[*BCM*] Fwd: Comm Ave Bike Lane meeting Aug 31st.

rob levy r.p.levy at gmail.com
Thu Aug 27 13:24:21 EDT 2009


I like bike lanes because they semi-guarantee some space to ride, but in a
way they kind of give motorists license to complain when bicyclists ride in
the main lanes.  Often times it makes more sense to ride in the lane
occupied by cars, despite there being a bike lane, for example if the bike
lane is in a dooring zone thanks to people parking on the street, and there
is heavy traffic.  Ideally the speed limit should be 10 miles per hour or
lower in all urban areas, to drive home the fact that the roads are dual-use
for motored and non-motored vehicles.   Going the bike lane route, cities
would benefit greatly from either banning or upping the costs prohibitively
for on-street parking, requiring people who choose to drive to park their
vehicles and walk from the parking lot or garage, and reducing heart disease
and obesity.  Obesity has recently been shown to be (causally?) linked with
severe brain dysfunction, so perhaps people who are increasingly less obese
will also make better decisions about transportation.

On Thu, Aug 27, 2009 at 12:37 PM, Silivrenion <silivrenion at gmail.com> wrote:

> If the bike lane was only on one side of the street, there would have to be
> an elaborate bicycle lane merging system to move people from one side of the
> street to the other legally with the flow of traffic. Some people actually
> do like riding on the legally correct side of the road, after all.
> The other concern I have is for freight -- I am a freight bicyclist. I
> carry trailers full of cargo at ~30mph in the bike lane. You'd be surprised
> how much help inertia is! Anyway, with a two-direction bike lane, there
> would have to be a clear delineation between inbound/outbound bicycle
> traffic. If I'm hauling half a ton of cargo, I can't stop very suddenly --
> think of a train barreling down train tracks. Bicyclists who pop out on the
> wrong lane will get a nasty surprise if they don't pay attention.
>
> I like the idea of bicycle lanes on either side of Comm ave, with arrows
> marking the direction of proper bicycle flow. Not only would this reduce the
> chance of a dumb bicyclists attempting a head-on collision with a freight
> bike, but it would encourage traffic to be more accepting of bicycles as
> part of regular traffic.
>
> --------------------
> Angela Morley
>
>
> 2009/8/27 Rob Arnold <rsarnold at gmail.com>
>
> That works until you have to bike home.
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Aug 27, 2009 at 11:52 AM, Andrew Maddox <andrewmad at gmail.com>wrote:
>>
>>> Only allow parking on one side of the street to allow the other for a
>>> bike lane.  COMPROMISE.
>>>
>>>
>>> On Thu, Aug 27, 2009 at 11:49 AM, rob levy <r.p.levy at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> If the city was smart they would do away with on-street parking
>>>> altogether.
>>>>
>>>> On Thu, Aug 27, 2009 at 10:30 AM, Ari Pollak <ajp at aripollak.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Is there a better solution than a bike lane like they pictured? That
>>>>> entire stretch of Comm Ave is lined with parked cars, people are
>>>>> double-parking there constantly, and the lanes seem pretty narrow
>>>>> already. Will adding a bike lane make people slow down? What about just
>>>>> shifting the lane markings over a bit and adding "share the road"
>>>>> markings?
>>>>>
>>>>> thom3 at aol.com wrote:
>>>>> > -----Original Message-----
>>>>> > From: Seiderman, Cara <cseiderman at cambridgema.gov>
>>>>> > To: 'cbikecomm at googlegroups.com' <cbikecomm at googlegroups.com>
>>>>> > Sent: Tue, Aug 25, 2009 5:06 pm
>>>>> > Subject: FW: Comm Ave Bike Lane meeting Aug 31st.
>>>>> >
>>>>> > FYI, and to forward to friends in Boston
>>>>> >
>>>>> > *From:*
>>>>> > *Subject:* Comm Ave Bike Lane meeting Aug 31st.
>>>>> >
>>>>> > There's an important meeting coming up where the city will propose
>>>>> > installing bike lanes on Comm Ave from Kenmore to the Public Garden.
>>>>> > The meeting is on 8/31 at 6PM at the BPL.
>>>>> > Cyclists are encouraged to attend, especially if you live in the
>>>>> > neighborhood!
>>>>> >
>>>>> > Details:
>>>>> > Monday, August 31, 2009
>>>>> > 6:00 PM
>>>>> > Boston Public Library Central Branch
>>>>> > Mezzanine Conference Room
>>>>> > 700 Boylston Street
>>>>> >
>>>>> > Please see and circulate the attached flier for details.
>>>>> >
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> Boston Critical Mass mailing list
>>>>> list at bostoncriticalmass.org
>>>>> http://bostoncriticalmass.org/list
>>>>> To unsubscribe email list-unsubscribe at bostoncriticalmass.org
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>
>>>
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>>
>>
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>
>
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