Believe me. We gave this a second — and a third — thought before posting. But since we’ve gone this far with with it, we might as well include the punchline. The East Pine no-parking signs were legit. It’s just the rain that was a problem. Wet pavement means no sharrow painting. Dry pavement means… here’s the details from SDOT’s inexhaustible Marybeth Turner:
I spoke with the manager of the crews that mark bike lanes and other pavement markings. He said he expects SDOT’s contractor will work on Pine Street tomorrow [Wednesday], and that the work should take two days.
All of their pavement marking was delayed because of rain. Dry pavement is required for this work.
Communicating with our traffic field crews has been more difficult since their shop is still without power since the fire.
more bike lanes! i mean really, awesome! ok, no not really. EFF the bike lanes!
I was worried about the lack of sharrows. I’m surprised no one had been killed on that stretch of road. How would any driver know to not run over bikers?
You aren’t supposed to ride over the bicyclists? *slaps forehead*
Well that explains a few things.
Motorists complain about cyclists being in the road and even more so when there isn’t a bike lane because now we slow traffic too much. Now that the city is installing bike lanes, you complain because…?
You still slow traffic – even in a bike lane.
Care to elaborate?
Are you complaining that you are forced to do the speed limit (as with the Nickerson St improvements) when we have our own lane?
Shallows I can agree with you on – they’re not separating anything. They just supposedly make you more aware of us. However, I don’t see how actual bike lanes affect your ability to whiz right by us to whatever important event it is that you need to get to.
New smooth pavement AND bike lanes? Sweet!
I’ve thought sharrows were silly for awhile ( http://www.hillku.com/2007/11/on-sharrows.html), but bike lanes work. Bikes in bike lanes or sharrows slow down traffic? That sure wasn’t the case when I was whizzing by cars on my bike commute this morning. Even at a leisurely pace, I can reliably beat a car down 19th at 8am.
I dont ride a bike but I know that people are out there doing it and I can appreciate the fact that they are. I do walk on sidewalks and it’s annoying as hell when bicyclists ride on the sidewalk, hopefully this will reduce the frequency of sidewalk riders. To you cyclists, the most annoying thing is when you think you can obey the pedestrian rules (ride on sidewalks, crosswalks, etc) and then take advantage of the streets as well. You are on a vehicle, ride on the streets and obey traffic laws.
I’m all for cyclists, just be courteous. Same goes to the drivers on the hill (myself included) slow down and be aware of other cars, pedestrians, and cyclists. Yes Rodney King, we can all get along.
Stepping down from my soap box now, carry on.
It’s just not an option to ride on the street sometimes. Riding in the street on Rainier and even some parts of Broadway, for example, is just a death wish. There are some streets where cars swerve into turn lanes that are also extremely dangerous to ride in.
Plus, there is hardly any on-street bike parking on most parts of Capitol Hill, so it’s absolutely mandatory to ride on the sidewalk if you want to stop somewhere.
Take the south part of 12th and E Pike, for example. There are bike lanes and on-street bike parking in front of Stumptown, so bikes, cars, and pedestrians get along fine. If all parts of Capitol Hill were complete with these features, there would be very few problems.
Also, note, it is perfectly legal for bikes to ride on the sidewalk AND/OR the street.
@Seajake
I agree with you about sidewalk riding. If the concern is that there is no on-street bike parking, OK. Dismount and walk your bike to the closest bike rack. There is no reason to be riding several blocks in the sidewalk and there is no reason to be so lazy to walk half a block to find a spot to lock your bike at.
Riding in the sidewalk causes unnecessary dangers for both cyclists and peds alike because of the huge speed difference and the inability to predict what the other is going to do – much like the complaints motorists have against cyclists.
I’m trying not to be sarcastic – but why do you live on Capitol Hill? Did you decide to live on the most progressive, least car-friendly, most walk/bike/ride-friendly neighborhood in the Northwest for the plentiful parking?
It’s so bizarre when people have cars on Capitol Hill, let alone when they complain about other people NOT using cars.
@misha
This is why you need to choose your route carefully. I wouldn’t ride down Rainier or MLK either because it is a death trap for cyclists – but there are other options available. The same can be said when riding downtown near the SLU – don’t like the tracks in the road? Cool, there are tons of other streets available for you to use that are exponentially safer to ride on.
Sorry, the dangers bicyclists face vs. cars (several deaths per year) trump the dangers pedestrians face vs. bicyclists (maybe a skinned knee).
Install safe bike lanes and on-street bike parking, and everyone’s happy. Until then, blame the machines that cause every traffic death and take up nearly 100% of the public roadway.
@misha
But see, this is the attitude that gives cyclists a bad name. Ah, we can’t kill anyone on our bikes and who cares about a skinned knee.
Just because we don’t cause nearly as much physical harm or dump a ton of CO2 into the air as a 2 ton vehicle doesn’t mean that we should proceed and be assholes to everyone else, including peds walking on the sidewalk. It would be great if there was streetside parking for bikes, but I’ll settle for more curbside parking on every block. I am more than able to walk that 100ft to a bike rack to lock up my wheels. I’m not being inconvenienced at all; it’s a part of parking and city life. There is no way that that the city can please 100% of the population, but the fact that the city caters to cyclists more than most other US cities says a lot and I appreciate that.
I agree with Cyclist Mike. How does “no street bike parking” force you to ride your bike on the sidewalk? Dismount when you get to the block where you want to lock up, walk your bike to the rack. It’s pretty simple. In my life, bike racks have always been on the sidewalks. In fact I’m mostly against the installation of bike racks in the street, primarily because it cuts down on already limited vehicle parking. And I don’t even drive anymore. But everyone deserves their fair share of concrete for parking and bike racks can (in most cases) easily fit on the sidewalk/curb without having to take up car parking.
A “sharrows” is NOT a bike lane. I personally won’t ride in one, I find an alternate side street. OR, I drive my car. Sharrows don’t protect bike riders and only irritate drivers. I’d love to commute on my bicycle more, but not until I feel safe.
Regarding choosing your route carefully…
Bicycling through the Arboretum is ridiculous. Especially, when there is an alternative route that runs parallel to it that is safer.
Before you say I am a complaining motorist. I commute by bike and I would never ride through the Arboretum.
“Bizarre” to have a car on Capitol Hill? Oh come on, there are many legitimate reasons to have one…for example, I use mine regularly in my volunteer work taking seniors to medical/dental appointments.
In my opinion, sharrows are silly, preachy, and a waste of taxpayer’s money. Their purpose is to “remind” motorists to share the road with cyclists, but we already know that, don’t we? I doubt that they increase safety one iota. I also think many people confuse the sharrow graphic with the bike lane graphic…they are quite similar.
But as a non-cyclist, I fully support the creation of more and more bike lanes for our city.