Bikes back up during Broadway Bridge lift

I like how a bike traffic jam is good news, as opposed to another type of traffic jam.

I think it’s neat that with a few high viz-clad exceptions, if you took these people off bikes, and removed their helmets, they’d look like any random crowd in Cambridge MA. I’m guessing that a random Cambridge crowd isn’t that different than a random Portland crowd, although I don’t know Portland well enough to be certain

As Nathan said, I’ve never seen a traffic backup so cheerfully reported. Personally, if I have to be stopped by a bridge, I’d much rather it by on a bike than in a car. I love watching the mechanics of moving tons of steel up close.

How smoothly and courteously do things proceed when the bridge gates re-open? (somehow my mental image is very courteously…)

When our bridges lift (or in one case swivel) there tends to be a lot of jockeying for pole position and quasi-shoaling followed by (to my sensibilities anyway) reckless dropping of the hammer to show who’s boss.

I cross the Hawthorne Bridge daily by bike and every so often get caught on one side or the other when the bridge is up. I love the crowd of bikes that forms as a result. People talk and chat it up and it’s fun “checking out” my fellow bike riders and looking at the various equipment they are using for their daily rides.

It’s almost like an unplanned swap meet that lasts for a few minutes in the middle of your day.

Turns out that 25mph was the speed for construction. The construction phase is complete. Still, if you feel upset that 35mph is unsafe please call. I feel 35mph is very unsafe as bikes meet at the West side of the bridge.

Call (503) 823-safe and ask to have your call notes on record.

Kind of side tracking this positive story about bike volume but… yeah 35mph seems foolish. With slow posted speeds on both sides (I think), the motorist comes off the bridge fast and then has to shift back into a slower driving mentality. The right turn on the West side would be best suited to an even slower speed.

I honestly think that *drivers* would appreciate a lower speed limit, either 20 or 25 through any section of the city where complexity is present. Nobody likes to be tailgated because the posted (or culturally accepted norm) speed is higher than appropriate. This adds stress.

Holy Moly! I love how it looks as though everyone was super polite, waiting in a perfect line.

20 should be the max for all residential streets, and 30 for arterials.

One negative thing I’ve noticed about BB lifts is that the drivers are extra-cranky and dickish afterwards, presumably because the wait has made them impatient.

On the other hand, when I got caught in a lift a few weeks I got to hang out and watch an enormous sea lion fishing right below the bridge. He put on an excellent show for me and the dozens of other cyclists.

how many cyclists crowded to the front of the line to try and be the fastest one off the bridge?