This is the north-bound version of new bike lanes on Walnut Street between Homer Street and Commonwealth Avenue, right in front of City Hall.
They are terrific. Any bike lanes, especially on already well-traveled bike routes, are terrific. So, we bike advocates ought to be thankful. We also need to continue the campaign for more bike lanes.
This is a very short stretch on an important north/south corridor. Walnut between Homer and Beacon already has nice wide shoulders, which could be converted to official bike lanes. South of Beacon is a long-contested stretch. The stretch north of Comm. Ave. leads to Newton North, and should be made as bike-friendly as possible to encourage students to ride to school. Homer between Walnut and Centre is being repaved, and should be a candidate for bike lanes. &c.
So, thanks. And more, please.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
New bike lanes -- thank you and more please
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6 comments:
how come no discussion of the unruly cyclists... from the turning lane entry: You must mean this:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/09/01/critical_mass_rider_says_officer_pushed_him_off_bike/?camp=obnetwork
excerpt:
The Cambridge cyclists were or derly, Pina later noted in a police report, but when they arrived at the intersection, several cyclists stopped and held up traffic, allowing other cyclists to pass through a red light. Drivers were blaring their horns and yelling at the cyclists to move, and the cyclists were yelling back at the drivers, Pina wrote.
That’s when things started to go wrong. Pina said he saw the potential for a vehicle to hit a cyclist. He walked into the street and started ordering the cyclists to stop, but they just swerved around him, he said.
I for one, don't see any connection between bike lanes and critical mass.
The above annonymous must be one of those folks that thinks cyclists = critical mass in the same vein that muslims = terrorists.
You don't see a lot of things Sean. You've been lumping drivers together as a group that have consistently got away with ignoring cyclist's right to be on the road. Cyclists do no wrong, drivers have special obligations. Now, when it's clear that the cyclists (and obviously a lot of them) have been shown to be quite obnoxious, the subject never comes up. You don't address it, you don't talk about it, you don't say there is anything wrong with it. You don't even like it when another cyclist took the high road and wrote that his fellow cyclists should be more polite and careful on the road. Battered cyclist syndrome - gimme a break. It would just be best if you stayed out of the conversations.
The more bike lanes, the more risk-averse cyclists on the streets.
The more risk-averse cyclists on the streets, the smaller the proportion of risk-prone cyclists.
The smaller the proportion of risk-prone cyclists, the more orderly cyclists in general.
If you think bicyclists are in general obnoxious rule-breakers, you should welcome bike lanes.
(I happen to think there's a fairly even distribution of obnoxiousness between drivers and bikers... but because drivers' vehicles outweigh biker's vehicles 100:1, I'm more skittish around obnoxious drivers.)
I don't in general, think bikers are obnoxious. But they do exist. And I don't believe drivers, in general, are looking to do bikers any harm. Although some of those exist too. And I have absoluteyly no problem with more bike lanes. It's the one-sided arrogant cycling community activists that are killing it for the rest of us because of their attitude and their unwillingness to put any blame on cyclists. Pretty soon the aldermen as well as others stop listening. And besides that, it's just plain wrong.
I guess there is reason to be skittish around cyclists too:
By Travis Andersen, Globe Staff
A bicyclist from Hull was arrested in Braintree on Friday for allegedly threatening a woman with a knife after she cut him off in the South Shore Plaza parking lot.
Braintree police said the woman called 911 shortly before noon and said a man identified as James A. Burns, 46, pulled out a large folding knife and held it down by his thigh in a "menacing" manner after she cut in front of him to get into a parking space. She said Burns unfolded the knife and yelled threats.
The woman said Burns left on his bicycle in the direction of Granite Street, according to police. He was apprehended a short time later on Davis Road "after a brief attempt at resisting," police said.
Burns was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, resisting arrest, and disorderly conduct.
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