We've Seen the Sharrows Go Down on Broadway

Yesterday at noon, the sharrow-makers were at the north end of Broadway, and by the time we biked over to Pike for Blogsgiving, it was sharrows all the way. If anyone's asking, Broadway could use a dedicated bike lane, not just sharrows. But perhaps this is just a beachhead for the new bikeocracy.

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By MvB in Miscellaneous on November 18, 2008 9:50 AM

Comments [rss]

bilco

'some other cities will feel they need to keep up' - Aspiring, have you traveled around our fine country on a bike? Seattle is the one who is sadly lagging, and this latest half-assed move will inspire no one.

I guess I'm dumb, but I don't understand the benefits of mysterious green stripes and sharrons - (oops, my spell checker doesn't like that monstrosity of a word) - basically newly invented oddball mechanisms that no one understands whose sole purpose is to remind people to obey the law.

Small beer, indeed, and even sadder that we feel we should celebrate these things.

aland

As both a bike rider and a driver, I really appreciate the sharrows as well as the dedicated bike lanes. As a biker, I've noticed more breathing room, and more attentiveness by drivers. As a driver, I appreciate the reminder that there are bikes around... especially when parallel parking, unparking, and getting out of my car.

The Aspiring Crescent

I think Mayor Nick wants to say he added a bunch of bike miles to the city but adding dedicated lanes takes a lot longer to get done. Fine by me, maybe some other cities will feel like they need to keep up...

Matt G1

Greens strips are meant to alert drivers that there's a bike lane there, so don't be an ass and make a sharp right turn.

jseattle

green strips = bonus

Troy Morris

What's up with the green strips everywhere?

bilco

I'm sure these idiotic 'sharrows' will take care of all safety problems.

MvB

You're right about how slowly traffic moves, Wesa. But that's why I appreciate being able to blow past it all on the right. If I'm not getting edged into car-door territory, I can easily beat car traffic down the street.

Wesa

I don't think it needs a dedicated bike lane. Most of the time traffic moves so slowly because of gawkers, left turners blocking the lane, jaywalking pedestrians, and people trying to street park that I'm rarely concerned when I ride in the center of the lane.