It has been a long weekend with very few posts. Let's get back to things as usual. Being back in Salt Lake City permanently has opened my eyes to quite a few things. First of all, I have come to appreciate and love that twenty minutes of riding my bike home is far better than twenty minutes of riding the train home. This may seems obvious to most, but I like to bask in the amazing simplicity and beauty of a ride home from work as much as I can. It's awesome.
My commute is now completely connected by bike lanes, sharrows, and other bike infrastructure, thanks to the City's continued effort to add more bikeway miles to the existing network, year after year. This year, in the opinion of the Division of Transportation and the Streets Division, has been the biggest year our city has ever seen when it comes to bicycle infrastructure. I couldn't agree more. And boy, is it good.
I smile all the way to work and all the way home as I see twice, even three times, as many bikes on the road feeling safe and comfortable riding in bike lanes and next to 'Bikes May Use Full Lane' signs. I feel like I'm in one of those famed (and often over-hyped) cities like Copenhagen or Portland or San Francisco. More than a pithy comparison, I love seeing bike infrastructure on nearly every street without even having to try. We are becoming more connected, we see people on bikes that we usually don't see, because our paths are crossing for the first time. The sun seems less harsh and the urban landscape seems so much more inviting and lively. I see people waving and people waiting for trains. We live in an amazing place.
I also personally believe that this year has been the most successful year for bike infrastructure in Salt Lake City. Not "successful" because of lane miles added (though I'd be lying if I didn't say that this year has seen record miles added), or because of some minimum design requirements met. I don't know how to express it, but I feel great. I feel safe on my bike and I feel all giddy inside when I see masses of people riding their bikes without any specific purpose like Critical Mass or a group ride.
We have built it, and they have come.
Note: My commute is from 1700 South & 1300 East - Downtown. I take 1700 South westbound to 800 East. 800 East takes me scenically and quietly to 800 South, where I make a left and head westbound till 200 East or 300 East. Then I proceed north to my office near the library. My ride home is almost a mirror image.
Copenhagen has 36% cyclist share, so not over-hyped. Now Portland, on the other hand...
ReplyDeleteI ride the stretch of 1700 s between 1500 east and 500 east for my home commute (my to-work route is completely different). I am interested to see how the sharrows do once the semester starts - I haven't been riding at any heavy traffic times since they were added. Right now it is feeling like 17th is really becoming the bike route is has always been supposed to be, and I am liking that a lot!
ReplyDeleteYou know I think the “Sharrows” are better than nothing, but overall I think they still fall short.
ReplyDeleteI sometimes now feel like I am competing with cars for the road which isn’t very comfortable since the car is louder, bigger, and heavier than me.
I don’t really feel comfortable just taking up the whole lane and slowing traffic so I still hug the edge and cars just zip by me and when I come to an intersection many times there isn’t room for me to ride alongside the cars so I end up riding on the sidewalk until enough cars have passed that there is room for me on the road again.
I am glad that we have put up the sharrows, but in the end what is needed are bike lanes separated from traffic.
When cars and bikes compete for the same road, cars end up winning.
Note: My route is 1700 South.