Comments on: Green Lanes Mean What?

By: Seattle Green Lanes: Laying it on Thick « Car Free Days

Seattle Green Lanes: Laying it on Thick « Car Free Days — Sat, 10 May 2008 09:40:25 +0000

[...] crew was hard at work this morning as I headed into work. Yep, it’s one of the green lanes we blogged about last February. I’m still thinking the green is a bit of “Emerald City” gimick, [...]

By: Sven Türpe

Sven Türpe — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 22:43:45 +0000

Why not paint them red, as a warning to cyclists? Bike lanes may be less evil than stronger methods of separating road traffic from other road traffic but they do create problems that we wouldn’t have without them. Plus, I’m still waiting to see a single advantage (from the cyclists’ point of view). Bike lanes suggest a ghetto for cyclists; they may provoke dangerous ways of driving such as driving too close to parking cars; they require a lot of maintenance where cars clean the road by just using it; and you already mentioned the right hook issue. I feel they really do nothing good except for being a political demonstration that cyclists are there and are acknowledged. What you may get in the end is just mileage appreciation: celebrating so-and-so many miles of new bike lanes regardless of their quality and safety. This works the better the more visible the lanes are, as it is hard to celebrate something nobody really does notice.

Over here in Germany we increasingly fight against separation of bicycles from other road traffic. History, people’s attitudes and the legal framework are quite different, but the underlying concepts and forces may be similar. Or maybe not: you seem to have public debates on the safety and convenience issues, something we largely lack.

By: Tim K

Tim K — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 16:01:03 +0000

Thanks Dave — I saw that about PDX. I can’t imagine why either, and with their powerful bike lobby I think I’ll believe the change when I see it. I guess green is better than nothing — that’s what they are using in Brooklyn — but it still strikes me as trying to “buck the trend” in a Seattle kind of way.

Marge – I wonder of underground is an option there — they could have had the new developer put in a tunnel while they are digging their big hole. I think one option there would be a signal like they have a Pike Place Market — ALL car traffic stops then ALL crosswalks turn. It allows people to go diagonal or merge into a lane of traffic from the trail or whatever. Then the cars get their chance.

By: Dave R.

Dave R. — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 15:28:57 +0000

Nice article Tim! I like the photo. It sounds like PDX will be doing green lanes too in the future, although I can’t imagine why they’re changing.

By: marge

marge — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 01:14:56 +0000

Tim you are so right about Burke-Gilman/Blakely. It should go underground like
NE Bothell Way/68th Ave NE

By: Tim

Tim — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 00:19:53 +0000

I actually don’t care much for measures like these. It does let people be wary of cyclists, but it also restricts cyclists. I think it also gives another crutch to drivers; one less thing they need to worry about, “I don’t have to look out for cyclists crossing the street because they’re in this trusty painted zone at all times!” The real obstacle to cycle-car relations seems to me to be a lack of defensive driving on both ends, mostly on the car end because a bicyclist is manually operating his/her vehicle.
Thanks for the tidbit, thanks for hearing my comment!