The city recently painted a green bike lane through the intersection of Pine and Bellevue in an attempt to increase the visibility of people biking downhill.
The city only installed the green paint in the westbound (downhill) lane, and a new sign facing traffic facing southbound on Bellevue reminds people to yield to people biking in the lane before making a right turn onto Pine.
The green paint is meant to remind people turning to look out for people in the bike lane. Someone making a turn in front of someone biking is one of the most common types of traffic incidents involving people riding bikes.
In other roadway paint news, Hello Seattle posted this photo of a new in-lane I-5 symbol on E Olive Way that lets people know which lane goes to the big highway thingy.
Image from Hello Seattle
…can we get a picture of the 5 that isn’t an instagram or hipstamatic photo? It’s fine to play to your audience, but, yeah… no.
That’s a great idea. You should take one and share it :)
We can’t get protection for pedestrians up the street, yet we can get this stupid waste of money…
But then we know what Mayor McBiker’s favorite form of transport is.
No worries – enough people get hit we’ll have a blood red streak to signify a pedestrian zone. Goes well with the green bike zones.
wft – alexjon – can you just go ahead and take the picture you want for us to see and post it? Yah, thanks.
If you’re having issues knowing how to cross a street I suggest you watch this video:
http://youtu.be/Cc-CPmNR2mc
That’s not how the internet works, sorry.
How about if the bicyclists STOP illegally passing on the right and wait in traffic like other vehicles. That would keep the bicyclists from running into cars that are turning right from the right-hand lane. It isn’t the car driver’s fault when some idiot comes flying down the street and zooms in front of them just as they are turning. The bicyclists are at fault for these accidents. Stop coddling them and make them follow the laws of the road if they want to be on the road.
I think you missed a decade or so of Seattle infrastructure. That green lane is called a “bike lane.” It’s like a car lane, but for bikes. The city added them so it’s probably legal to be on a bike in that lane.
It’s called a bike lane. There’s nothing illegal about passing someone when you’re riding in your own lane. Doesn’t matter if you’re in the right or left lane.
Saw this on the way to work this morning. It’s an interesting place to put it. I think it’s definitely needed on Melrose/Pine too. The bike lane sor of curves in the middle of that intersection and I have seen both drivers and cyclists get confused by this. Then again, there’s also a dip right in the path of the lane where a manhole cover is placed. It’s maybe .75 inches below the rest of the road?
Jeff, chances are that this money was secured when Mayor Mc-something stupid but I think it’s clever-Nickels was still in office. We have been striping bike lanes since before McGinn was voted in. Remember?
Also, SDOT sucks and prioritized roads. This is on a road. Oh, and yes, SDOT isn’t an acronym for Mayor Mike McGinn. I know, that may throw you off a bit though.
That’s exactly how the internet works. Where you been?
Crowdsourcers can’t be choosers. Blame Hello Seattle.
No, the internet works by lazy-ass people sitting conveniently behind their keyboards talking pot-shots at everyone else’s efforts, passively expecting to be informed and entertained with zero effort on their part. That’s how the internet works.
Jim S.
Brilliantly put.
…can we get a sentence that doesn’t start with …? it’s fine to play snarky on the internet and make no effort to enhance anything yourself,but, yeah…you seem like a jerk.
So misunderstood ;-; (walrus emoticon)
McBiker… brilliant!
Anyway, if by protection for pedestrians you mean a traffic light, THAT would be a huge cost. It wouldn’t necessarily be wasted money because it really does seem like it would be a help, but this bike lane will be a small help too, and it’s literally PAINT ON THE GROUND. How much do you think this cost them? Even if it has a tiny positive impact on bicyclist safety it will be a great investment because it costs such a small amount to do.
Hahahahaha.
I hate that hole! I got a flat from it a few months ago and have avoided it ever since.
Speaking of how the Internet works, we don’t get this content for free. This is an ad-based site, so we pay for it in the currency of our attention (not to mention what we’re paying to ISP’s) and have every right to complain if we feel like it. That said, I think that photo is perfectly fine.
Counter-intuitive though it may be, if you’ve got an axe to grind about sharing the road with bikes, you should support bike lanes. They tell bikers where to go and tell you where to look for them, so they are less of a hazard to everyone.
Taking lanes or parking away to make mostly empty, dedicated bike lanes is a whole other issue, but just marking shared space with some paint is all good!
Better bike facilities means more people biking which has shown to also have a positive affect on pedestrian safety. Choose your battles….
Counter-intuitive though it may be, if you’ve got an axe to grind about sharing the road with bikes, you should support bike lanes. They tell bikers where to go and tell you where to look for them, so they are less of a hazard to everyone.
If bicyclists were required to use the bike lanes and nothing else, I’d agree. But that’s not the case. They are allowed to ride wherever the want to, including on the sidewalks.
I couldn’t agree more. I’m sick and tired of seeing bikers speed down Pike or Pine at incredibly high rates of speed – running thru intersections and red lights without any possibility of stopping should the need arise. I just don’t understand why they are not held accountable to normal rules of the road to keep EVERYONE safe. I actually witnessed a woman crossing the road legally, in the cross walk at Pine and Summit where a speeding biker on a torpedo run down Pine completely blindsided the poor woman and knocked her on her a$$. Unacceptable. Had a driver done this – it would have been hit and run.
Although the green bike lanes will certainly help and serve as an additional reminder to responsible drivers to check to their right before turning – when bikes are barreling down the road at the speeds they do – and when they do not stop for red lights – then why is it then my fault as a driver when that irresponsible biker gets injured?
Road rules should apply to ALL modes of transportation on city streets. Period.