By MARY GARRARD
As I see it | Posted: Wednesday, August 13, 2008 12:00 am
The city Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission decided Aug. 1 (to recommend) replacing the bicycle lanes on 10th Street/Highland Drive with "sharrows." I ride my bicycle on 10th/Highland twice every work day, all year and make many other trips on 10th/Highland running errands or going to events. This proposed change is a bad idea for a number of reasons.
Removing the bike lanes will directly affect me and the many other bicyclists who travel 10th/Highland daily, yet it was made without any input from bicyclists or the general public. It will make traveling by bicycle on 10th/Highland less safe and friendly. It will discourage potential bicycle commuters and make Corvallis overall a less bicycle-friendly community.
Bicycle lanes make it clear to car drivers and bicycle riders alike that bicycles belong on the street.
I believe that this makes drivers more careful around bicycles. Thus, for bicyclists, a bike lane is a place of (relative) safety. It's clear to everyone who should be on which side of the line. Sharrows can be helpful in places where lanes are not possible, as in downtown, to indicate to drivers that they will be sharing the lane with bicyclists. This makes sense, because traffic in the downtown area is relatively slow, potentially allowing bicycles and cars to move in tandem at about the same speed.
Even so, sharrows are more confusing, and to me they feel much less safe than a bike lane. I've had impatient drivers downtown try to squeak past me in a sharrow lane, or speed up to go around me and cut back in ahead, then pull into a parking space.
Traffic on 10th/Highland is faster. It would not be clear to either drivers or bicyclists who belongs where. Bike lanes, on the other hand, make it obvious. Furthermore, where there are bike lanes, parking or driving in a bike lane is illegal; that keeps drivers honest and protects the right of way of bicyclists.
With the price of fuel going up and concern growing about the effects of global warming, many people are thinking of alternative ways to get around. It is intimidating starting out as a bicycle commuter; bicycle lanes support people who want to bicycle get over the hump.
Bike lanes show Corvallis citizens that the city is committed to providing infrastructure for alternative forms of transportation. Removing the bicycle lanes on 10th/Highland would be a huge step backwards.
Mary Garrard is a Corvallis resident.