Thanks for raising this issue. I noticed the same on Farm Ln. bike lanes and the Kalamazoo St. bike lanes from the campus' west edge at the Red Cedar Bridge well onto campus earlier today. It is early in the season and it's good to remind the road crews on campus and in our neighboring communities that many bicyclists ride year round and especially need to be remembered in order to stay safe on these shorter, low-visibility days. The video is especially helpful. The campus' road maintenance supervisor will get this via email.

The bike lanes from my house near Clemens all the way to campus along Kalamazoo were completely unusable today so I had to ride in the main lane. Motorists did not seem happy about it but other than not existing I am not sure what I could have done.

I noticed late yesterday on my ride home and this morning as well that the lanes had been freshly cleared on Farm Ln. For reference here's the official policy regarding snow removal on campus: http://ipf.msu.edu/news/features/snow-2013.html

Keep in mind that after road crews plow that if/when it keeps snowing the motor vehicle traffic helps keep the roadways clear and can leave the mistaken impression that bike lanes/ shoulders aren't being plowed. Additionally, some city/ county budgets are so incredibly tight that they're unable to afford the additional cost of plowing the streets a 2nd time which is required to do bike lanes/ shoulders since plows can only be wide enough for clearing one traffic lane.

I'm going to leave this open, since it is still an issue and winter is probably with us for another few months. MSU should even have the perfect equipment to plow/clear bike lanes: The little tractors that are used for clearing and salting the side walks.

Closing it since I believe the issue has served it's purpose in raising awareness of the need to keep year-round cyclists in mind for road maintenance during the winter months and the MSU road crew has responded to these complaints numerous times this winter. Please refer to the advice on this page about snow and ice issues on campus for future problem areas: http://ipf.msu.edu/services/snow-and-ice-removal.html