stuck in a rut
Brent Finnegan -- May 19th, 2008
Last week Thanh wrote about Bike to Work Week. Today there’s a story in the DNR about cyclists crashing at city railroad crossings (particularly Country Club Road and South Main) where the tracks intersect the road at a sharp angle.
[Shenandoah Valley Bicycle Coalition president, Thomas] Jenkins said the two railroad-track intersections are on main arteries and there are no quick ways around them. Until they’re changed, he said, many won’t give commuting by bike a chance.
Based on the city’s track record, Jenkins says he believes local officials will work on making changes. But those changes also depend upon Norfolk Southern and the Virginia Department of Transportation.
“Bicycling has become a real important part of our community,” said Chenault, adding that the city allocates between $50,000 and $100,000 a year to making the city more bicycle friendly.
Short of rerouting the roads or the tracks, one solution being discussed is bike paths that would go off road, and intersect the tracks at a perpendicular angle.
I thought they just repaved the Country Club crossing a couple of years ago. I used to be scared of that on my motorcycle. I can’t imagine any skewed crossing “safe” for cyclists crossing it at speed.
I hate those tracks on Country Club, and always end up walking my bike over them. It’s either that or ride on Market Street.
Country Club was repaved, but the angled train track is still pretty awful. You have to kind of angle your wheel to go over it perpendicular, which is nearly impossible when there are cars around b/c there is no shoulder at that portion of Country Club.
That said, as major a road as Country Club is, I avoid it as much as possible when riding.
More bike paths would go a long ways to increasing bike safety and would help convince more short commuters to take a bike ride and save the gas.
I wonder if Country Club will have bike lanes once it goes from 2 to 4 lanes…
If you’ve been injured in this stop, please make a quick post on the Shenandoah Valley Bicycle Coalition website. They are trying to gather statistics on RR crossing injuries.
http://forum.svbcoalition.org/viewtopic.php?t=154
In this spot, that is….
Don’t be stuck in a rut! Watch this film on Bike To Work Day!
http://www.streetfilms.org/archives/national-bike-to-work-day/