by Bike Courier | Aug 15, 2014 | Uncategorized
Published in Insider Louisville 12 August 2014 American cities are experiencing a backlash from drivers and pedestrians against bike lanes. Locally, drivers are complaining about the loss of travel lanes on Breckenridge and Kentucky Streets; pedestrians are complaining about cyclists on the Big Four Bridge; and cyclists are complaining about motorists, pedestrians and TARC buses in the bike lanes. We have become squabbling siblings in the back seat, “He’s on my side of the car!” Community is not built by isolating segments of society. Community is built by sharing common space peacefully and safely. The intent behind bike lanes is safety, and road safety is a function of mass and velocity. Remember physics? p=mv? The greater the mass and velocity, the greater the damage when things go wrong on our streets. Our road safety problem is simply one of mass and velocity. Louisville cannot readily change the mass of vehicles on the road. Louisville, however, can limit the velocity of vehicles traveling surface roads inside the Watterson Expressway. Slower, calmer traffic gives travelers more time to assess, more time to decide, more time to react. Slower, calmer traffic diminishes stress. Slower, calm, safe streets benefit the community of pedestrians, wheelchair users, young children in strollers, joggers, skate boarders, cyclists and motorists. Drivers are also more likely to embrace slower speeds for the benefit of the broader community than they are to embrace the loss of travel lanes to cyclists. Reducing the velocity of vehicles traveling surface roads inside the Watterson can be accomplished by eliminating one-way roads, lowering the speed limit inside the Watterson to 20 mph, and increasing...
by Bike Courier | Aug 4, 2014 | Advocacy
As one who cycles in the snow along the track of car tires, where the asphalt is clear of snow & often dry as a result of the car traffic, I wonder what winter holds for our bike lanes & cyclists who use or avoid them. Behind these questions is a desire to see year-round bike commuters in Louisville. Will the bike lanes be plowed & salted? Will the floppy ‘bollards’ obstruct clearing the bike lanes? Will the slush from passing cars drench cyclists in the bike lane? Will cyclists in riding in the clean tracks of the cars be splattered (or worse) by motorists impatiently passing by using the slushy, icy bike...
