Commenters aplenty as video shows bike lane in Brazil running down the middle of a highway

Cycling advocates in San Francisco raised a collective eyebrow when the city thought it wise to run a protected bike lane down the centre of a busy city street. Transit planners in northeastern Brazil might have been overheard saying ‘hold my beer’ after a viral video surfaced showing a gleaming new bike lane, with zero protective barriers, running down the centre of a highway. A highway.

Folks online are buzzing with opinions about this, wondering why on earth the bike lane is hanging out in the middle of the road near the city of Canto do Buriti.

The Department of Highways (DER) for the region has chimed in, saying, basically, hold on, the highway is still under construction, and we’re planning on moving that bike lane to the side at a significant additional cost. Of course, this happened after the video went viral.

One commenter wrote: “See? We put a bike lane and NO ONE’s using it!” Suggesting bluntly that inadequate bicycle infrastructure should not be used to demonstrate a bike lane’s impact. Studies continue to show that building protected and safe bicycle infrastructure in cities will result in more and more people choosing to ride bicycles more often instead of driving automobiles.

Apparently, according to an article on a local news outlet, the bike lane saga has been brewing since 2013, costing a cool R$6 million and spanning over 10 km.

According to local Brazil officials quoted in the article the highway is not just any old highway. It’s a ring road designed as a cargo route. Meaning, trucks and lots of them.

“The bike lane will be on the side, we will stretch to the left side near the edge of the highway to give safety to the population,” said Leonardo Sobral, general director of the Department of Highways, for the Globo.com article. “By adaptation of the project. Throughout the work, from the small renovation of a house to the construction of a ring road, there is a need for adjustments in the project. There will be the implementation of the second handle that is under construction, which is an implementation built from scratch, in addition to the punctual conservation reform, which should always be on our highways.”

Another video commenter wrote, “Hold up, is this even legal according to Brazilian traffic rules?”

An engineer and professor, Kidner Próspero, jumped into the conversation, saying, “Hey, technically, it’s not against the rules, but we better have some serious barriers in place to prevent cars from crashing into our cyclists. Safety first, people!”

So, there you have it – a viral bike lane video from Brazil, a bunch of folks scratching their heads, and a highway makeover in the works. Until the lane is fixed, we have a candidate for inclusion in our semi-annual worst bike lanes on the planet feature.