17 Replies to "Bike To Work Day on Friday: 'Commute station' under the bridge"

• ChefJoe May 13, 2015 (10:07 am)

  Is that really a right turn only sign on 23rd followed by a right turn prohibited sign on the other side of the sidewalk/trail ?

  Maybe it’s angled more towards telling people on delridge not to turn right onto 23rd and it just looks confusing from this angle in a photo.

• John May 13, 2015 (10:14 am)

  Fantastic to see all the bikers! I wish more people would realize how enjoyable, healthy, and good for the environment it is to ride to work. I go across the bridge around 6 am each morning so I never see that many bikers. The counter typically registers me at around the 30th ‘crosser’ in the mornings.

  • WSB May 13, 2015 (10:16 am)

    I almost added a mention of the counter to the story but then had to just stop where I was and get it out and move on to something else. Yesterday, for example, 1,100+ trips were registered. There’s a counter link from the WSBC home page, which is linked in turn in this story.

    • WSB May 13, 2015 (10:30 am)

      P.S. Also from the WSBC home page, a page of links that some might find interesting – debunking myths about bicycle-riding.
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      http://westseattlebikeconnections.org/about/myths-about-bicycling/

• sam-c May 13, 2015 (10:40 am)

  ChefJoe, It also looks like the prohibited right turn has some additional signage around it that is currently covered with black plastic. So maybe it is a temp. prohibited right turn?

• WSB May 13, 2015 (10:54 am)

  The street from which I shot the photo, while in the passenger seat as we left Pigeon Point and headed toward Admiral, is one way only. So the sign at left is warning northbound Delridge drivers that you cannot turn onto that one-way street (you’d be going the wrong way). And the sign at right warns people in the position we were in that they cannot turn left. As it is, you have two options for your right, under or onto the bridge. – TR

• low bridge May 13, 2015 (11:01 am)

  Keep an eye out for Pathfinder K8 students riding in bike trains from all over West Seattle to Pigeon Point on Friday morning too!

• WSEA May 13, 2015 (11:30 am)

  I wish the cyclist would remain on right side of the of the bridge path when waiting for the bridge to open. I’ve never understood why cyclist stack up on the left when the bridge is up knowing that oncoming traffic is coming at them when the bridge closure is complete. I usually wait for those on the left to clear out before going since it seems like an accident waiting to happen.

  Maybe the first or second fast riders can make the gap but I’ve seen a line of 15 waiting on the left.

• Keith May 13, 2015 (2:11 pm)

  Thanks for posting the map of the commute stations. I am seriously considering biking the 14.7 miles to work on Friday, weather permitting.

• West Seattle Hipster May 13, 2015 (4:49 pm)

  Very interesting link that was posted. I found these statements interesting:

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  “Why are cars registered anyway? Because they kill people and are a huge liability.”

  Cars don’t kill people, the people who drive the car is usually responsible. Bikes have also struck and killed innocent people.

  .

  “Now imagine this…what if there were NO cars on the roads, but just bikes? LOTS of traffic signals would not be needed, and vehicular fatalities would disappear. Thousands of people lose their lives due to automobiles every day, but how many die from riding a bike?”

  Unregulated roads would be a disaster. Just as there are bad motorists who can’t obey traffic laws, there are bad cyclists who do likewise. I am sure that there would be fatalities in a bike-only world.

  .

  “A lot of people in West Seattle complain about the traffic on the bridges. The lower bridge is never backed up in the biking lane, no matter what time of day!”.

  What if the lower bridge is open, as in the photo in the article?

  I pedal around my WS neighborhood, but physical challenges and distance are prohibitive to driving to work even on occasion. I wish I could. However, I found the information on the website to be a bit presumptuous and promotes an “Us vs. Them” mentality. Cyclists should be respected when on the road, as should motorists.

• WS4Life May 13, 2015 (6:02 pm)

  That link to “debunking myths about bicycle-riding” is some of the most BS hyperbole I have read in some time. That article should instead be titled “malarkey we just made up” because we are a pro bicycle website. Whoever authored it should be ashamed of there baseless claims being put into print.
  Stick to the facts like in a car vs bike, bus vs a bike, or light rail vs a bike, a bicycle rider will lose every time and possibly end up in the hospital.

• JN May 13, 2015 (6:23 pm)

  @WS4Life, most of the info on that link is accurate, i.e regarding road payment, registration, and the myth that cyclists break more laws than other road users. So on the factual issues that site is correct. The other points are more opinion or skills based, but overall it is pretty informative.

• JN May 13, 2015 (6:28 pm)

  West Seattle Hipster, I think the point about registration is that cars enable people to kill other people and damage property to such a catastrophic level that registration and fees are needed to at least partly pay for the damage they inflict. Bicycles physically are so incredibly innocuous in comparison that registration is not even a viable option. Pedestrians also cause deaths, but we would never think of registering people to walk because it happens so infrequently that it would be ridiculously onerous.

• ChefJoe May 13, 2015 (7:57 pm)

  interesting opinion about registration JN, is that why boat trailers, snowmobiles, off-road ATVs, motorhomes, campers, and motorcycles are registered ? How about miniature goats and their licensing ?

• JN May 13, 2015 (9:17 pm)

  ChefJoe, all of those vehicles you listed either cause more damage than bicycles or have the high potential for mass death or serious property damage. The goats I don’t know enough about to speak about, probably for the same reasons pets like cats and dogs must be licensed.

• Mike May 13, 2015 (9:23 pm)

  I’d like to ask that the link to the ‘Myths About Bicycling’ come with a massive caveat that it’s not all accurate. Their history ‘fact’ of a traffic light is so far from fact it’s pathetic. Traffic lights existed before the Mercedes produced the first automobile.
  .
  Lance Armstrong is a professional racer, not just a cyclist like those that commute by bicycle are cyclists.
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  Please please please make sure your kids get fitted for helmets and wear their helmets correctly, I saw this picture on that bike connections site and am amazed they’d promote improper fitting and adjustment of a helmet on a child, it can be deadly or result in severe trauma that’s easily prevented with proper fitment and adjustment. https://ci6.googleusercontent.com/proxy/jCei9sSseynlhJq9ATPq_KfQ_l8JrMDpGDfCpLZoYdvLjkyQWl5KTSktEkO0Y88cbo5UbMpX8piu3NFO_mzbVwrgD3Fw9e4Ndftw4gJYMlgbWwBh2zvpC2HdmHUmr3eO3LKhwbqMRLi9=s0-d-e1-ft#http://gehlarchitects.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/danish_cycling_federation4.jpg

• Don Brubeck May 13, 2015 (10:04 pm)

  @West Seattle Hipster:
  Points taken. We will look at and revise our website statements so that it does not come across as “us versus them”. We can also add more sources to back up claims.

  Almost every member of West Seattle Bike Connections owns and uses car or truck as well as a bike. “Us” is “them”, and “them is us”, or as Pogo used to say, “we have met the enemy, and it is us”. We are just trying to make riding a bike a safe, enjoyable option for those who are able and willing, as one part of an efficient transportation network that serves all of West Seattle’s needs, in harmony with cars, trucks, buses, light rail, freight trains and shipping.

  We are happy to stop for a few minutes to wait for barges and ships to pass by. It’s a chance to breathe, stretch, chat with other people on the way to work.

Sorry, comment time is over.