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Give us the street name and city, if you like, but also give a good description for those who live elsewhere.
What specifically makes this street scary?
Do other cyclists use or avoid this street?
Do you think motorists are scared on this street?
What could be changed to make this street ride-able for you?
Or should they just blow up the pavement and plant daisies?
Feel free to mention bike lanes as a solution (or not), but please do not argue about whether bike lanes in general are a good or bad idea. I'm sick of that topic and it never gets us anywhere. :)
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Right now it's Rt 97 where it joins up with Eckhardt Ave in Penticton, BC.
Damn oldsters and tourons can't seem to grasp the idea of moving to the left lane to pass safely.
(Now I actually [GASP!] sidewalk ride this 1/2 mile stretch)
Suburban, 4 lane, 35 MPH arterials with a bunch of intolerant, debt ridden wage slaves impatiently fighting rush hour congestion.
Suburban, 4 lane, 35 MPH arterials with a bunch of intolerant, debt ridden wage slaves impatiently fighting rush hour congestion.
same here. but with 45 mph limits. :eek:
I misunderstood the heading. A road that bikes could conceivably use, right. I would say southbound HWY 101 where it crosses San Antonio Creek at the Napa/Sonoma county line. The bridge shoulder is narrower than my rear rack so bikes have to ride in what is essentially freeway traffic for 10-15 yards. The short bypass adds a mile and has very bad pavement. The long bypass adds many more miles. North-bound on this open road is just fine. The absolutely worst road period would be the southbound 110 between Temple and 1st Street in Los Angeles. I drove vans in LA for years and accidents were so frequent that a helipad had been built on the roadside. For pavement I would say some of the washboard roads in Wyoming and other places. The rumble strips going all the way across the shoulder on the I-76 in NE Colorado are not much fun either.
There is no street that scares me to ride on.
For some I need to increase my alertness and communication with motorists.
For some with NOL at rush hour I get a bit more harrassment from motorists who can't pass easily, here the fix is making a WOL instead.
I don't like fighting across 3 lanes of 45mph rush hour traffic to make left turns.
Al
FM1378, runs from outskirts of McKinney down to outskirts of Wylie. Farm to market road, two lanes of chip and seal, 60mph, no shoulders, road edges are crumbled under long sections of the fog line, no overhead lighting, extremely busy with new neighborhoods popping up along both of its sides. I live just off of it and hear the ambulance, fire and rescue and even careflight choppers going up and down it pretty much every day.
Bad news. That type of road in Texas accounts for a psychotic percentage of all traffic deaths.
I commute mostly east in the morning and west in the evening. So the scariest road is the one that has the sun in the drivers eyes while I am on that road.
As far as making it safer - So far the sun has refused to cooperate with me by rising in the west and setting in the east.
ashland avenue in chicago is hell on asphault
It's not so much streets in particular, as situations... any situation that has increased pucker factor is what I am thinking about... motorist that does something totally unexpected, such as suddenly coming around you, or suddenly making a left turn from a right lane, or heading right at you...
Beyond that the streets that "bother me" are the ones marked at 50MPH where the cars are obviously going much faster and drivers are aggressive about their moves.
Give you an example... there is a 50MPH street that I ride quite often near my office... no big deal, I ride in the BL and there are 6 wide lanes for MV traffic. But every now and then I see some "jet jockey" opening up his "Porche Turbo something" and sliding in and out of traffic like it is standing still... I can only wonder what would happen if he misjudges, and where the wreckage will spin.
The other thing that has given me white knuckles is where I have to enter a freeway on my bike and I ride this ramp slowly uphill... twice a motorcyclist has hit the afterburners somewhere around the corner, and ripped up the ramp like no one else existed... I can only hope I am not in the way. I don't hear this guy coming, he is just there and gone. Sooner or later something is going to be in his way.
185th avenue is a scary street in beaverton oregon. It is in beaverton so no one knows how to drive when they are around cyclists, unlike downtown. A lot of the people on this street take right turns without looking to see if they are cuting you off. Also there are lots of people who try to speed up and get ahead of you when they are trying to make a right turn. It pisses me right off.
Whittier Blvd in ELA. And Firestone. And Atlantic. And the intersection of Washington and Whittier Blvd. Colima Rd in Whittier.
15th Ave NE in Seattle. Really narrow, old rough aggregate. No where to ditch to the side, just gravel, dirt, parked cars, rocks, front yards, trees. Lots of cars and buses. The edge of the pavement ends at the edge of the lane, without anywhere to go to the right. It could be a very convenient way to get from the north end to the Uni district, but most people take a bike trail a few miles away, which adds about 4-5 miles to a commute. It actually adds 7 miles to mine, because I have to go 4 miles out of the way to get to the trail, then follow along the edge of the lake to get to the U district, then double back.
And the trail isn't much better, with the doggies on long leashes and people with baby strollers lined up three wide across the trail. And the stroller people are allowed on the sidewalks but bikes aren't. So why yell at us when we ride past them? We give them the "on your left" bit, but often there's not much pavement leftover on the left. I did see something reminiscient of a pile up on the interstate once a few years ago. A lady had her doggie on a long leash. She was on the right, the dog was in the middle, but darted to the left when a cyclist shouted on your left. The guy on the bike did something of an endo when the leash got in his front brake, the dog went flying after him, the lady did a face plant. Two other bikes plowed into the mess. My companion and I just barely avoided it. Everybody was pissed, most of all the dog. But there's lots of close calls on that route, especially at night.
Sorry, I went off on another one of my tangents.
Ave P/Rancho Vista in the portions where it is posted 60 mph, 4 lanes, narrow outside lanes. I avoid, most cyclists I see there are on the sidewalk.
10th St West between Ave N and Ave L. Most of it is 2 lanes (1 each direction), posted 60 mph, with a narrow sloping shoulder.
30th St West between Ave N and Ave M. 2 lane road. Okay going north with a wide shoulder. Avoid going south, as there is a ditch and/or no shoulder whatsoever. Speed limit 50 mph.
In a way, I'm surprised that everybody so far mentioned problems with traffic. My scariest street is Sycamore St. just off Saginaw Av. in Lansing. In the summer time there's like an open air crack market there. There's guys in dark clothes standing under the trees. It's near where I work, so I have to ride by them, sometimes just a few feet away. Sometimes there's a couple of young guys on bikes--they're the scariest because they could chase me.
Actually they've never tried to do anything to me. I just screw up my courage and tell myself they're businessmen (in a way) and they don't want to mess with me. It's still real scary!
I don't find any particular street scary, but there are plenty of specific intersections, usually the mouths of freeway onramps or offramps, that cause me grave concern. One of the worst is southbound Gilman Dr. at southbound I-5, which is ironic, because it is the only direct link between UCSD (and the rest of the north coast) and the otherwise excellent Rose Canyon bikeway.
Westbound Palomar Airport Road at I-5 isn't any better, particularly because I have to deal with it with the late afternoon sun in my (and motorists') eyes.
In general, I have a big problem with freeway-style high-speed free right turns, merges, and diverges. I wouldn't have it any other way on a freeway itself, but these structures are inappropriate in areas with bicycle and pedestrian traffic. If I were the benevolent dictator, all of them would be traffic-calmed or otherwise traffic controlled, or separate ped and bike bypasses would be provided.
Suburban, 4 lane, 35 MPH arterials with a bunch of intolerant, debt ridden wage slaves impatiently fighting rush hour congestion.
You must have seen me today. I really need to fix my bike.
Scranton PA.
The entire city.
Besides the fact PA is regularly listed as the state w/ the worst infrastructure by various polls, news groups etc. Scranton is horrible for cyclists. I lived there car-lite for 3 years (fall 02-fall 05). 90% streets one lane w/ cars parked on both sides used as 2 way streets. No shoulders. Crappy road surfaces. Lack of traffic safety devices, lights, signs. Odd non-conventional intersections, triangles, 5-6 way, all sorts of strange interchanges. And to top it off careless drivers. As well as a high rate of cyclist disrespect, run off the road, beer cans thrown at me, and of course yelling.
Now I live in Bleaksburg Va (blacksburg). A college atmosphere, multiple bike lanes and paths, wide roads. A bike friendly town due to the support of the local gov., LBSs, and residents. Cycling in general is a regular topic at town meetings and I am still a bit shocked at how much cycling has an impact on everyday life.
Do I miss Scranton at all? Yes. Every ride wheteher to work or for fun was a trip. The local cyclists were a unique group of people and I miss em all. On a plus I hear the Lackawanna Trail is still around to provide a bit of reprise from the city streets.
Craig
I'm not really scared of roads, per se. Riding along a stretch is usually pretty much okay. Usually, narrower two-way roads where people can park on the street make me nervous because there's not much room for cars to pass each other when trying to pass me.
Don't like: Canal Street in Salem, MA. Rough, bumpy truck route, narrow, slightly windy, and apparently a *great* excuse for drivers to break the speed limit. At night. Often large trucks as well as the usual vehicles.
Crossings (ie a bikepath crossing a road). Because the roads are often rather curvy round here (Boston area) and, if I want to cross a major road, I may not be able to see cars on one or both of the approaches until they are too-close-to-cross-safely.
In general, I have a big problem with freeway-style high-speed free right turns, merges, and diverges. I wouldn't have it any other way on a freeway itself, but these structures are inappropriate in areas with bicycle and pedestrian traffic. If I were the benevolent dictator, all of them would be traffic-calmed or otherwise traffic controlled, or separate ped and bike bypasses would be provided.
This is the only type of road design that I truly despise and I just happen to live right off a road like this (Naamans Road). 45mph speed limit (50-60mph traffic, mostly out-of-towners rushing to "tax free shopping"). There is a "shoulder" but it's half high speed right turn/merge lanes so every intersection becomes very interesting especially at slow speeds. For instance, this weekend my girlfriend and I rode up this road 3 miles to a store together. It's uphill for the first mile or so and with the 25mph headwind she managed about 5mph. Traffic roaring past for some reason really got to me. By myself on this road, it's never bothered me too much but I'm thoroughly sick of how difficult it is to be anything but motorized on this road.
To improve this road I'd first lower the speed limit to a reasonable 35mph or lower. Most of the traffic on the road is coming off I95 so they've got a freeway mentality still due to this road's design. A lower speed limit that's enforced would go a long way in traffic calming. After that I'm torn between wanting to remove the shoulder and go with just a WOL and no more right turn/merge lane or taking it down to two narrow lanes. The two narrow lanes idea would probably piss most cyclists off as they all ride in the shoulder and continue straight through the right turns lanes (I've seen a few almost get hit doing this and I almost was hit myself before I learned not to). The WOL wouldn't encourage slower speeds as much but it would make it could make it somewhat easier to ride at a slower pace without too much anxiety. I'd have to try both to really know. I'd even be for a bike lane if they'd just get rid of the high speed intersections.
Suburban, 4 lane, 35 MPH arterials with a bunch of intolerant, debt ridden wage slaves impatiently fighting rush hour congestion.
+1
Mine is River Rd. here in Maryland. It's an arterial feeder from the beltway into NW DC. Just before the DC line it is 4 lanes posted 35 MPH with NO gutter or shoulder. Curbs on both sides as well. Average speed well in excess of speed limit.
I'll see people biking it by hugging the curb with cars whizzing by inches from them at 40 MPH+. Last time I rode it VC I tried to control the left lane (I was positioning for a left turn) by riding the center of it as fast as I could - about 28 MPH. A car passed me in the right lane doing about 45. Just as he cleared me a BMW shot by IN THE CENTER - i.e left wheels in my lane going above 60. The pressure wave from his close pass nearly blew me into oncoming traffic.
I now ride the 2 blocks I need to go on this route on the sidewalk. Much safer.
Well, you can't zoom in much to see it, but the location is here. I will never ride here. You have to ride on the freeway and there is absolutely no shoulder whatsover while crossing the bridge on Highway 101 between Refugio Beach and Gaviota.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=gaviota+california&ll=34.471892,-120.115843&spn=0.032408,0.089264&t=k&om=1
It scares me to death even when driving sometimes.
Mission Street, Santa Barbara. Nothing scary to see at all:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&t=k&om=1&ll=34.427116,-119.718361&spn=0.004053,0.00766
I ride on the sidewalk here. Too narrow and busy to share. It's one of the two places where I will do that. I can't say I'm really scared, but I know how I drive there so I'm not taking any chances with other people.
Montecito and Castillo in Santa Barbara. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&t=k&om=1&ll=34.410362,-119.698105&spn=0.004054,0.00766
Only place people really give me grief. This is the only place where people yell at me. But it's not scary, really, just annoying. Too many drug addicts around here, too. And liquor stores, gas stations and 7-11s. Don't get between anybody and their car or their vice.
San Andres and Carrillo in Santa Barbara. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&t=k&om=1&ll=34.414513,-119.711119&spn=0.004054,0.00766
This weird, not-perpendicular street is always trouble. I'm not scared, but I do use the sidewalk sometimes just because I sometimes am too far back in the queue and I hate being the cause of people not getting through the light, plus the people in this neighborhood aren't very smart or sober.
I don't find any particular street scary, but there are plenty of specific intersections, usually the mouths of freeway onramps or offramps, that cause me grave concern. One of the worst is southbound Gilman Dr. at southbound I-5, which is ironic, because it is the only direct link between UCSD (and the rest of the north coast) and the otherwise excellent Rose Canyon bikeway.
Westbound Palomar Airport Road at I-5 isn't any better, particularly because I have to deal with it with the late afternoon sun in my (and motorists') eyes.
In general, I have a big problem with freeway-style high-speed free right turns, merges, and diverges. I wouldn't have it any other way on a freeway itself, but these structures are inappropriate in areas with bicycle and pedestrian traffic. If I were the benevolent dictator, all of them would be traffic-calmed or otherwise traffic controlled, or separate ped and bike bypasses would be provided.
John I know the area you speak of and used to ride it more often... How do you deal with the issue?
I used to simply go wide and merge into the straight through or far left lane auto traffic... while keeping an eye on the left turners trying to cheat and cross me to get onto the on ramp. But I have not done that ramp at rush hour in perhaps 8 years. I think the configuration has changed since I last rode it.
I do know that getting from the Rose canyon bike ramp onto Gilman now really sucks... previously La Jolla Colony drive either never went anywhere or did not exist and was not a problem. (long before they built up that area)
Well, you can't zoom in much to see it, but the location is here. I will never ride here. You have to ride on the freeway and there is absolutely no shoulder whatsover while crossing the bridge on Highway 101 between Refugio Beach and Gaviota.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=gaviota+california&ll=34.471892,-120.115843&spn=0.032408,0.089264&t=k&om=1
It scares me to death even when driving sometimes.
That sounds very familiar... I believe I have done that going southbound while touring the state from north to south...
There is another area I believe north of there that is a long tunnel going from Lompoc to areas south, that is also pretty hairy...
Scranton PA.
The entire city.
Besides the fact PA is regularly listed as the state w/ the worst infrastructure by various polls, news groups etc. Scranton is horrible for cyclists. I lived there car-lite for 3 years (fall 02-fall 05).
Interesting. I was just in Scranton last week for business and thought to myself the downtown area around Steamtown area, courthouse, U. of Scranton area, and the local eating/drinking emporiums (the extent of my walking around from the Hilton) looked pretty good for bicycling. The streets were wide and the traffic relatively slow. Maybe with more experience or if I ventured away from downtown, I would agree with Craig. Then again if he had more experience cycling in other areas, perhaps Scranton wouldn't look so bad for cycling. Who cares what the so-calledpolls/newsgroups say about infrastucture (whatever that is)?
Hey Gene, I rarely have occasion to ride on Gilman, but the Gilman/I-5 intersection is on my son's most direct route between his apartment (Rosenda Ct., off La Jolla Colony) and the UCSD campus. I have advised him to make a big loop, riding north on Gilman to campus, then south on Villa La Jolla, Nobel, and Charmant to return home. The scary part of any high-speed diverge or free right is that even if you get the attention and cooperation of a motorist in the right lane, you have no protection against some bozo [legally or illegally, depending on the intersection] swooping in from the left. This is where the hard-core vehicular cyclists and I diverge; I consider the road inherently dangerous, given the mentality and attention level of too many of today's motorists. I really wish we could get freeway metering signals at the mouths, instead of the ends, of the onramps, which would also help those of us who drive low-powered cars.
Excuse my ignorance but could you please tell me what NOL and WOL mean?
Excuse my ignorance but could you please tell me what NOL and WOL mean?
NOL - Normal Outside Lane - the width of the right lane is the same as the other lanes, wide enough for a single car.
WOL - Wide Outside Lane - width of the far right lane is wider than the other lanes. Wide enough for a car and a bike to both use side by side without coming into conflict.
Hanover Street Bridge in southern Baltimore, MD. I missed a turn around Topee St once, and ended up on a bridge built exactly like a freeway but with a 35mph speed limit, so bicycles weren't excluded (ie no sign). Needless to say, no one was going 35mph. Then halfway across, the pavment abruptly becomes OPEN GRATING that i can see the water through by looking straight down. Just glad I had my 2.1" tires on instead of my 1.5" slicks. I realized that it was a dangerous place to be and tried to stop and get on the sidewalk, but the tractor-trailer behind me would not stop no matter how many times I used the "stop" hand signal. I ended up doing a running dismount onto the sidewalk at about 10mph.
Coordinates 39°15'28.88"N 76°36'58.36"W if you care to take a look.
solutions: enforce existing speed limit, BIG sign marking the grating, consider a shoulder or bike lane.
The other local road that is difficult is Route 40(Baltimore National Pike) outside Baltimore to the west. 3-4 lanes per direction, 35-45mph limit, no shoulder, extremely aggressive driving. The LBS is there, and there is no parallel lower speed limit road. People nearly kill you to get ahead in a rightmost lane that turns into parking a few blocks later. The interchange with I-695 (Baltimore beltway) is also problematic - lots of merging, highway inertia, no "slow" lane. The crosswalks are a joke(actually on the cloverleaf of the offramp, if you can believe that.)
solutions: enforce existing speed limit/aggressive driving, button-activated pedestrian traffic light, fix suburban sprawl placing destinations on arterial streets, and/or get people out of cars.
To answer the topic honestly, no street scares me... but some of the people on it sure do with there horrible driving habits.
Tampa is a traffic hellhole, thats all there is to it.
Bekologist, thanks, I couldn't have described my commute any better than that.
Suburban, 4 lane, 35 MPH arterials with a bunch of intolerant, debt ridden wage slaves impatiently fighting rush hour congestion.
I'm not afraid of the street. I'm afraid of the inattentive motorists on the street.
Here it is--Route 24 and I-95 junction:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v285/NoRacer/I95atR24.jpg
In Maryland, bicycles are allowed on the shoulder of the 55 MPH Route 24. What you don't see is how the lanes are striped. If you are heading north on Route 24, there is a right turn only lane that is striped starting at the junction all the way up to the next traffic light--probably close to an eighth of a mile. This forces a cyclists to have to make two crossings of the right hand turn only lane if you want to go north on Route 24 OR ride the left stripe of the right turn only lane all the way up to the traffic light.
In general, I have a big problem with freeway-style high-speed free right turns, merges, and diverges. I wouldn't have it any other way on a freeway itself, but these structures are inappropriate in areas with bicycle and pedestrian traffic. If I were the benevolent dictator, all of them would be traffic-calmed or otherwise traffic controlled, or separate ped and bike bypasses would be provided.
So do I have a problem with these. They are an sure indicator that the planning department isn't thinking of cyclists or pedestrians when they build those sorts of things. Those types of designs are not the hallmark of a livable community.
I will only stick to streets on my route(s).
Belleview and arapahoe roads in the Denver Tech Center.
120th ave in thornton and northglenn.
The first two I avoid.
The second has a MUP offset sidewalk path and parallel streets. Plus, a 1/4 mile of sidewalk I use. OMG!
All are 4-6 lane major arterials with a standard speed limit of 45-55 mph. Not sure what the legal speedlimit is. Doesn't matter to me. Plus, I hit them during rush hours, except arapahoe. That one is when I am running errands at work. People drive way too fast and immediate alternatives are available. Why should I risk my life to promote cycling on these streets?
So do I have a problem with these. They are an sure indicator that the planning department isn't thinking of cyclists or pedestrians when they build those sorts of things. Those types of designs are not the hallmark of a livable community.
There are lots of these things here in central NC where I live. Some of the roads have sidewalks, wide outside lanes or even striped bike lanes up to the approach of the interchange. Then the DOT simply ends the sidewalk, wide outside lane or striped bike lane prior to the high-speed exit and entrance lanes. The sidewalks and bike lanes generally pick up again on the other side of the interchange. NCDOT has a policy that they accommodate pedestrians with ADA-compliant crossings and MUTCD-compliant signals if they build a sidewalk at an intersection. But if there is no sidewalk, they won't consider pedestrians in the intersection design at all. Since the freeway engineers who design the interchanges don't want to worry about MUTCD and ADA requirements for pedestrians, much less make the interchange comfortable for roadway cyclists, they simply end the special pedestrian and bicycle facilities at the edge of the interchange project.
Here's an example of a bike lane that ends at a new interchange. Oddly, it directs cyclists into the freeway on-ramp. Note that this is an official, stenciled and signed bike lane, not a shoulder. This is in Raleigh near the RBC Center. Note also the lack of a sidewalk despite the fact that the area is quickly developing with hotels and entertainment venues.
http://www.humantransport.org/bicycledriving/library/edwardsmill/bikelanenarrowthroughsmall.jpg
-Steve Goodridge
Here's an example of a bike lane that ends at a new interchange. Oddly, it directs cyclists into the freeway on-ramp. Note that this is an official, stenciled and signed bike lane, not a shoulder. This is in Raleigh near the RBC Center. Note also the lack of a sidewalk despite the fact that the area is quickly developing with hotels and entertainment venues.
Thats too bad. As you are quite aware a cyclist needs to be well out of that BL many feet before it turns into the RTOL. I drew a red line of where the only safe place for a straight going cyclist is. That BL stripe at minimum needs to be dashed 100' before it breaks into a RTOL.
Al
There are lots of these things here in central NC where I live. Some of the roads have sidewalks, wide outside lanes or even striped bike lanes up to the approach of the interchange. Then the DOT simply ends the sidewalk, wide outside lane or striped bike lane prior to the high-speed exit and entrance lanes. The sidewalks and bike lanes generally pick up again on the other side of the interchange. NCDOT has a policy that they accommodate pedestrians with ADA-compliant crossings and MUTCD-compliant signals if they build a sidewalk at an intersection. But if there is no sidewalk, they won't consider pedestrians in the intersection design at all. Since the freeway engineers who design the interchanges don't want to worry about MUTCD and ADA requirements for pedestrians, much less make the interchange comfortable for roadway cyclists, they simply end the special pedestrian and bicycle facilities at the edge of the interchange project.
Here's an example of a bike lane that ends at a new interchange. Oddly, it directs cyclists into the freeway on-ramp. Note that this is an official, stenciled and signed bike lane, not a shoulder. This is in Raleigh near the RBC Center. Note also the lack of a sidewalk despite the fact that the area is quickly developing with hotels and entertainment venues.
http://www.humantransport.org/bicycledriving/library/edwardsmill/bikelanenarrowthroughsmall.jpg
-Steve Goodridge
We had a similar situation here right next to my office for a new freeway onramp. I contacted the engineer and his excuse was "it was only temporary." I told him it was wrong and either should be restripped or the BL removed. Again, "its only temporary."
I emailed the local bike advocacy group and they called the local engineer's supervisor. The BL is now to the left of the RTOL-on ramp. Of course it is still "only temporary."
It doesn't really scare me but a street in St. Louis that concerns me somewhat is Kingshighway. I'm not as worried about riding on it (the sections I ride on are pretty tame) as I am about crossing it.
What specifically makes this street scary?Drivers who do not stop for red lights.
I crossed Kingshighway at West Pine twice a day for years. You would not believe the number of times I saw cars just blow through that intersection on red. With a green light, in a car or on a bike, it's a crapshoot. It's not much better at other intersections.
Do you think motorists are scared on this street?If not, they're missing a good bet.
When the city lists the most dangerous intersections, half of the top ten most dangerous are almost always on Kingshighway.
I always get a kick out of an ad for a local injury lawyer. One of the testimonials is from a guy who says he was hit at Kingshighway and Delmar. I always think, "of course you were." I'll bet dollars to donuts he isn't the only person who's been hit there.
Actually, I'm often more concerned about being mugged than I am about being hit by cars. Somebody mentioned drug dealers in an earlier post. I used to ride by dealers almost every day but they never worried me since I posed no threat. What would worry me more would be a random nutcase seeing me for the first time.
Few streets scare me. Some streets worry me a little. :-)
South Oyster Bay Rd. between Jericho Tpk. and woodbury rd. on Long Island. Everyone always seems to be an *******. Been right hooked several times (no collisions, knock on wood) and lost count of how many times i've been honked at needlessly
Scranton PA.
The entire city.
Besides the fact PA is regularly listed as the state w/ the worst infrastructure by various polls, news groups etc. Scranton is horrible for cyclists. I lived there car-lite for 3 years (fall 02-fall 05). 90% streets one lane w/ cars parked on both sides used as 2 way streets. No shoulders. Crappy road surfaces. Lack of traffic safety devices, lights, signs. Odd non-conventional intersections, triangles, 5-6 way, all sorts of strange interchanges. And to top it off careless drivers. As well as a high rate of cyclist disrespect, run off the road, beer cans thrown at me, and of course yelling.
Do I miss Scranton at all? Yes. Every ride wheteher to work or for fun was a trip. The local cyclists were a unique group of people and I miss em all. On a plus I hear the Lackawanna Trail is still around to provide a bit of reprise from the city streets.
Craig
I can confirm, first hand, almost every one of these issues! Scranton, fixed gear, car-free, 2004-2006.
I'm clearly still riding, but recently purchased a car.
Jhonson road beteen rockcut where i live and hametown road. lots of idiots going up towards hametown. Like to pass with in inches of you regardless of where your riding in the lane. Its in norton/barberton ohio. On most mapping sites sarh hametown 44203 will get you to hame town then just look for 21 jhonson crosses over 21.
Next would have to be wooster road in barberton esp after the addition of the new bridge with stop lights that tend to give priority to trafic going on to or coming off the bridge. If you going strait on 2nd stree or turnign left on to secound inline with this bridge its just a nightmare. You simply can not make it on a bike and its realy hard to do so in a car. Just ask the cop who was there yellign right along with every one else to fix the f ing lights to the city officals there to inspect the bridge and check trafic. They are obviously happy with the conditions as the light is still acting the same exact way 2 weeks after the fact.
Thankfully in the case of wooster road i can turn on to 3rd street to tusk back to secound and avoid that nightmare. Jhonson how ever if i want to ride to and through silver creek or on eastern road i have to ride jhonson. Amazingly other than a couple real fools ive not had much isue this year. Last year i had one guy delibratly try to run me off the road 3 times in 3 days.
Rangers at silver creek told me that had reports of this guy harrassing cyclists on jhobson road and on hametown on the op side of the intersection. This was includeing 3 reports from people riding in stomp last september.
Last year the rangers were realy hoping he wouldd screw up and harrass a cyclist or hiker in the park so they could realy nail his butt to the wall.
So this is a street that I never rode a bike on, but it is possibly the scariest place I've ever been, and I've been to the Capitol building.
Copperhead Rd. outside of Asheboro, NC.
Apparently there is a song called Copperhead Rd. about moonshining and growing weed, but anyway.
I was working on an archaeological survey crew last summer that was working on the corridor for a bypass near Asheboro. We come up on this road that is nothing but rusted out trailers that looks like a junk yard. The whole time we're driving around we keep looking out for somebody to unload a double barrel on us. We have some trouble figuring out where we're supposed to start a new transect so we check the maps. The whole area we're in is marked "NO DIG, DO NOT ENTER!!" We've never gotten out of a place so fast!
The scariest road for me is Marginal Way in Seattle, near the Port. They're building a bike path, and when it's done, it'll be fine. For now though, it's unpleasant. It's two-lane, with lots of road construction. No shoulder at all. At peak hours, traffic in both directions is heavy. If you're trying to get from downtown to West Seattle, it's pretty much the only road there is. A guy on a bike is going to piss some people off, because they can't pass you for a half-mile, on a road where people generally like to drive about 50 mph (the posted limit is 40). And, worst of all, since it's in an industrial area, the road is full of very large trucks (e.g. dump trucks, container trucks) going as fast as conditions allow, driven by guys who mostly think bikes are for children and pussies. I don't know about you, but getting buzzed by a huge truck going 45 mph, only a few inches from my left elbow, is kind of unnerving. I admit it freely: if there were a sidewalk on this road, I would ride on it.
there's problems on marginal way S? between pioneer square and the west seattle bridge? never seen that as much of a problem. maybe the construction. i'll ride down that way tomorrow morning, check it out...
. actually taking the lanes onto and off of harbor island can be pretty invigorating!- easiest to crossover in traffic lanes mixing it up with the container trucks sometimes. i almost always hop into the lane with a sidewalk drop to the fishing pier crossover from the west to downtown .... i commuted to the west seattle ferry terminal many a rush hour and moon on bike. love riding thataways at night, west seattle is pretty sleepy......
i don't know about 'scary', but i think the streets out in bellevue like BelRed road going east from 140th is pretty bad....also, a lot of the suburban 4 laners out thataways......a lot of these and the following are 35-45mph suburban roads without any wide lanes or shoulders,....
Seattle city proper, bad roads, there's a few... lake city way, that a ways up by BowWowWow, i was riding around up the rooseveldt neighborhood at rush hour this evening, and lake city way drivers are pretty intolerant in those 4 narrow lanes...... had a lot of agressive swervers and hand wavers on lake city way today.....also cross ballard and crown hill, 80th drivers are pretty intolerant.
oh yeh, and just north, the 'mukeltio speedway' down to the ferry terminals past boeing, up in everett.
and too, a lot of the suburban roads out eastside by woodinville become real bike hazards in the face of rush hour drivers....35-45 mph suburban roads and some 50 plus posted speeds....
besides, any road can be a 'scary' road........if there's a driver that doesn't like you ahead of them, it can turn scary real quickly......
I'm not afraid of any roads around here. The only time I get nervous is when there is a driver deliberately trying to run me off the road. (Happened twice last week)
Some of these cagers are not only idiots, but jackasses as well. I can deal with the screaming, insults, stupid 'Get on the sidewalk' comments... but the ones that deliberately try to kill me..... All I can say is they better hope I don't find out where they live.
And people wonder why the 'Do you carry a gun' thread won't die.
Highway 64 where it cross the Animas River in Farmington, NM. NOL, with storm gratings in the gutters, and distracted drivers. I take the sidewalk. So does everyone else.
Around here, drivers are actually respectful of cyclists, but only when they're paying attention.
The scariest road for me is Marginal Way in Seattle, near the Port. They're building a bike path, and when it's done, it'll be fine. For now though, it's unpleasant. It's two-lane, with lots of road construction. No shoulder at all. At peak hours, traffic in both directions is heavy. If you're trying to get from downtown to West Seattle, it's pretty much the only road there is. A guy on a bike is going to piss some people off, because they can't pass you for a half-mile, on a road where people generally like to drive about 50 mph (the posted limit is 40). And, worst of all, since it's in an industrial area, the road is full of very large trucks (e.g. dump trucks, container trucks) going as fast as conditions allow, driven by guys who mostly think bikes are for children and pussies. I don't know about you, but getting buzzed by a huge truck going 45 mph, only a few inches from my left elbow, is kind of unnerving. I admit it freely: if there were a sidewalk on this road, I would ride on it.
ahh come on you know its fun to feel that suction comin off the truck gently tugging at you :)
Seriously on such a road i think a sidewalk rid would be much more safe if there was one. Im guessing next to no driveways intersections etc. Same sort of road bike lanes should be on but never seem to be.
Part of the problem in California is that CalTrans and freeway designers are in charge of every freeway access ramp, >>including its intersection with the rest of the road system<<. Where high traffic flow accommodation is inconsistent with traffic calming and proper, safe accommodation of bicyclists and pedestrians, we need well-designed, user-friendly bypasses. I predict that HH will chime in and claim that these intersections are merely "challenging" or "entertaining" for any decently skilled cyclist. OK, fine -- I am a timid, incompetent bozo who has survived 100k miles / 160k km of road cycling in southern California through luck alone. I am a Don Quixote-style knight errant; my steed is my trusty 1959 Capo Modell Campagnolo, my lance is my outspoken advocacy, and my windmills are fast free right turns, merges, and diverges.
Give us the street name and city, if you like, but also give a good description for those who live elsewhere.
The last 1/3 to 1/2 of a mile to my job. North Avenue west of rt 59 in West Chicago. It starts out ok, four narrow lanes with a very nice shoulder. Then the paved shoulder disappears and is replaced with a narrow rocky shoulder.
What specifically makes this street scary?
The cars/trucks come in very tight packs at 55-60 mph. There is no left turn lane to enter our driveway, so when there is oncoming traffic you may have to stop in the regular traffic lane to wait for a break. If any vehicle has to slow, stop or change lanes, the followers are not prepared to deal with it without radical maneuvers which greatly increases the chance of a close call or wreck. If anyone was "riding the lane" I have little doubt there would quickly be a catastrophe of some sort. The drivers are just too close to each other at that speed to successfully handle the slowing and lane changing that would result.
Do other cyclists use or avoid this street?
Yes, but very few. Also I have never seen a cyclist in any of the normal lanes. Well, besides myself only for breif periods when clear of traffic.
Do you think motorists are scared on this street?
Yes. Many fellow workers have been hit (while driving, no one bikes) trying to get into our driveway. Once a car ended up on its roof on our front lawn. I myself (while driving) had to gas it and go straight several times, just to avoid being rear ended by oncoming vehicles while waiting to turn in. Not everyone watches their mirrors like I do.
What could be changed to make this street ride-able for you?
Well it's already ride-able if I want to bike to work. It's just not fun or easy. When the shoulder runs out I stop and wait for a large enough gap to make it to the driveway (in any lane on the street) between the wolf packs. Adding a wide shoulder the whole way would help, (I could make it across a shorter gap) along with adding a left turn lane.
The only time I was really scared was when route 551 leading into swedesboro, nj was under construction. I should have just gotten off, but they had just torn up the street with one of those machines that grinds the top layer of asphalt. There were ruts everywhere about the width and depth of train tracks. They were in the same direction as I was traveling but not really in a straight line. I was on my MTB with slicks at the time, and I am still not sure how I didnt' fall. This was much trickier than any actual MTB I have done.
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