FLCC> Bike lane for uphill state st? a modest proposal.

[Jeff Bateman]

I commute down & up State St. daily, so it's personally interesting to hear 
that improvements are at least being considered. While acknowledging the 
limitations of bike lanes, my experience with them back in England was 
positive overall.

As riding up State St. is inevitably slow, having a space where we're less 
likely to be cut up by roaring trucks, SUVs and now the dreaded cheese-boxes 
would be welcome. If that could be a shared sidewalk/bike lane, most 
excellent. Even if it's only a painted line & some signs, that would be 
better than the current situation - at least some drivers may be reminded to 
share the road, and maybe avoid an incident.

It's a disgrace that the Board of Public Works is only talking about the 
section up to Mitchell St. The pavement is in terrible shape between 
Mitchell St & Giles St, yet that is the one part of Route 79/State St. that 
is in dire need of repair. When much of the road was resurfaced a couple of 
years ago, they left that section to rot. This year, they're fixing it east 
of Honness Lane, even though that section wasn't in bad shape by comparison. 
I asked the City last year when it will be fixed, and they said it's up to 
the state. But the Journal article implies the Ithaca City Board of Public 
Works is responsible?

Does anyone have any suggestions for how to encourage repair of pavement 
conditions that are dangerous to cyclists?

 - Jeff Bateman

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "William Lodico" <wlodico at stny.rr.com>
To: "Flcc" <flcc at icycle.org>
Sent: Sat, 15 September, 2007 22:52
Subject: Re: FLCC> Bike lane for uphill state st? a modest proposal.


Maybe something productive can come out of all this.

How does this sound :

Go ahead and stripe State Street just as planned for a bike lane,
only don't call it a bike lane.  Call it a shoulder.*

Post the following signage:

1  "Motor vehicles may not travel in shoulder"  (there is a sign to
that general effect at the base of the NY 13 south descent into
Ithaca, and it does properly state the law.) This should keep
motorists out of it, which is what everyone wants out of a bike lane
in the first place.

2  Usual "Share the Road" with bicycle diamond.  This reminds
motorists that, new striping notwithstanding, bikes may be in the
roadway, and that they've an obligation to accommodate them.  This
should negate the "bikes don't belong on the roadway" message that
might be implied by something that looks like a bike lane.

Assuming that the city commits to cleaning the shoulder (necessary
since motor traffic won't be performing the bike-friendly act of
sweeping the pavement there), a five foot shoulder should provide all
the bike positive advantages that might be afforded by a (clean, five
foot) bike lane, without disallowing cyclists from the roadway
proper.  It lets those who can make their way in motor traffic do so,
and those more comfortable with riding on the other side of a paint
stripe the chance to do that.

Maybe the city will be satisfied with some designation for the
project that completely eliminates any hint of a bike lane.
Something like "the State Street bicycle accessibility project."

How do others on the listserve feel about this idea?  Is there anyone
well-placed on bike-ped committee or otherwise who might consider
suggesting it as an alternative to the city?

Bill Lodico

(*Please note that I have some reservations about shoulders, although
since they don't have the effect of implicitly prohibiting motorists
from using the rest of the roadway, they aren't nearly as threatening
as bike lanes.  They certainly aren't the panacea some think they
are.  They collect debris, and are often given short shrift on the
maintenance front, and quite often cyclists would be better served by
a wider traffic lane and no shoulder.  .  .   but that's a whole
different can of worms.)





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