(probably obvious, but, since the original message to which this is a response, was not on bikies, my message is a response to the original message below)
This is exactly why we passed our motion at the meeting last week. Even though the city wants people to use their detour (south of the current path via Marquette and Fairview, then north on Fair Oaks to Ivy, then across the way-too-narrow rickety foot bridge over the creek, many bicyclists are not going to want to go that far out of the way for such an inadequate detour. The committee's thinking was that the city needs to treat bicycling as a legitimate transportation mode and therefore give bicyclists a legitimate detour. As you noted, Lance, many bicyclists are already using Atwood in this stretch and, in order to increase safety for everyone, the committee recommended that the city make Atwood one of the detour options. The city knows how to separate motor vehicle traffic from other modes, and it could do it in this case. As it stands now, bicyclists get shunted onto the inadequate detour while the city keeps the status quo for the mostly suburban commuters using Atwood in this stretch, essentially saying, we will inconvenience bicyclists big-time so that we do not have to inconvenience our suburban commuters one bit. The question for the city really is: why are suburban commuters more important to you than our neighbors who live in this part of town and choose to use less-polluting means of travel? The stretch of Atwood between Fair Oaks and Oakridge is problematic. As a bicyclist, I tend to stay off this stretch and use the several alternatives available to me (Lakeland, Oakridge, Center, Sugar/Garrison, as well as the sidewalk, which is the designated bike route in this area in any event). I suspect most bicyclists will use the city's designated detour, even though it is so inadequate and out of the way, but many, including the more experienced and faster riders, will not. The city could post signs, if need be, warning of more bike traffic on this stretch. The reality is that the city is NOT going to make Atwood part of the bike detour, and the official way will be the rickety bridge, much as it was a year or two back when they closed the section of the path between Fair Oaks and the bridge for the entire winter, even though they weren't working on it. The city keeps wanting to be considered a "platinum" city for bicycling. But when it makes decisions such as this one, essentially making bicyclists second-, if not third-class citizens, it is not difficult to see why that platinum designation remains elusive. On Mon, Aug 3, 2015 at 10:18 AM, Lance Green <[email protected]> wrote: > Really sorry I couldn't make the meeting, but I want to comment on the > motion to close one lane of Atwood for bikers between Oakridge and Dennett. > I am now seeing bikers detouring on Atwood from Dennett and Maple to Fair > Oaks and westward streets, and the reverse. I think it is VERY dangerous to > have bikers trying to bike this section of Atwood, with it's intense > traffic and narrow lanes, and ESPECIALLY going thru the Fair Oaks/Atwood > intersection. I've already seen some close calls with bikers coming from > any direction to this stop light, where there isn't any room at all for > bikers. > > I don't think it would work to close that piece, it would only encourage > bikers to take that route ---- what would they do between Fair Oaks and > Oakridge? Get on the sidewalk? And what about bikers going East thru this > intersection? It's really narrow as you go down the hill toward Olbrich. > > I've seen many bikers now using the sidewalk along Atwood from Fair Oaks > to Walter. At least this is a little safer! But still not the right > solution.... > > Yes, the O B Sherry bike bridge is narrow, but at least it doesn't pit > bikes against cars. > > This detour has some other problems with unclear marking and inadequate > signage to warn cars about bikes crossing Fair Oaks, just as we expectedd > when we gave our suggestions to the city. Maybe we should go over the > entire route and let the city know what we would like done. > > *Lance Green* > > > > - "If we continue to consume the world until there's no more to consume, then there's going to come a day, sure as hell, when our children or their children or their children's children are going to look back on us--on you and me--and say to themselves, 'My God, what kind of monsters were these people?'" --Daniel Quinn
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