they did need bollards at the entrances to these lanes otherwise someone in a smaller vehicle would eventually try to use it to get around the traffic

In Beijing, many of these lanes (辅路) double as parking lanes. The side by the sidewalk is full of parked cars, and the side near the island is for bicycles, scooters and cars getting in/out of parking spots.

Even though cars may be present anywhere in the 辅路, they're not going fast when looking for parking. So I still felt far safer cycling in Beijing (a city of 20MM people) than I do in San Francisco (sub-1MM).