Law & Order: Bicycle Lane Unit
Last Fall, I decided to start documenting photographically some of the obstacles cyclists have to negotiate in our Platinum Level bike-friendly town. Don’t get me wrong – I love the facilities we have here in Davis, but the “pimples” really need squeezing, if we are to move to the next level. It being Fall, I started with the leaf piles, many of which can be seen in my blog, rustyplatinum.blogspot.com.
Here’s a good one:
And where was this fine pile of leaves placed? Right next to City Hall, by City of Davis crews! This is on Southbound B Street, a very heavily traveled arterial, just north of Russell/5th.
But City crews are not the only people who like to obstruct cyclists – apartment owners, churches, and even everyday citizens think nothing of placing piles in bike lanes. For example, here’s a nice pile at Russell and A Streets:
My comments when I posted this picture were:
“So, can a leaf pile in a red zone be ticketed? Is that bike in the bike lane?
This is a very busy bicycle intersection in Davis – A Street at Russell. But no one blinks when the fraternity house on the corner decides to nuke the bike lane, as well as part of the traffic lane. The address is 440 A Street.
And…..City Hall is right across the street.”
St. James Church certainly wants to slow down the bike riding Pharisees:
But my own church, Davis Lutheran, also has filled up the bike lanes with yard waste on B Street.
Before double striped bike lanes existed in Davis, the situation was even worse. This next picture was taken in front of the high school in 2006:
These piles are ready to eat pedestrians, as well as bikes. Perhaps things have gotten better since then….
You may ask, why are such obstructions to cycle traffic allowed? Aren’t there penalties? No, the City of Davis has no enforceable ordinance to handle bike lane obstruction. If those leaf piles were in the middle of the (automobile) traffic lane, police would be on the scene in minutes. But bike lanes can be blocked, parked in, obstructed, and in this Platinum City, no one will clear the way.
Is it any wonder that our bike mode share is falling?
At least in the day time one can see the piles of debris, that’s not too bad. But at night it can be really dangerious. With a bike light alone I found myself nearly on top of garden junk before it was seen. On the positive side, it does keep your speed down.
There really need to be consequences for blocking bike lanes. Last week while walking the dog about 10 PM a cyclist, with a light and wearing a helmet, went down hard when he hit a pile of sticks that pushed out across the entire bike lane. With no street light to help his bike light didn’t pick up the black tree branches resulting in a nasty spill. If he hadn’t been wearing a helmet he’d have been hurting, I think.
Over on College Park someone always piles their leaves and debris against the bollards that span the junction with Eureka which makes for less than happy transitions onto Eureka headed north on College Park.
Those piles at A & 5th and B & 5th you mentioned are there all the time (it’s on my commute). At this point I’m almost thankful if it’s just a small pile of soft leaves and not nasty big branches that would really rip you up.
Well, there are words written about the placement of yard debris and things can be done to rectify the situation. I left a note in the mail box of a “repeat offender” and asked them not to block the bike lane with debris. Surprisingly, yes, this worked. Also, years ago, I called the city of Davis police and DWR about yard debris blocking the bike lane. I think that DWR actually went out and checked it out and moved the pile? My memory is hazy. I complained and likened blocking the bike lane to blocking the traffic lane, insisting that it was important to deal with.
And to add to what Dan Brown says: a good light, coupled with a reasonable speed is the safe way to go. The blinky LED lights that provide no illumination for riding are sub-optimal in my opinion. Would you drive a car with no headlights at night? I also believe that a city, upright riding position, slightly wider tire, bicycle is the ticket for riding in town, not a drop bar, skinny tired, racing bike. YMMV.
So, do any of you grumps have a solution?
I disagree with Dan Brown and John Hess about their solution to this problem. One shouldn’t have to ride impracticably slow just to hope that gives enough time to avoid a pile of debris.
I think the city should impose fines on people whose yard debris encroaches on bike lanes. That would give the meter maids something more useful to do than handing out parking tickets and would undoubtedly be more in the spirit of public safety.
Davis Public Works is responsible for clearing obstructions in bike lanes, but they don’t have near enough staff to take care of all the problems. Sometimes, it can take two days before they respond. They have sent out mailers detailing exactly where yard waste can go, but the literacy rate being what it is in Davis, many people don’t understand this.
I agree that violations should result in fines, just as other city code violations lead to financial distress, but the Bicycle Advisory Commission has been working on this problem for five years without any changes other than double striped bike lanes, which at least define the problem clearly.
I’ll tell you what bicyclists do when they encounter obstacles in the No Man’s Land of the roads in suburban Northern Virginia: we ride as far into the road as is necessary to avoid the obstacles, and let the frustrated drivers pile up behind us. They are free to honk their horns and try to pass us as they can. They are free to give us the middle finger salute as they wish. And we are free to return the salute, as well as bull to the front of the line at the next traffic light.
If they can’t take a joke…..
Salutations and regards to my good friend and co-conspirator in bicycle commuting, Doctor Berg.
As an addendum to the previous comment, around these here parts, serious cyclists ride with at least the equivalent of a 20 watt light in the front, as well as as a red 5-watt blinker in back.
Me? iI beleive if massive overkill.
When I commute in the dark season, I ride with a helmet-mounted 10-watt, a handlebar-mounted 15-watt, another handlebar-mounter 5-led on blink or steady-sate mode, a 7-led rear blinker, one small blinker in each handlebar end, reflective patches on the bike, pannier frames, and helmet, as well as an Illuminite(TM) jacket and gloves.
If somebody hits me, they either have to be drunk out of their minds or a psychopath. In either instance, my widow stands to become wealthy.