 25
> mph, though, nor are cars buzzing by you at 80 mph.
>
> I'd rather take the back roads, but when you're attempting to catch
> the last ferry of the day to Cape Henlopen ... "Get in the fast lane
> Grandma, the bingo game is ready to roll ... "
>
> That quote may be copyrighted by Mike Lange.
> or it might not.
>
> -bdbafh
>

[David L. Johnson]

andy gee wrote:
> Everyone keeps saying that the GSP is closed to bikes, and I know that,
> but it's route 9 that shouldn't be closed. Route 9 was there for 30 or
> 40 years before the GSP. Bikes should be grandfathered in or
> something.

It wasn't clear from your original post which road you expected to be
open. You said you "took the parkway".

I don't know that particular bridge, but bikes are routinely banned from
bridge travel lanes, and cyclists have to walk their bikes along a
pedestrian walkway. Was there a walkway on this bridge?

--

David L. Johnson

I believe that the motion picture is destined to revolutionize our
educational system and that in a few years it will supplant largely,
if not entirely, the use of textbooks
-- Thomas Edison, 1922

[andy gee]

Route 9 and the GSP become one physical road at New Gretna; the road crosses
the Mullica River on a truss bridge, and enters Port Republic, where 9 &
GSP separate physically. Logical GSP is closed to bicycle and pedestrian
traffic. Logical US 9 is open to all traffic. My complaint is that Logical
GSP bullies logical 9 (which I subsidize) into a closure to bicycles, with
the nearest alternatives either a 20 mile detour or a swim through the
excreta of the Garden State. I continued on Logical 9 on Physical GSP for
my trip. There is a wide shoulder for most of the distance (and a shoulder
the width of a NYC bike lane over the actual bridge) and since the
cohabitation is for only one exit, at no point do I have to bike across the
path of exiting or entering traffic. These three miles should be opened to
bike traffic with "alert" or "share the road" signs posted. A much more
dangerous crossing to Toms River, the Thomas A. Somebody Bridge, has similar
signs. I'm a dedicated bicycle commuter; if I lived in New Gretna and
worked in Port Republic, I would be bent out of shape about this. Don't get
me started on the stolen bike path over the Goethals bridge from Staten
Island to New Jersey.

We need a "right to not get suckered into buying gasoline" amendment or
something. Open the road, I'm paying for it, let me take my chances.

--ag


--
-------------------------------
80 miles per pound of kamut
www.graffitirider.blogspot.com
nyc.mybikelane.com
"David L. Johnson" <david.johnson@lehigh.edu> wrote in message
news:sdOdnUNvSepvVZPanZ2dnUVZ_sejnZ2d@ptd.net...
> andy gee wrote:
>> Everyone keeps saying that the GSP is closed to bikes, and I know that,
>> but it's route 9 that shouldn't be closed. Route 9 was there for 30 or
>> 40 years before the GSP. Bikes should be grandfathered in or something.
>
> It wasn't clear from your original post which road you expected to be
> open. You said you "took the parkway".
>
> I don't know that particular bridge, but bikes are routinely banned from
> bridge travel lanes, and cyclists have to walk their bikes along a
> pedestrian walkway. Was there a walkway on this bridge?
>
> --
>
> David L. Johnson
>
> I believe that the motion picture is destined to revolutionize our
> educational system and that in a few years it will supplant largely,
> if not entirely, the use of textbooks
> -- Thomas Edison, 1922

[andy gee]

I took 30 from Atlantic City to Camden where I crossed the Benjamin Franklin
Bridge, with a quite comfy bike lane.

--ag


--
-------------------------------
80 miles per pound of kamut
www.graffitirider.blogspot.com
nyc.mybikelane.com
"bdbafh" <bdbafh@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1192152343.305332.31960@k35g2000prh.googlegro ups.com...
>
> andy gee wrote:
>> I've just returned from a bicycle mini-vacation: New York -> Bradley
>> Beach -> Atlantic City -> Philadelphia -> New York. US Route 9 between
>> New
>> Gretna NJ and Port Republic NJ joins the Garden State Parkway for the
>> bridge
>> over the Mullica River.
>
> I knew that bridge sounded familiar.
> CJBC's Longest Day ride took that route this year (from Port Jervis to
> Cape May).
>
> 563 S (Past the Hot Diggity Dog stand)
> Right onto 542 E
> Quick left onto 563 S to the Mullica bridge.
>
>> There are small decals where 9 joins the GSP
>> showing a bike and a pedestrian in circles with a red slash. There is no
>> sign spelling out a prohibition against bicycles. The only other option
>> is
>> a 20 mile detour to the next bridge and back. Needless to say, I took
>> the
>> Parkway.
>
> Where do you cross the Delaware River?
> Both Rt 179 (Lambertville) and Rt 532 (Washington's Crossing) have
> narrow pedestrian walkways that do not permit cyclists to ride bikes
> across. One must be a pedestrian to use the walkways.
>
>> Doesn anyone have any background on this? How can it be possible for a
>> US
>> Highway (i.e. not a state or county road, not an Interstate, etc) to be
>> closed to any sort of traffic? Is the GSP really closed to bicycles by
>> law
>> or are they just putting up an unworded sign to scare people away?
>>
>> --ag
>>
>>
>> --
>> -------------------------------
>> 80 miles per pound of kamut
>> www.graffitirider.blogspot.com
>> nyc.mybikelane.com
>

[andy gee]

Good on yer, San Francisco! I was able to do the whole place by bike &
multi-mode with BART when I was there. Most bike-friendly place I've been.

==ag


--
-------------------------------
80 miles per pound of kamut
www.graffitirider.blogspot.com
nyc.mybikelane.com
<jobst.brandt@stanfordalumni.org> wrote in message
news:470edebb$0$14071$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net...
> In California bicycle share highways including Interstates with cars,
> typically along State route 17 between Black Road and Bridge road, and
> Interstate 280 where SR 35 and I280 merge and subsequently diverge
> about a mile apart.
>
> I suspect these decisions are made locally for apparent safety
> reasons. I see the sign "Bicycles must Exit" at various freeway
> interchanges here.
>
> Jobst Brandt

[Bill Sornson]

andy gee wrote:

> I took 30 from Atlantic City to Camden where I crossed the Benjamin
> Franklin Bridge, with a quite comfy bike lane.

Oh-oh. Cue Whiney Pain.