Ya'll -
Am I the only cyclist who has lost teeth, incurred nerve injury and destroyed a bike rim or two on the section of Beach Drive between Canada Street and 48th Ave SW?
I have been riding Beach Drive for over 13 years, and the road continues to deteriorate. Why doesn't the city re-pave the road? God knows there are enough rich home owners in the area paying taxes. What gives!?!?
Toothless in West Seattle
Just because there are alot of "rich" people living there doesn't mean the money is directly put back into that neighborhood. I lived on Beach for 10 yrs, one yr the Seattle Times ran an article about how the Mayor at the time didn't want money put into our neighborhood because he didn't receive a majority of the votes. So much for private vote. It is also a slide area so it is hard to keep the roads flat.
Have you really "lost teeth, incurred nerve injury"? If so, you have more to worry about than uncomfortable roadways. GET THEE TO A DOCTOR!
As a driver ... the road needs work.
I rode Beach Drive for the first time in a while. The road was like I remember it. Really treacherous in places for cyclists.
What really made me nervous was the drivers. Drivers were either a) not waiting for oncoming traffic to clear before driving over the centerline before passing me, creating a hugely dangerous situation that could have been avoided by a 4 second release of the gas pedal...this happened 3 times! It's not like there was a ton of traffic out there either or b) passing way, way too close when there was plenty of room to make a wide pass or again, wait for 4 seconds so I could move over. Several vehicles were so close I could have reached out and touched them if I hadn't been so busy navigating the holes and cracks in the roadway. If I had gone down they would have run me over. If I had 3 feet of space, it would have been ok.
Where is the patience? You still have a car. You will still get there faster than me. It is illegal to run me over or even to obstruct my right of way. And I'm not even going to get started on the "Sharrows" lane across from Lincoln park on Fauntleroy...
I've driven Beach Drive quite a bit recently and I am amazed at how bad that particular stretch is. It's horrible in my car, and must be much worse on a bike!
I think there are just too many distraction on the roads these days. We have road construction everywhere, jaywalkers everywhere,bicycles, people opening there car doors into traffic, people not clearing traffic before crossing the center line, people who DO NOT know how to make a left hand turn without taking over the right turn space of other drivers, UPS and other trucks setting in the middle of the road or completely blocking lanes. Find an alley dudes that's what they are for. Seattle traffic reminds me of my trip to Mexico in 1985, total chaos and disreguard for orderliness.
Bicyclists are not a distraction, they are traffic. It's a driver's job NOT to be distracted (by cell phones, radios, coffee, scenery, their own airheadedness). Hang up, use your head (and turn signal), be aware of what's going on on the road, be COURTEOUS, and just PAY ATTENTION TO DRIVING and we'll all be safer. And outlaw tinted windows so we can see when you're being an idiot and not watching the road!
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And yeah, that road stretch is terrible.
And my issue wasn't drivers being distracted. They knew exactly what they were doing. Too important to lay off the gas for a couple seconds to give another human being a little piece of patience. It's the total lack of patience that really is getting to me. I drive too, and walk, and take a bus and ride a motorcylce and I am never in a rush...it's much more copasetic to just go the speed limit, be nice to other road users, use a turn signal, etc., etc.
Cait
Member Profile
That road is awful. A friend of mine in high school was from eastern Europe and once day we were driving that stretch and he said "I thought when I left Russia the roads would be better, but it's the same old crap we have over there!" We now, posthumously, call it Russian Road in his honor.
I think the truth to the allegation about the former mayor is the reverse; many (rich) people who live along Beach Drive would rather put up with the potholes than have it turn into a speedway when it is repaved. When you drive a high-end car, you don't notice the potholes as much.
Anyone with that kind of an investment in their home wants and needs good roads to keep property values and desirability up. I really don't think anyone wants to put up with potholes, rich or poor. When I lived down there, there was a pothole I would miss everytime cause you couldn't see it. I had a major breakdown with my car. Dealership said that part should never have broke. I know hitting the hole did it. Luckily because I always took my car to the dealership and they were the only ones to ever work on it they got the corporation to pay for it. No one wants potholes.
redblack
Member Profile
zincman: i don't mean to sound indifferent to your plight, but the first thing that caught my eye was your misuse of the word "anathema."
try "menace" instead.
when it is potholes vs azzholes trying to prove they are the latest version of Mario Andretti (am I showing my age?) by trying (and failing) to take the curves at 50 mph, some people opt for potholes because they slow people down. A lot of people who live there consider Beach Drive to be a residential street.
i remember driving beach drive as a teenager over 30 years ago; it was bad then and is worse now.
i ride my bike quite a bit on this stretch and it works the buttocks to the extreme.
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