SDOT has started painting a bike lane on Roosevelt that will go south from 75th to the University Bridge. There will also be a lane headed north one block over on 11th (turns into 12th at Ravenna Blvd). Peak hour parking restrictions have also been removed.
In a separate phase, SDOT has proposed bike lanes on Roosevelt from 75th to 115th, which will pick up where these lanes left off. Once completed, it will be safer to ride all the way from the University Bridge to the top of the hill in Maple Leaf and back again. It is also a very fast route south, and many people who live north of the U District and do not currently bike may find the bicycle to be a viable way to get downtown once these changes are made.
Comments
6 responses to “Painting has begun on Roosevelt”
The Maple Leaf Community Council is reporting that they are not going to restripe the section from 75th to 85th, due to the complaints about the removal of parking.
http://app.emailtransmit.com/util/view.php?a_i=9163947&ac_i=290&t=o&l_i=5235,5238,5237,5239&t_i=56119
I’ve been commuting (by bicycle) on Roosevelt Way for over 5 years, and I’m not sure I like the parking change here. Before, the curb lane was clear during my commute, since parking was not allowed. This pretty much gave me the whole, wide lane to myself. Now I’ll be squeezed into a narrow bike lane next to parked cars. Now I’ll be riding the line of the bike/car lane to stay out of the door zone, which will annoy motorists in their new, narrow lane.
Sorry for the serial commenting. To clarify, my first post is about parking north of 75th St, and my second comment is about parking south of 75th St.
What is that thing they’re using to space/paint the bike lane? It’s like a Hov-around with a lawnmower engine. There has got to be a way to make that machine bicycle powered.
I kind of agree with Eric. The new bike lane is a mixed blessing. For a long time I used a residential street during my commute to Cap. Hill, but then I switched to the Roosevelt/11th couplet shaving 5 minutes from my commute. For the most part, the curb lane was solely used by cyclists and right turns by cars. It was big and it was easy and fast. I always took the lane and no driver ever complained. They just passed me in one of the two other lanes. Going downhill from 45th to the U-Bridge I could easily get up to 30mph and take the lane cruising with traffic. Now, I will feel restricted to a narrow bike line which is in the door zone and prone to being cut across by right turns. 30mph in a bike lane/door zone? Sounds scary!
The only good I see is during non-peak hours, the bike lane will make travel on Roosevelt easier since I won’t have to share a lane with cars going above the speed limit (which many on Roosevelt do). But seldom do I use Roosevelt during off peak hours. So, I have mixed feelings. I think a better choice would have been a bike boulevard on 12th south of Ravenna Blvd.
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