Jail Trail Junction walkway on 2nd Ave
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Today I was walking my bike on the sidewalk after leaving the Jail Trail, and heading towards the Panther Trail... why do some people still choose to ride their bike on this side-walk when the sign clearly says WALK BIKES on the sidewalk...while walking, a bike sped around the corner at a high speed and just missed me and then lost control of his bike for a second because of swerving around me and he hit the wall and luckily stayed on both feet.... i told him sorry that he got brushed up, but on second thought he still should not have been riding that fast on his bike. It is dangerous and narrow, not to mention heavily trafficked and routinely used by pedestrians and bikers....that corner that bends sharply is dangerous...I am going to stop using the sidewalk and just brave 2nd ave for the short distance and turn into south greenfield...also after this guy continued on...two older men also were riding behind me on the sidewalk instead of walking and their bright plan on how to defend against the hazardous sidewalk bend was to just use the bells on their bike to signal that they were coming...well thats great and all but hard to hear in traffic congestion, although better than the speeding bicyclist before them that sped haphazardly around me, but i would prefer that nobody road on that sidewalk..if those two men who were riding together taking up the entire sidewalk, were there a minute earlier the other reckless biker would surely have run right into the both of them and caused an ugly collision for sure....there are enough hazards out there for bikers on the roads...why make things more dangerous when we dont have too!! Please if a sidewalk says WALK BIKE, then obey that sign. Has anyone else observed this to be a problem when they use this sidewalk??
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yeah, thats why i do something total illegal. i run across the train tracks. it's faster and there's no one walking or riding in my way... but don't blow up the spot. keep doing what you do.
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i also never use that part of the trail, some old guy on a bike yelled at me while i was sitting at the entrance of that parking lot to get onto second a couple weeks ago, something like "they put this trail here for us to use! USE IT!!" or something like that... then he booked down the trail to that corner... i was secretly hoping this would happen to him
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I ride through that section of WALK BIKES sometimes. I ride slow and use my built in horn and haven't had any problems. I also ride through the section on the Southside trail near the Terminal Building that says to WALK BIKES. Crossing the tracks is really the way to go though.
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This is definitely a problem. I always unclip one foot and kind of slowly scooter my way through those turns. In fact, I posted something a few weeks ago proposing to put three big convex safety mirrors around this spot - one for the turn from Swinburne to Second Ave., one for the turn from Second Ave. to Greenfield, and one for the turn from Greenfield to Saline. I think these would be a great improvement. It would be great if lots of people could call the city's 3-1-1 line and ask for this to be done.
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i think this says it all.
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My thoughts exactly.
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I've never seen anyone *walk* that section, and I go that way at least once a week, and have for years. Most people seem to slow a bit and use a bell. The one time I ever took it some guy came flying around the corner on a cell phone. Lovely. The cut across the tracks is the fastest way to go, by far. Steevo and I raced it one time, he won. In road cleats no less.
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I didnt realize the accessibility of the tracks, and didnt realize how many people actually go that way, although I have thought about it countless times. The one time I did look for an easy access point to go over the tracks, after coming from junction trail I saw a metal gate and bushes preventing access, I guess I didnt look hard enough..
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it just seems like to me that everyone rides through that section because everyone else does it....trust me i dont like getting off my bike to walk it, it slows my pace down and relaxes my leg muscles... but in busy traffic i dont want to get on 2nd ave either, but im not gonna ride through a narrow sidewalk just to save a few extra minutes. I agree with Chinston, 3-1-1 is a priority and the only safe way to take those bends comfortably would be the installation of wide angled mirrors.
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If the city could install a functioning traffic light at that intersection, everything would be much better. I'm tempted to rent a big truck and make left turns into and out of that intersection all day. Come to think of it, *that* would be a good CM event. Rent a bunch of trucks and put big bike posters on the side that say "I'll bet you wish I was riding a bike instead". The same day/same time, but all over the city so that nobody can throw the "parade permit" nonsense around.
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I think some concern was expressed about regularly crossing the RR tracks in a previous thread because the owner of the parking lot does not particularly like cyclists. That said, I see people doing it regularly (both on bikes and on foot, since Saline is a popular parking location for people who hop the bus downtown).
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