bike lanes uptown- the good, the bad and the ugly

D: the picture order is the Ugly, the Bad and the Good.

OK, the first one is at Erb and Father David Bauer.
This intersection was already like this last year.
It remains unchanged.
The bike lane suddenly ends on FDB.
There are 2 lanes for cars spilling out onto Erb.
The lanes are very narrow.
The bike has nowhere to go, or to fit.
Very UGLY.

Bad: this is on Caroline Street, behind the uptown Waterloo mall.
Inexplicably there is additional on-street parking that suddenly appears mid-street.
As far as the eye can see, there are parking lots.
?!?
To a car driver's point of view, the cyclist who attempts to follow the bike lane to the left of this unnecessary parking will seem to suddenly swerve to cut off the car.
Nice way to go SPLAT.
I saw this a lot in Cambridge.
Fortunately, cyclists sensibly ride on the sidewalk in these stretches instead of risking death.
BAD.

GOOD! I cannot believe it. Something I ranted about last year was actually FIXED!
This change is at Caroline and William Street.
Last year it was identical to the UGLY intersection listed already.
This year, there is enough space for both the intersection and bike lane and cars!
Wow.

I've said it before. A bike lane that blinks out of existence at intersections- the critical juncture where 1/2 of bike accidents take place - is NOT a bike lane.
It's a waste of time, money, and pavement.
It's an afterthought.
Add more nice grass and trees instead.
OR: do it right.
How many bike lane maps are accurate?
If we discount any bike lanes that don't exist at intersections, and ignore any bike lane stretches that don't survive from one street intersection to the next, how many are there REALLY?

BTW, FDB remains uncleaned, uneven, puddly and otherwise excreble this year.
This is an example of do it right or don't do it.
They really shouldn't have bothered.
Most smart cyclists ride on the sidewalk anyway.
Like I said, built it right AND maintain it.
Or just don't.

D.