Yeah so frustrating! I've visited so many towns and small cities and neighborhoods in big cities, where the only bike infrastructure was on the main drag. With cars going 45mph and nothing but paint to protect you
We need to bicyclize the small streets first, and the main drag after
In places built during the era of the cul-de-sac, sometimes the main drag is the only route from a to b. That way means we need to create woonerfs, pave the often already existing informal paths that connect one cul-de-sac neighborhood to the next
I think the reason city planners put bike lanes on the main drag is partly that it's visible, so it looks like they're doing something. And partly that it doesn't occur to them that someone might take back streets to get from one place to another
Obviously the solution is to stack the planning committees with bicyclists, and give them a larger budget than the part of the transportation department that deals with car streets
Somehow we need to convince people that the future is micromobility, and any money spent accommodating cars is probably wasted
That's not how bicyclists get places
They don't go along the main drag, unless they are in a neighborhood that doesn't have any quiet through streets
And even then, they probably cobble together a zigzag route, that avoids the main drag as much as possible, cuts through alleys and parking lots and dirt trails, etc. Anything to avoid being where the cars are
After traveling a mile or two on back streets, they go the final block on a busier street, to get to the actual destination
The question is, how do we codify this and make it safer?
When I was young and stupid I had a route to work that required a short stretch of freeway, maybe half a mile
The shoulder was a lot wider than that
And of course PNW freeways are not like SoCal freeways, in any way. Yours have actual cars on them and stuff
Still, the places where cars are merging are the worst. Those drivers are not looking at the shoulder
(Maybe you will tell me this is not a freeway. But it's what we would call one)
It looks like a terrifying place to bike! It would be nice if they would do something about the section through Malibu if they are rebuilding, but I suppose property values are so high it's impossible