NBCPhiladelphia.com

Bikes are not used in Philadelphia nearly enough, but after Wednesday’s green ribbon cutting, hopefully, that’ll change.

On Wednesday morning, Mayor Nutter officially opened two broad bike lanes on Spruce and Pine Sts. that run across the city to provide a river-to-river connection, no car needed. Going to work, exercising and sightseeing are now possible — by bike — without fearing to be run over by a car.

Nutter calls this a “demonstration of our commitment to ensuring that the streets of Philadelphia are open, accessible, and available for all travelers.”

And to prove his point, our fine Mayor biked his way from the ribbon cutting ceremony on Pine to City Hall.

Hop on your Schwinn and ride along Pine eastbound from 22nd Street or use the alternative route on Spruce from 2nd to 22nd, westbound saving both gas and the environment — not to mention the killer glutes you’ll have.

The city says that the cycle lanes are part of a pilot program and that its practicality will now be tested. Cars and bikes will be counted to see if the community accepts the changes. And drivers will be watched carefully to ensure the safety of bikers.

“Drivers should expect police enforcement of the bike lanes. Bike lanes are not passing lanes for cars,” says Rina Cutler Deputy Mayor for Transportation and Utilities.

But she also asks all bikers to stop at red lights, stop signs and signal when turning.

The hope is that drivers and bikers will get along and be courteous of one another for the good of the environment. .

By JIM FOTI, Star Tribune

Mark Boswell

Drivers who spend too much time gazing up at the bright lights of Hennepin Avenue may soon find themselves facing the headlights of an oncoming car.

After nearly 30 years as one-way streets, Hennepin and 1st Avenues in downtown Minneapolis are set to be converted to two-way traffic on Oct. 10. With unfamiliar features such as “bike boxes” painted on the pavement and new shared bus/bike/right-turn-only lanes, the whole corridor, from 12th Street to the river, is going to be one big “pay attention” zone.

The goal of the conversion, which cost roughly $3 million, is to allow downtown visitors to drive more directly to their destinations, said city spokesman Matt Lindstrom. The pavement was seal-coated, traffic signals were added, and the streets will get new road paint and signs starting early on the day of the conversion, which could change if the weather doesn’t cooperate.

Extra traffic control officers will be on hand on that first Saturday night — prime bar-hopping time in the Warehouse District — as well as during the first Monday-morning commute, Lindstrom said.

Drivers and bicyclists might need the help.

The three through lanes heading northeast on Hennepin will be gone, replaced with one through lane in each direction, designated left turn lanes, and combined bike-bus-right-turn lanes.

On 1st Avenue, bike lanes are being created along the curbs, with off-peak parking allowed next to the bike lane — six feet from the curb. The idea is that parked cars will serve as a buffer between moving traffic and the bike lane.

“Bike boxes,” meanwhile, will be painted at intersections. These boxes will require cars to stay back from crosswalks about 10 feet to give left-turning bicycles a place to wait in front of motor-vehicle trafficWhile understanding the city’s goals, some businesses along 1st Avenue are worried that congestion and confusion will actually increase, said Joanne Kaufman, executive director of the Warehouse District Business Association. The loss of on-street parking on 1st Avenue during happy hour is also a concern, she said.

“There are a lot of people who are very apprehensive about how this is going to impact our neighborhood,” she said. “It will be very interesting to see how the first week goes, the first couple weeks, the first couple months.”

My aggravation and burgeoning anti-cyclist feelings, stem not from the trail but from some of the cyclists that use the trail. Since opening, I’ve almost ran over several cyclists that didn’t even look for traffic, let alone hit their brakes when crossing Sandy Lane / Montclaire at Cty Rd 15. There’s a stop sign there, why don’t you stop? In one instance I was turning right onto Sandy Ln from 15, some old fart looked right at me and proceeded to blow right through the stop signs. I had to jam on my brakes to avoid running this asshole over. So, I laid on my horn to let him know he messed up. Then, to my astonishment, he gives me the finger! Luckily, I had my window down, so I yelled “That’s not a cross walk asshole!”. He just kept right on going.

My wife had a similar and somewhat more disturbing experience. She honked at a couple of cyclists that blew through the stop signs in front of her, causing her to jam on her brakes. As she’s waiting to turn on to 15 from Sandy Ln, the male rider of the couple approached her car and started yelling and swearing at her. He said something to the affect that there’s a cross walk there. My wife normally would’ve torn this guy a new proverbial asshole but my daughter was in the car with her at the time. I couldn’t believe this guy had the balls to harass my wife and daughter when he was the one in the wrong! I hope to meet this prick some day.

We called the Mound Police Department to verify that we are actually in the right. The person we spoke to verified that bikes need to STOP at the stop sign and wait from traffic to clear before proceeding across the road. Wow, what a concept. They also confirmed that they’ve received countless complaints that were similar to ours. The officer recommended we also send complaints to the Three Rivers Park District.

It seems that the complaints have been heard! The white “boxes” that were painted on the roads to look like cross-walks are starting to be removed. These were never cross-walks, hence no need for the white boxes as cars are NOT supposed to stop at bike crossings!

I’ll end my anti-cyclist rant for now. I’d like to direct one last statement to all cyclists that use the Dakota Rail Trail: I don’t expect you to make a complete stop at every stop sign on the trail. BUT. You need to slow down, look BOTH ways for traffic and STOP if you see a car. Just like the law states, very simple.

Info from the Three Rivers Park site:

“This 13.5-mile trail offers a spectacular view of Lake Minnetonka and follows the route of the former Dakota Rail Corridor through St. Bonifacius, Minnetrista, Mound, Spring Park, Minnetonka Beach, Orono, and Wayzata.”

Here’s a link to the Three Rivers Park page where you can download a map: