St. Johns Bridge lanes get painted
Posted by Jonathan Maus (Editor) on August 1st, 2005 at 1:24 am
…all four of them.
Well, I heard ODOT has just finished painting the lanes on the St. Johns Bridge. I was out that way recently and decided to take a closer look. It doesn’t look good for recreational cyclists. There is little to no shoulder and the sidewalk isn’t exactly roomy (not to mention it’s not technically a “shared-use” path to begin with).
I couldn’t get anyone in my group to sacrifice their safety for a photo, so I was forced to stage my bike sans rider in the shoulder just to give you an idea of how tight things are. Unfortunately no huge truck came by (and it was too hot to wait) but even with the small car in the picture, you can see how precarious the situation is.
Of course local bike advocates haven’t given up yet. It looks like the possible compromise might be some new shared lane markings known to transportation geeks as “sharrows.”
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August 1st, 2005 20:41
Jonathan,
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> Wow, imagine trying to get my trike across the bridge. Has anyone tried to get the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) folks involved? It doesn't cover bicycles (nor trikes I'm sure) but if a citizen can walk on
it, a citizen should be able to use a wheelchair over it. Potential loopholes ezist for the government to utilize (i.e. it may be too expensive too alter) and I'm not familiar with the bridge at all but having the ADA advocates look into it may be worth it.
>
Duane,
Medford
August 3rd, 2005 11:26
I rode over the bridge yesterday (August 2nd). Not much fun. I was able to escape traffic for a few hundred yards where they were doing some work and had cones set up to divert traffic into the middle lane. The rest of the trip was fender to fender riding. If a specific bike lane is not in the works - notification that motorists will be sharing the lanes with cyclists and markings for "sharrowed" traffic will be a major improvement in safety and create a significant reduction in cyclists heart rates as we traverse the bridge.
August 1st, 2006 14:52
[...] The meetings can be pretty wonky and boring sometimes (that’s why they’ve got free coffee), but they can also be full of high drama, verbal visticuffs, and other interesting twists and turns. For instance… I remember when an ODOT spokesperson delivered the bad news about the St. Johns Bridge and I remember when someone slipped me a note about a new development permit they had heard about. [...]