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New striping on 65th?

(40 posts)

Started 11 months ago by WinerGirl
Latest reply from BuffaloHawk

WinerGirl

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Noticed some new temporary-looking road stripes on 65th between 15th and 24th today. Anyone know what the plans are? Designated bike lane? Left turn lane from 65th to 20th?

Posted 11 months ago #
onederfullone

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crap...I thought it was stripping...

Posted 11 months ago #
BuffaloHawk

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shopping cart lane to get to the campers

Posted 11 months ago #
ballardpilot

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Probably just the latest place the city moves to make life as miserable as possible for anyone who dares drive a car- that's the only project the city does these days.

Posted 11 months ago #
Curtis

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True enough...came home to a door flyer stating that 65th will be receiving "Shared Lane Pavement Marking" (they actually refer to them as "sharrows"!!!)in 1 - 4 weeks.
They will be posting no parking signs 72 hours prior to installation dates, and work will most likely be done in the early morning hours and weekends.

Posted 11 months ago #
great idea

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well, it's about time.

looks like all the morons driving their cars will have to share nicely with the bicyclists.

slow you down??? wahhhh.

Posted 11 months ago #
BuffaloHawk

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Why you have to be so hurtful :(

I have to commute to Lynn-Hood and the convergence zone has no soul when it comes to weather

Posted 11 months ago #
ballardpilot

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Right. Because simply painting stripes on every road in Seattle, reducing traffic capacity at every opportunity while simultaneously squeezing in tens of thousands of residents (most with their own cars) is going to solve transportation problems in this city. That's exactly the magical thinking I expect from the idiots who have decided its their mission to just try and make others' lives as difficult as possible. This will surely encourage drivers to treat cyclists with ever more love and respect as the traffic backups extend further and further down every street. What could possibly go wrong?

Posted 11 months ago #
dsomers

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Ballardpilot,

You should actually be grateful! This is part of the the SRKDP. The "Seattle Residents Karma Development Project." They are helping improve your Karma Quotient through suffering on the roadways. When they are done you should have amassed enough Karmic points to insure that you will come back in your next life as a higher life form. A bicycle bodhisattva perhaps?

<friendly, and rather silly grin>

D

Posted 11 months ago #
ballardpilot

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Indeed, dsomers, the city overlords are doing a great job of increasing everyone's misery quotient.

I note the front page story about new city-inflicted "parking reforms" (I can only imagine what great "reforms" that will include) which I'm sure are going to do wonderful things for everyone.

Just keep painting more lines on all the streets and clapping harder!

Posted 11 months ago #
Lou98107

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They are helping improve your Karma Quotient through suffering on the roadways.

This wasn't the first thing on this site that made me laugh today, but it was the first thing that wasn't snarky.

Of all the E-W main drags near where I live, 65th is the most narrow. But I'd share that road with a cyclist anyway, so I'm unsure what the new striping might accomplish.

Posted 11 months ago #
WinerGirl

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Rats! I was hoping it was at least a designated left-turn lane from 65th to 20th. Congested enough as it is; I think adding sharrows will only make it more so.

Posted 11 months ago #
shelley

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I wish they would mark more pedestrian crossings instead. The sharrow things are mostly where the auto wheels make their ruts, so they make interesting glyphs as the paint wears away. I suppose as a driver I do notice them, but they have become so ubiquitous, so they are less effective. As a cyclist, I don't think they give me any more right to the road, and really no protection from drivers or opening doors.

Posted 11 months ago #
teigyr

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As a cyclist (when I was one), they are ridiculous. I didn't feel the least bit safe, fwiw. The people I rode with felt the same way. I'm sure there are people who like them but I never really saw the point.

Posted 11 months ago #
Gnomie

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These lanes could possibly give some cyclists a false sense of security. Kind of like when my daughter learned to drive she thought just using the turn signal created a force field where everyone would just move out of her way:^()
In my opinion, 65th is one of the worst streets to ride on because it carries a ton of car traffic. When I'm out on 2 wheels I avoid this street at all costs.
I can see some commuter cyclists benefiting from this for bus access but for the recreational rider, no bueno.

Posted 11 months ago #
Norge

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I live on 65th. Not only are there lots of cars, there are a lot of school buses from Salmon Bay School. The road is pretty narrow as it is and the city has already taken 3 feet of the parking strip to widen the road to accommodate parking and driving.

Posted 11 months ago #
Cate

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Sharrows do not make me feel any safer on my bike and I haven't noticed that drivers are any more aware of me when sharrows are present. I think the money could be better spent for bicycle education for students for instance. (And 65th is to busy, I drop down to one of the residential streets for my type of recreational riding)

Posted 11 months ago #
great idea

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it's paint for crying out loud.

not exactly draining the city coffers.

Posted 11 months ago #
Corvus

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I read somewhere that each one of those green sections which designate bikes only cost the city 16,000 each. Painting lines on asphalt is a very lucrative gig.

Posted 11 months ago #
teigyr

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I don't recall how much it was but it was surprisingly a lot of money, especially for a city that is broke.

Posted 11 months ago #
iPlod

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If they would take out some of them churches that clog up too many corners around here, there would be plenty of room for left turn lanes, right turn lanes, sharrow lanes & suicide lanes.

However, don't anyone dare suggest taking out corner bars for more lanes.

Posted 11 months ago #
Alferd Packer

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Crazy traffic on 65th around there. Not to mention drunk driving. http://www.myballard.com/2012/06/08/early-morning-crash-on-nw-65th-st/

Posted 11 months ago #
Mondoman

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I was talking to the SDOT rep at the recent bike-to-work day afterparty down by Bergen Place and emphatically stated how useless and potentially dangerous I thought sharrows were, both for cars and cyclists. He started out by responding that bikes were allowed to ride in all those roads by law, but was at least gracious enough to listen to my viewpoint without further protest.

Not wanting to seem completely churlish, I did at least thank him for the long-awaited upgrade work on the South Ship Canal Trail.

Call up your councilmembers, mayor, and SDOT. If they get enough complaints, they might be persuaded to move funds into a win-lose or draw-lose activity instead of this lose-lose one. I've given up hoping for win-win!

Posted 11 months ago #
ynh98107

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I thought you meant the other kind of stripping. Road work is not that compelling.

Posted 11 months ago #
great idea

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actual bike lanes are expensive, but 'sharrows' are dirt cheap.

they only cost $229 each to install (labor and materials).

as opposed to a full-blown bike lane which can cost between $5,000 and $60,000 per mile.

I still like them and don't think they're over-used (although I'll still bike on 67th or 64th, especially when they eventually create a 'greenway').
source:
http://grist.org/biking/2011-11-17-sharing-time-tracking-the-sharrow-on-city-streets/

Posted 11 months ago #
pixlpete

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65th is an really busy street and I can't even count the sheared off mirrors and sideswipes over the past 15 years. I don't get why the city would encourage cyclist to even use it. I agree with Gnomie’s false "force field" observation and I also think it can be really distracting/confusing to encounter the infograhics for motorists. There are a whole bunch of houses on the south side of 65th, they should be able to continue to park on that side the street. To foul up an arterial for the sake of a very few cyclists is just dumb (IMHO).

Posted 11 months ago #
Corvus

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Are they actually going to limit parking times for the residents? Or will it be like Fremont Ave or Stone Way where there is just a couple inches from parked car to the stripe?

Posted 11 months ago #
pixlpete

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Sorry. You are right, it looks like tight up against the parked cars, like 24th. Car door sandwiches for everyone.

Posted 11 months ago #
GAM

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I'm scared to use those "sharrows" - they don't leave any room to swerve out of harm's way. I need room to avoid the idiots who open their doors without looking. But I also worry if I bike in traffic when there's a "sharrow" that the cars will resent that I'm not "where I belong" and cause dangerous conditions.

As a cyclist, I wish they'd quit creating "sharrows". I felt much safer before.

Posted 11 months ago #
teigyr

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I'm not sure I felt safer before sharrows but then again I really haven't ridden that much up here. I know when I was out with some savvy friends and asked "wtf is that" as we were riding, they explained and said they were silly. As a driver, I think they're silly. As a cyclist, they don't really protect me from anything. I'm not sure WHY the city paid anything to explain to car drivers about sharing a lane with cyclists.

The car doors too, is always concerning if you see someone sitting in a car. You never know if they're going to pull out or open their door.

Seems like it's sketchy enough lately even when I run and can be on sidewalks and all-terrain. I'm not sure education is the answer either. It's apparent that pedestrians and cyclists are out there and even if there is a right to be in the lane, drivers should still be looking and alert. Hell anymore half of them don't even see when red lights turn green.

When driving a car, your "job" is to drive the car. Part of that is to be aware of your surroundings, etc. I'm probably jaded but am half thinking people are idiots most of the time.

Posted 11 months ago #
iPlod

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Sharrows

Share a Row

Share that Row amongst my Knees and your Car Door.

Or your U-Turn.

My point here is don't assume expensive city paint schemes = safety.

Posted 11 months ago #
teigyr

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exactly, iPlod. It doesn't. People don't even obey traffic laws quite a bit of the time.

I was walking around down at work, near the airport. A delivery driver ran a red light, did an illegal u-turn, and then almost hit me in a cross walk. Just because there is a law or paint, it doesn't mean someone will heed it.

Posted 11 months ago #
iPlod

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Or hit it, haw haw.

Posted 11 months ago #
teigyr

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hah. Yup :) Penalties aren't that strict and as evidenced (though not officially) by that guy who killed the cyclist last year, people don't even necessarily learn by their mistakes.

Posted 11 months ago #
iPlod

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Well, at least victims, if they survive, learn by their mistakes.

Remember, what doesn't kill you, only makes you crippled or maimed.

Posted 11 months ago #
teigyr

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Or else you learn from the victims.

Damn GI, now I'm watching the Kings video when I should go to bed.

Posted 11 months ago #
Mondoman

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Clearly Ballard residents have more sense on this subject than does McGinn or the Council. Why not share your wisdom with them so they will stop wasting our money? Seriously. I think they're under the impression that cyclists are pleased and happy to see sharrows installed.

Posted 11 months ago #
Norge

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Well I was thinking that bicycles on 65th might be a problem after the sharrows were painted on the street this last week because the street is actually quite narrow. And they are but there may be a silver lining to this problem. I followed a line of traffic today behind a bicyclist. He was probably going about 10 mph pretty much in the middle of the lane -- he kept himself 3 feet from the parked cars -- and the lead car wouldn't go around him. Anyway the traffic behind him was really backed up -- so the silver lining -- the traffic may become so bad on 65th that hopefully a lot of cars will opt not to use it and head up to 80th or 85th or down to Market or 58th or 60th -- thereby taking traffic off 65th. In addition, if a bicyclist is holding up traffic I may be able to get out of my driveway easier provided my leaving is timed just right. Who knows, maybe I will end up thanking the city for putting the sharrows on 65th!!!

Posted 11 months ago #
ballardpilot

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Until every street in the city gets the same expensive, useless "upgrade". Then every street will be completely gridlocked.

Oh, wait - that's actually the plan - the mayor WANTS every street to be 100% gridlocked with traffic...

Posted 11 months ago #
BuffaloHawk

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The port has an issue with the arena plan. I can't wait to see loosely secured containers and bike lanes (sarcasm or not)...

Posted 11 months ago #