99w and I5 exits...

[K'Tesh]

Spectre is a new member, but wasn't able to post when he(?) sent me this:



Originally Posted by Spectre

I was riding up 99w (pacific highway/barbur) toward Portland just before the road crosses over I5, at about 5:20 yesterday. I had merged onto 99 from 68th Avenue and was intending to follow my normal route up 99w across I5 and along Barbur Blvd into town and over the Hawthorne toward my home in Southeast. Traffic was fairly normal for that time of day and I was chugging up 99w at about 11mph. There is a bike lane most of the way up until the road splits, and the right lane is dedicated for cars to head onto the two onramps (north and south) for I5. This is the hairiest part of my ride because I need to cross that lane so that I can be in the new right lane that has formed at the split (which continues to be Barbur/SW Pacific Highway). I looked over my shoulder and saw a darker vehicle at least a block back in the lane I needed to cross and seemingly going slow enough that I could start to cross. I looked again to make sure I was correct and indeed the car was still back far enough so I signaled and looked again and began to cross the lane. I was about three quarters of the way across the lane when a white american full size pickup ( I think it was a chevy but not certain) suddenly came across my left side close enough to hit my elbow and shoulder against the matching white canopy. He was going at least 45mph as by the time I had processed what had happened he was down the on ramp lane and out of sight. The impact was not hard enough to knock me over or even really hurt my arm but it sure made a big bang, loud enough that the driver must of heard it, his brake lights never came on. I still cannot figure out where this guy came from. My guess is he was in the lane that would become the far right lane continuing up Barbur and decided to get into the lane to go to I5 at the very last minute and did not see me or just didn’t care that I was there. I am 6’3 and ride a big red road bike, I had a yellow shirt on and a yellow backpack with lights on (even though at this time of day it was bright sunlight) I am a hard target to miss in the middle of a lane of travel but thank god he did!

So my co-workers all say it was my fault for merging across the lane when I could have ridden another 500 feet stopped and then walked my bike at a cross walk. I say I can leave the bike lane when the road splits and cross the right lane to get the portion of the road that is continuing across I5. This is not the only place that I have to merge like this. As one heads further into town two lanes of traffic can split to the right to take the Ross Island Bridge or continue straight into town along barbur. I again have to leave the bike lane and get across to pick up the bike lane again as it forms after the split. What do y’all think?

[K'Tesh]

No law exists in my knowledge of it (informed layperson), that requires you to have to proceed to the crosswalk. The driver was clearly in the wrong for:

A: Striking you
B: Failure to yield and I'm sure a lot of other things too.

Btw, I'm occasionally found on that same strip of road, (three times last week), fat guy, goatee, with black backpack and big slow moving vehicle triangle... currently riding a silver and grey bike with some gold accents...

If you catch up to me sometime, let's talk...

Rubberside Down!
K'Tesh

[djasonpenney]

If I understand the intersection as you described it, you exited a bike lane to cross over an exit-only onramp lane to get into the rightmost of two through lanes.

I don't have a clear picture of exactly where you were (I-5 crosses Barbur about three times don't ya know), but it sounds like you should have claimed the lane earlier, so that traffic in adjacent lanes would not be surprised.

By law all vehicles are supposed to maintain in a lane at least 100 feet before making another lane change, even a 6 mph bicyclist. If you were trying to cross two lanes at once, you could technically be regarded as committing a moving violation.

I know, everyone's in a hurry to get home, and you'd be blocking them. Tough titties, folks. Staying alive and safe takes first priority.

Next time, consider committing to that onramp lane earlier and then--when it is safe--making the second lane change into the through lane. Make sure your lane position in the onramp lane is such that no one can pass you on the left. Make sure your lane position in the through lane is such that people have to use the second through lane (to the left) to pass you: it's the law, since the posted speed on that road is greater than 30 mph.

So my co-workers all say it was my fault for merging across the lane when I could have ridden another 500 feet stopped and then walked my bike at a cross walk. I say I can leave the bike lane when the road splits and cross the right lane to get the portion of the road that is continuing across I5. This is not the only place that I have to merge like this. As one heads further into town two lanes of traffic can split to the right to take the Ross Island Bridge or continue straight into town along barbur. I again have to leave the bike lane and get across to pick up the bike lane again as it forms after the split. What do y’all think?

[Tait]

Well, since he said he came from 68th and there was an exit onto I-5, I'm guessing he's talking about here (http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=45.442481,-122.744298&spn=0.001383,0.002698&t=h&z=19).

I certainly wouldn't wait until the crosswalk (that's being a pedestrian, not a vehicle). On a fairly low-traffic road, I'd probably move over at about Coronado St. where the lane indicator changes to solid. There's a center safety lane, so it's not hard for through vehicles to maneuver around you if necessary. However, 99 is such high traffic and people change their mind so late about what direction they want to go that here I'd probably wait until later, to avoid someone driving into the back of me or running me over changing lanes. I'd probably move from the right side of the roadway to the right side of the through lane about where 65th crosses. Just my two cents. Definitely not the crosswalk though; you want to avoid the traffic turning left from Barber onto I-5.

[Psyfalcon]

Doubly wrong on the coworkers part. You're not downtown, so you may proceed through a crosswalk while still riding. You must slow to a walking pace however.

I'd just do as Tait would.

[brock]

You were of course right to take the lane, this driver should be strung up (figuratively).

That said, this is part of my commute, and I avoid this section of road like the plague. 68th to Haynes to Lesser. Either drop back to 99W on Capital just North of the 99/I5 crossing, or continue up to 53rd or 49th to get back on 99W. Or a little longer but super mellow, cut through PCC.

[K'Tesh]

Found on the Yehuda Moon comic's comments today (9/18/08 )

http://www.yehudamoon.com/images/strips/2008-09-18.gif (http://www.yehudamoon.com/index.php?date=2008-09-18)

If references to um, er... uh... "male equipment" offends, do not read further....















Every time I get someone pass me too closely or driver aggressively, I remember this gem:

Highway code suggests that three feet is the minimum clearance that should be given to a cyclist when overtaking. The average erect penis is 6.16". So the recommended clearance is about 6 penis lengths.

Assuming the male drivers use their own penis as a reference - it is safe to assume that the clearance given is 6 x the size of the driver's penis!

It usually puts a smile on my face :)

Ain't that the truth?

(ps, when driving, I try to yield the whole lane ;) )

[turbodog]

I'm late to the party here, but now that I see where you're talking about, I'll put my two cents in: that chunk of road sucks but there are probably better alternatives to getting safely onto Barbur.

My commute puts me on SW 68th as well and the best alternative (out of a half dozen or so) seems to be, R on Atlanta (the overpass is steep, but it's worth it in terms of safety), L on Lesser, L at the stop sign after PCC and that puts you on Barbur after I-5. Bonus points for cutting through the hotel parking lot around the bend to the storage place driveway for a little bit safer entrance onto Barbur.