Q: Bulbouts are terrible! They force bike riders close to vehicles, especially to their side mirrors. And they force drivers making a right turn to swing closer to the center of the road they’re turning on to. I’ve had some near misses with vehicles coming from the opposite direction.

Susan O’Sullivan, Richmond

A: Bulbouts are curb extensions that extend the sidewalk into the parking lane in order to narrow the roadway and provide additional pedestrian space at key intersections. The goal of adding bulbouts is to slow traffic and make pedestrians more visible.

Q: Recently, a reader named Joanne Clare complained about the dangers of bulbouts from a bicyclist’s point of view. You answered that you have not heard of any problems. I hope you hear plenty now.

Bulbouts appeared about a year ago in Saratoga. One is at the intersection of a cul-de-sac and a larger residential street. The cul-de-sac is popular with cyclists and pedestrians because it connects to another cul-de-sac for them, but not for cars.

The danger is that the bulbouts now force law-abiding cyclists to circle far out into car traffic, despite very poor visibility, in order to make a right turn. Before, they could stay near the curb and out of harm’s way.

Tom Howell, Saratoga

A: Anyone else?

Q: Bulbouts and traffic circles are dumb. Bulbouts make me have to swing my big truck wider, and if someone is at the stop sign, I may not be able to make the turn. Ridiculous.

And traffic circles — no one knows how to use them. You make a left turn from the right lane. Dumb! I’ve seen many collisions because of these stupid things. Go to Kaiser in Santa Clara and you’ll see traffic back up because people get confused. Traffic engineers need to leave their fantasies behind and open their eyes to reality.

Ray-the-Tow-Truck-Guy

A: Bulbouts are a traffic calming measure popular among planners, but not with some drivers. Because pedestrian injuries and deaths are increasing, cities are trying several safety improvements. Bulbouts are one measure that is helping to reduce pedestrian deaths and injuries.

Many cities are trying a variety of ideas, in addition to bulbouts. For example, San Jose has removed lanes on numerous Willow Glen streets to slow traffic, and Santa Cruz has added roundabouts near the wharf. San Francisco has expanded protected bike lanes and is prohibiting right turns on red lights downtown. Santa Clara County has added bulbouts on several busy expressways.

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