Sorry, but John Forester was wrong - not about the mechanics of vehicular cycling, but the psychology. I'm a year-round, go-anywhere cyclist who rides in mixed traffic on side streets and major arterials alike, and I understand that this puts me in an extreme minority: more than 99% of people simply will not ride a bike unless they have a safe-looking, physically protected space in which to do it.
North America spent the past four decades telling people it's safe to ride a bike in car traffic. Several European cities spent that time building continuous networks of dedicated, physically protected cycle tracks. All you need to do is compare how the modal splits have changed over that time to know which approach was more successful.
It seems to me that it's obvious the Euro-way is the better one. Get cyclists off the roads and safe. I agree with the OP, sharing space with unprotected humans wearing nothing but a few grams of styrofoam on their head for protection is not a great place to be when operating any kind of motor vehicle.
I am amazed how some people think that with more facilities everyone will start cycling. It is fun but also quite impractical and sometimes very uncomfortable. It is only really feasible for most people if they live close to their work. Cars make people live much further.
Not everyone. Around here however more and more people bike.
Me I drive the car some days and the bike other days. I wish for bike lanes equally much when I'm in the car and when I'm on my bike. (I'm a biker so I'm allowed to say this: Yes you are allowed to ride you bike in the main street around here but it shows a real lack of understanding when you have a row of cars queing up behind you, and a choice between a sidewalk, another route and several less crowded streets to choose from and still choose to use the main road.)
I think it'll definitely make biking more approachable for people who are interested but scared to ride next to vehicles and their inattentive drivers. One side benefit of lots of bike lanes is that they're also good spaces for people on foot, sidewalks kind of aren't necessary so long as you follow basic ideas about slower traffic to the right and faster traffic to the left.
North America spent the past four decades telling people it's safe to ride a bike in car traffic. Several European cities spent that time building continuous networks of dedicated, physically protected cycle tracks. All you need to do is compare how the modal splits have changed over that time to know which approach was more successful.