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New bike lanes down Washington Street in Roslindale
By adamg on Sat, 10/03/2009 - 9:03am
On the southbound side, they start at the Forest Hills T stop, go into Rozzie Square, follow South Street and then just stop at Select Cafe (Birch Street). Northbound, looks like the stripes were put in, but not the bike icons.
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Belgrade
There are brand new lines on Belgrade as well. Unlikely prep for the parade? ;-)
Heh
Yeah, the parade has to stay within that lane :-).
Not so clear about
Not so clear about BelgradeAve. The way it's painted, it almost looks more like an extremely wide parking lane. There is a missing stripe between where the bikes should go and the parking spaces. Also, there are no bike stencils so far. I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be a bike lane, but the only official announcement I've read about the new lanes only mentions Washington St. along with some lanes added to a road that passes through Franklin Park.
At any rate, this is very welcome. You can now bike from Rosliindale to downtown via a 100% bike lane route. That's just fantastic.
bostonbiker.org has details
http://bostonbiker.org/2009/09/29/boston-announces...
Be careful out there...
Most of the new bike lanes are adjacent to rows of parked cars. This means that 1/2 to 3/4 of the bike lane is exposed to suddenly-opened car doors. Regardless of the striping, PLEASE leave as much space as is necessary to keep out of the way of car doors.
The one stretch where the lanes are a real improvement is the section before Forest Hills, where the bike lanes are curb-side, and an unnecessary lane of traffic was removed.
But again, as with all the lanes, be aware that the road surface within the bike lanes is often worse than it is farther out into the roadway, and that you're never obligated to use the bike lanes.
I was just looking at those
I was just looking at those bike lanes on Friday afternoon and watching cars drive in them and back all over them. This way, drivers will be able to be extra pissy when you (on your bike) take your rightful place in the lane with them instead of placing yourself in the death-trap that is this bike path. If you ride in this bike path you will surely be doored, and you have no right to be in the lane with traffic because now everyone in a car is going to hold you to being in the path so you're screwed either way. Nothing would have been better than this. I honestly think cyclists are better off without them.
By the by, I would sign in and not be "anon", but for some reason I am never able to.
Whit
again, see bostonbiker.org
How To Use A Door Zone Bike Lane
http://bostonbiker.org/2009/09/29/how-to-use-a-doo...
BostonBiker misses the point
Anon, the advice you cited (not to use the right half of the lane when it is beside a row of parked cars) is of course correct, and the color coding in BostonBiker's photos is helpful.
But the gist of that posting - that we should stop complaining about door zone bike lanes because parts of them CAN actually be used safely, and they're good because they'll draw "more people out on the streets on bicycles" - is inconsistent: the lanes will attract the new riders, but can safely be used only by the initiated.
If BB wants to attract new riders, but wants to keep them safe, perhaps s/he can get the city to color in the lanes using the green/red scheme shown in the picture? Or maybe we just shouldn't paint lanes that direct people to ride where it's not safe to ride!
How To Use A Door Zone Bike Lane Part 2: Attack Of The Door Zone
http://bostonbiker.org/2009/10/07/how-to-use-a-doo...
Target practice?
Won't this make it easier for the homies to hit people on bikes with rocks and them rob them.
Whine all you want, you know it is true.