SW Broadway and SW Clay

[jami]

biking toward PSU on broadway in rush hour is pretty awful, with all the desperate parking, the dropping off and picking up, the buses and jaywalkers. last week there was even a woman advertising haircuts at great clips standing smack in the middle of the bike lane. fun!

but the worst part is a right turn that happens at the bottom of a hill, from broadway onto clay. the temptation for a bike is to go pretty fast to make it up the next hill. but you're in a bike lane, so you have drivers turning right without looking (and of course without signaling), right across your lane. after too many close calls to count there, i've decided to just ride in the left side of the car lane for that stretch of road, so i don't have to dodge last-minute signalers at high speed. the bike lane is totally unsafe there.

[Awetistic]

Traffic downtown is controlled in such a way that moving at about 11 mph hits all the lights. If someone speeds they end up just getting caught at a light. Basically since bicycles are allowed a lane in downtown Portland, it will be safer to ride there. There are no cars pulling out of parking spots or doors flying open suddenly when you have a lane. You're moving with the flow of traffic, safely. That lane is too prone to sudden right turnoffs by people looking for a parking spot, circling the block, and not for a bicyclist. And one other thought. Although bicyclists are in the right for passing on the shoulder, when you get hit by that last second right turn, it doesn't matter if you had the legal right of way. You're in the hospital. Be aware of those one way streets and anticipate the possible turn. People signal maybe half the time, and probably half of that is not a sure decision.