Wow! It seems as though the new bike lane on Columbia Road has created a surge in ridership. We’ve seen it each day, especially in Franklin Park on Circuit Drive. The esteemed Park’s Department Asst Commissioner Bernie Lynch might even have to agree that there are folks riding in the park, just about everywhere. We saw a cyclocross guy crashing through the woods today in fact. Tuesday was cool as there were two cycle-groovers (in full kit, yellow reflective vest etc..) heading one way and then two ride-to-work types (no helmet, flattish tires, low end mountain or road bike, often, but not always minority) headed the other. Measurable %’s of the folks biking in the park now. Rode up with one guy (pictured on the dotbike flickr site) who is a true beneficiary as he lives in Uphams Corner and works in JP by Forest Hills. As we see Dot Ave getting paved and hear that the T and city are planning to pave Dot Ave at Ashmont Station (will that job EVER get finished?) this weekend we’re getting dangerously close to perhaps seeing the mysterious paint truck with the bike sharrow chevron and the bike chevron guy go the entire length of Dot Ave… That said any ride up Dot Ave meets more and more riders of all ilks, (groover/worker/combo) as well as the dominant local neighborhood rider (most sidewalker) just chillin on the street corner without the paint, so watch out we might start looking like Cambridge once the lines go down.
Just to prove I’m not on some kind of weird pharmacutical that is skewing my mood here’s a few things to think about. We’re on the second week of waiting for the contractor to return and finish the pieces they missed on Talbot Avenue… The Columbia Road job remains done in half-assed typical job received in Dot-like status, although a few more chevrons showed… We were looking at Bowdoin Street getting painted and were wistful for a surprise lane or sharrow chevron… This isn’t Dot, but hey the “Lights are timed for 30 mph” signs on Mass Ave are IDIOTIC! It only encourages cars to speed to 30 to try in a vain attempt to hit the light and 90%+ of the time there’s too much traffic to reach that speed safely especially with bikes in the road. For example, the typically snail-like dotriderblog did set off the radar sign on Talbot Ave at 18 one day and 21 the next, but 30? May be down hill somewhere but doubt it. How do we get those signs ditched?
