I've regularly ridden the SW Path at night for several years. In my experience, it can be disturbingly dark at night. But once I upgraded my light (Ixon IQ), it ceased to be an issue. Furthermore, I wonder at how I ever managed to get by anywhere with lesser lights! Now, I cherish that pocket of quiet seclusion in the middle of the city. It's a special corridor that I think would be changed for the worse if the final solution was to string it with street lamp style lighting. Of course compromise is always possible. I'm particularly intrigued by the suggestion of using reflective paint. Personally, if it came down to spending a lot of money to address this issue, I'd rather the funds were spent on bicycle infrastructure elsewhere in the city. -Isa
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:19:44 -0500 From: India Rose Viola <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Subject: [Bikies] Southwest Path- is it too dark at night? Message-ID: <[email protected]> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Because of a night class that I am taking out at UW Research Park, I have recently been riding on the Southwest Path between Monroe and Glenway between 6-10pm and find it startlingly dark. Dark enough that my standard-issue headlight does not give me enough time to anticipate obstacles or people in the path. It also makes me feel particularly isolated and vulnerable on my bike (I am generally a confident night cyclist). I know that the path is very close to many neighbors' back yards, so any added lighting would need to be sensitive to that. As an urban bike commuter I really enjoy having the option of riding on a city path at night when I need (or want) to get from point A to point B. Is this something that other people are also concerned about, or should I just invest in brighter bike lights? I am comparing the lightedness of the Southwest Path to area streets and also to the John Nolan Path and the segment of the Capital City Trail that runs behind Atwood Ave along the railroad tracks which are on my daily/nightly route. I feel much safer on these east-side paths because of the amount of light provided at night. -India *********************** _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected] http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org
