Comments on: Portland Gets a Cycle Track, and All That Comes With It http://la.streetsblog.org/2009/09/02/portland-gets-a-cycle-track-and-all-that-comes-with-it/ Covering Los Angeles's livable streets movement Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:06:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Columbusite http://la.streetsblog.org/2009/09/02/portland-gets-a-cycle-track-and-all-that-comes-with-it/comment-page-1/#comment-29481 Columbusite Sun, 06 Sep 2009 16:02:29 +0000 http://la.streetsblog.org/?p=9641#comment-29481 It's a bad idea because it's a failed attempt to provide a segregated infrastructure for bikes. Cyclists need to look at what segregated bike infrastructure does and says to cyclists. On the surface it appears to be a welcoming gesture, but in reality endangers cyclists at the expense of appeasing motorists. Look at the picture above and take into consideration drivers taking a right turn at the green light. With all those parked cars keeping cyclists out of view, drivers really won't see a cyclist before they hit one. Forget cycle tracks and bike lanes in the city. Keep everyone driving/riding in the same, easy-to-understand way instead of creating conflicts which pit a human body against thousands of pounds of metal. Maybe that doesn't attract as high of a number of new cyclists, but safety of cyclists should come first instead of using them as statistics for bragging purposes. It’s a bad idea because it’s a failed attempt to provide a segregated infrastructure for bikes. Cyclists need to look at what segregated bike infrastructure does and says to cyclists. On the surface it appears to be a welcoming gesture, but in reality endangers cyclists at the expense of appeasing motorists. Look at the picture above and take into consideration drivers taking a right turn at the green light. With all those parked cars keeping cyclists out of view, drivers really won’t see a cyclist before they hit one. Forget cycle tracks and bike lanes in the city. Keep everyone driving/riding in the same, easy-to-understand way instead of creating conflicts which pit a human body against thousands of pounds of metal. Maybe that doesn’t attract as high of a number of new cyclists, but safety of cyclists should come first instead of using them as statistics for bragging purposes.

]]> By: Spokker http://la.streetsblog.org/2009/09/02/portland-gets-a-cycle-track-and-all-that-comes-with-it/comment-page-1/#comment-29011 Spokker Thu, 03 Sep 2009 02:06:13 +0000 http://la.streetsblog.org/?p=9641#comment-29011 "Are cycle tracks worth the backlash they sometimes inspire?" Since when was anyone around here afraid of backlash? ;) “Are cycle tracks worth the backlash they sometimes inspire?”

Since when was anyone around here afraid of backlash? ;)

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