I would totally ride this drunk.
It's an interesting situation for the small segment of the population that thinks about this. We all (well, a number of us) don't like these shared lanes. They're far from the ideal and create a number of problems. So, the question is: "Would we rather have no bike lanes or bad bike lanes?" Personally, I vote no bike lanes over bad bike lanes. But what do others think?
As an aside, I also like that Asylum Ave has become the most dangerous road around. There was the guy inexplicably tried to run me off the road last month and then the nine car pile up the next week. It finally lives up to its name as a crazy road for crazy people.
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Also, remember that we're cleaning the river this weekend. A guy emailed me and he's bringing a canoe. I love canoes! Oct 4 11am - 2pm (or 10am if you're super gung ho) @ the confluence of the Park and Connecticut Rivers. Wear pants!
10 comments:
oh.
if anyone's interested: http://www.ctbikepedplan.org/documents/releases/PressReleasePubMtgs_072908.pdf
Shared parking-bike lanes are only bad where the lane is frequently used for parking. Where there are seldom any cars parked there or where there are no-parking signs, it is pretty much a dedicated bike lane. The most dangerous stretch of Asylum was the couple of blocks in front of The Hartford--it was narrow and busy and there was no provision for bikes at all. The new striping provides a bike lane along there. A big improvement.
Good question...no lanes or bad lanes? This post does a good job at discussing both sides of the argument. We could also paint the hell out of them.
Hey, I wear pants! This event just keeps sounding better and better for my pants-wearing lifestyle!
aaabiker-
I agree with you there. I rode through there yesterday, well actually I rode from downtown out to uconn west hartford, and it's a huge improvement. also, since it was after three, there were no cars parked in the lane. it was the most pleasant ride I've ever had on Asylum. of course once I entered west hartford, the new medians confused everyone and the road got dangerous again.
The worst part of my daily commute regarding shared bike lanes is the stretch of Boulevard from Main Street to South Quaker where the shared bike lanes are ALWAYS filled with parked cars. Particularly dangerous is the segment from Troutbrook up the hill to South Quaker where one has the added difficulty of glancing over their shoulder looking for cars while moving up hill. Here a pause can result in a loss of momentum and BAM you are dead in the water. In this situation I'd almost prefer there not be a bike lane because it removes the potential argument from drivers that when Im riding in the lane Im doing so unnecessarily, or even illegally. Technically the universal bike symbol has not been painted so as of now they are just glorified parking spots or a massive shoulder.
Don't get me started on West Hartford. They just don't seem to get it for bicycles. The shared lanes are not usable for bikes because of all of the parked cars. Many of the new paving projects made the lanes so narrow that cars can not get around bikes. Try getting to Whole Foods or Blue Back Square sometime by bicycle--you would think at least on new projects they would make some attempt to accomodate bicycles.
aaabiker-
I totally agree. This is the same town that put together a bike task force for the purpose of making it the best town in the state for bicycles. I can't believe that these are the recommendations.
Will there clean-up on Sunday? I'm going apple picking on saturday. :(
apple picking is lame!
no cleanup on sunday.
You could clean up the river on Sunday, but you'll be on your own.
Apples will still be there on Sunday..join us Saturday!
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