Consider that there are two other places at this same intersection that - using that logic - should also prevent cyclists turning left - NB Pontiac left onto Amherst, right onto Chandler then left onto Barton, and better, EB Barton turning left onto Northside to then turn left onto Pontiac. There are probably hundreds of examples throughout town where a cyclist could make two lefts to use a local street to avoid a congested intersection. Are you really suggesting that they should all be banned?

Also, the second "left" in this case, leaving Starwick to proceed NW on Barton, isn't actually a left. The curve is so sharp there (it's posted at 15), that this is actually going straight.

If there's AASHTO or NACTO guidance against allowing cyclists to turn onto local streets within X feet of an intersection, that would be one thing. But 'engineering judgement' should not be used to discriminate against a class of users without good reason. As this stands, it's illegal for cyclists to turn left in that situation - it's not just 'discouraged', it has been made a civil infraction. If there's a sound AASHTO-supported reason for it, I would of course drop the issue. If this is just paternalism, I'll want to take this up with Council.

Do you have someone on this staff who bikes to work on a regular basis? You should have them try it and get their feedback. They should bike the area with the knowledge that nine times out of ten, a cyclist will get a red light at the 'new' light at Barton and Pontiac. That system does detect cyclists, eventually, but it seems to use a 'apparent size of object = close enough to trigger' or 'enough pixels in sensor to indicate a reason to trigger' approach, and thereby assumes that a cyclist is a far-away motor vehicle, until the cyclist is stopped sitting at the red light they just got.

The only time a cyclist gets a green at that light is when there is already motor vehicle traffic there holding the light at green. And in that case, the signal logic seems to get confused by the cyclist, and immediately turns the light to yellow even though there are other motorists waiting to go through. (Happened again this morning on my way in.)

[Note, in the previous comment, I said "proceed NW onto Barton" - that's incorrect. You're proceeding SE onto Barton at that point.]

I'm attaching a picture of that intersection vis-a-vis the 'left turn at Barton' point. As a cyclist, you're supposed to follow the line of the curb, or in this case, the painted demarcation line. If you're at the stop at Starwick in that situation, you are pointed such that you will be going straight from Starwick onto Barton. That is line 1 in the picture. Even if you're proceeding perpendicular to the stop bar (line 2), it's much closer to straight than a left turn from a cyclist's perspective.

As a cyclist, you have to use a congested intersection, which frequently has people cutting very close to you making the left from Barton onto NB Pontiac, and at which most of the time you'll get a red light just as you get to the intersection to make your turn. Or, if it weren't legally prohibited for unclear reason, turn left onto a regular residential street, with light traffic, no red light just for you, and then go straight at the next intersection. I expect many cyclists would prefer to take Starwick, and people like me would prefer to take it when it's obvious you're going to sit at the traffic light at Barton because it doesn't detect you properly.