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  1. PurpleChard757 on

    It is hard to understand your point without further context. Why is this bad for commuters?

  2. turtlingturtles on

    I would much rather commute at a leisurely pace in this much protected safety than feel compelled to move quickly just to avoid getting flattened by angry cars.

  3. Lol, the straight road for drivers…
    Drivers wouldn’t put up with this.
    Its almost like the car direct route vs everyone else wavy line meme. Proper carbrains.

  4. I probably wouldn’t ride this for leisure much. A leisurely bike ride doesn’t include being visually assaulted from all angles, and even if I’m not going anywhere I don’t want to stop every few seconds. And those tight curves and metal sides don’t look safe either.

  5. It’s main purpose isn’t recreation or commuting, it’s a mix of both. And given this section is SUPER touristy, I don’t think that’s a bad thing.

  6. My city put almost all non car infrastructure in a circle around the city, unless you include the part of the road with bicycles on it that people use for piles of snow from their driveways, and storing hunks of metal and trash. 

    It’s inconvenient to have a lot of intersections, but it seems like a good solution to fit a variety of needs. Recreational cycling is often a gateway to commuting by bike, and people going places by bike in general, even if for fun, is better than driving.

  7. therelianceschool on

    TL;DW:

    * Narrow paths bordered by rusty steel planters
    * Sharp curves and short lines of sight
    * Frequent of pedestrian crossings and needless traffic lights

    At best, it’s suited for weekend cruises; at worst, there will be some nasty accidents soon.

  8. Have you ever been down there during the daytime or especially on a weekend? It can be a madhouse of completely clueless tourists who’ve never seen an adult riding a bike before. There’s not a perfect way to have a path here without putting cyclists with cars or making it completely pointless for pedestrians.

    If you’re commuting here, you just have to slow down a lot for this roughly 1/4 mile stretch (oh the humanity!!) and, like always, assume all pedestrians don’t see you and/or are suicidal.

    I don’t get it, would you rather not have this lane? Get tossed in with cars in this area that’s incredibly confusing for car traffic anyway and littered with asshole cabbies who park wherever they want (aka in a bike lane most likely)?

  9. BeefJerkyHunter on

    Eh, this actually looks pretty useful. There are many exits for commuters to get to the building they want. I’m in Albuquerque where most of the bicycle paths are for recreation. Like, it’s all fenced in.

    Those baseball fields? Ha, go down another quarter mile to exit the bike path and then turn around on car streets. Oh, that church? Nope, go down a quarter mile and come back on the car streets. Smell something good? Ha, you can’t even see it because of the high walls. Then let’s make the bike path needlessly curvy and hilly because it looks nice from a car window.

    Albuquerque is getting better. But all of the bicycle paths that have less contact with cars are not useful. So I ride in the bike lane gutter 90% of the time.

  10. This is somewhat a special case. The piers in Seattle are tourist magnets, so there was always going to be a lot of cross traffic on this bike lane. Still looks great imo, but I wouldn’t commute on it. Other options exist nearby.

  11. This is the situation that drivers will point at at say “why do we put a million dollars at a bike lane when someone just rides in the road anyway!” And they have a point when we say “I’m not riding in that because it’s a mild inconvenience” at the same time telling drivers that having to pass cyclists is a mild inconvenience

  12. Bigdaddydave530 on

    Yeah damn bro this looks so garbage what were they thinking

    🙄🙄

    Get real this is awesome to have

  13. There are so many cities that don’t have anywhere close to this. Be grateful for the community you have.

  14. So basically you want an “express way” for cycle commuters built through the middle of a tourism pedestrian precinct. Hmmm, where have I heard that before.

  15. MinuteSure5229 on

    Who fucking cares!

    Your entire life isn’t one big commute. Go ride your bike for fun once in a while.

  16. It’s a tourist hub right there. Pedestrians need to be accounted for, as well as tourists using scooters or bikes to get between destinations in that area. It’s far far better than nothing. (Also, this is at the bottom of the biggest hill in the city, if you’re commuting, this is not the ideal artery for most people.)

    If more people feel invited to ride bikes, more infrastructure can follow. A win is a win.

  17. skatesteve2133 on

    Looks fantastic!! To me the top priority should be safety for the novice rider so we can convert people to biking for small errands, bar hopping, or leisure. Getting people who don’t usually bike to feel safe enough to try out biking instead of driving is the most important and hardest part.

    Also the chicanes are there to slow bikes and scooters since there’s a ton of pedestrian cross traffic in this section. That will help reduce accidents. The thin metal planter box edges are certainly a choice though…

  18. noodleexchange on

    Yeah, but you are in a recreational part of town. It’s mixed-use.
    Exactly the same on Harbourfront in Toronto, a mixed use path, do your KOMs somewhere else.

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