[*BCM*] bike lanes

[Erik Wile]

Tony said:
> which reminds me:  it seems to me of late that bike lanes are actually more
> important in the near-suburbs, like Brookline, Brighton and Newton, where
> drivers have no clue, and traffic moves at varying rates.  In the
> center-city, I never feel in danger riding in with the traffic.

They're not a cure-all though.  In some places that have gained bike
lanes over the years that I've been using the road, I've felt that
cars pass _closer_ to me now that there's a defined bike lane.

The two I know best are Broadway at the base of the Longfellow Bridge
in Cambridge, as well as on Hartwell in Lexington.  In both cases when
the lanes were not so well defined then I basically got one of two
lanes to myself.  But now that "my space" is defined I get passed by
cars in the lane right up next to me.  Even if I ride in the "car
lane" because of a hazard.

Sometimes I think the paint on the road lets car drivers zone out even
more than they already do.

My $0.02,
-erik