Biking: Blinded by the Light

It's dusk and the path between Lake Calhoun and Lake Harriet is dimly lit. My bike light illuminates the path as I make my way up the hill. A biker is approaching me, but before he comes flying by, he disappears. Where did he go? A pair of bright car lights hits me straight on, making the biker invisible to me. The good news is that I was fully illuminated by the car and the trouble was avoided.

This is a big problem with the parkways and bike paths in the City of Minneapolis. They're too dark! The lack of light for pedestrians and bikers creates a safety issue when bright single-source light is aimed directly at your eyes.

The dangers are real.

• Blinded biker can't see path or road and either goes off the edge, hits a stick, or falls into a pothole.
• Blinded biker is illuminated and jogger assumes that means that the biker won't hit him.
• Blinded biker can't see the dog leash or dog of walker on bike path.

How can this be corrected?

• Cheapest: Two-way trails at night. This allows bikers to go with traffic (if alongside one way road).
• Install new lighting around parkways, especially those with more bikers or where the trails and roads are the shortest way to get from A to B. This lighting can be shielded so that it doesn't spill into the park lands or lakes. The lights should not blind users, like the current lights do. The current light is a clear box with a white light in the center. The box shouldn't be clear. More frequent lighting would also reduce shadows and the ability of car lights from blinding people who are in between light poles.