Letters to the Editor 8-20-15

Beware people, cars,bikes and pedestrians
EDITOR: First, I am a supporter of walking and bikes more than cars in our downtown. I live downtown and try to walk whenever I can. But I was driving downtown when I had a couple of interesting encounters yesterday, I thought to share w/ our community.
I was stopped at the downtown stop light preparing to go left, after the pedestrians in the crosswalk crossed the street. A bicycle cut me off on the right side of my car and his bike or the bag he had over his shoulder grazed my car or the sideview mirror. He looked briefly at me, kept riding. Yikes that was scary.
Same day, same intersection, on Main St., I was waiting for the walk symbol to come on, so I could cross the street in the crosswalk to Silk Moon. Cars were stopped at the red light, I stepped into the street and almost got run over by a bicycle. OMG, that was real scary. I felt the breeze of the bike as she passed me. Obviously the biker went through the red light. I thought bikes follow the same rules on the road as cars when it comes to stops, etc. What’s going on out here, I thought, craziness.
Cars, bikes, pedestrians… becareful out there, crossing in crosswalks – get eye contact before crossing in crosswalks. Don’t assume because you are in a crosswalk, you have the right away. You know what assume means. Bikers please ride carefully, cars slow down:
Debra Capria
Sebastopol
Poor Investment
EDITOR: Sebastopol City Council’s endorsement of bike-lanes alongside Highway 116 seems like a poor investment to me.
I haven’t see the design for these bike-lanes but from what I’ve heard is that it will essentially be a white stripe “separating” a shoulder with bike lane designation. I’ve traveled thousands of miles by bike (much more by car) and I’m in favor of any project that improves our transportation infrastructure but it’s worth pointing out some drawbacks to this kind of improvement that are consistently overlooked:
1. On roads with major traffic, like Highway 116, the shoulders (whether or not marked as a bike-lane) quickly become a garbage lane because this is where any road debris accumulates. This includes loose gravel, which is especially dangerous following a chip-seal but will also occur at all intersecting gravel driveways and road intersections, glass, which may be vehicular j! etsam or overflow from recycle bins (the best time to find fresh glass on the shoulder is just after garbage collection) and just about anything else. There’s also the seasonal overgrowing vegetation to contend with. These shoulders also receive the least, if any, attention from road repair and maintenance crews. Ultimately the shoulders become an obstacle course so the cyclist generally rides at the edge of the bike lane closest to traffic and meanders into the traffic lane to avoid obstacles.
2. On roads with shoulders that have major traffic, like Highway 116, drivers will be less inclined to slow as they pass cyclists. The net result is that traffic will generally be passing the cyclists at a much faster speed. This is great if you are driving a car, as I frequently do, but not so great if you’re riding a bicycle, which I wish I did more often.
Both of these drawbacks are something that can really only be experienced on a bicycle. The shoulder-obstacle-course and the feeling of having fast traffic whizz by you is something that is invisible to the occupants of a car.
Should this project go ahead I don’t think anyone should be patting themselves on the back because there’s really not much bang-for-the-buck here. The saddest part is that bike-lane-shoulders alongside busy roads like highway 116 will do virtually nothing to help those that need alternative transportation infrastructure the most – children, including those who would like to bike to and from school, pedestrians, beginner and novice cyclists and cyclists that do not want to ride alongside fast-moving traffic. It sure seems the limited money could be better invested for Sebastopol’s future.
I guess this is “progress” and I will ride a bike on these shoulders if they are built, but not if there is another road that I can use that will allow me to avoid the heavy traffic, even if it means there is no shoulder, terrible pavement and hills to climb. What a lot of traffic designers seem to fail to understand is that for the most part, riding a bicycle is a lot like walking, just more efficient. And like walking, the best route will always be where the traffic is the least annoying.
Denver Booker
Sebastopol