Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Road hazards

One of my colleagues took a spill while trying to cross the South Lake Union Trolley (SLUT) tracks on Fairview or Eastlake the other day. The trolley is a weird, almost toy-like transportation system that will connect South Lake Union to downtown, when it fires up this winter. It's just not extensive enough to be any kind of transportation solution for anyone, unless you happen to live on a houseboat in Eastlake and work downtown. And it turns out that the trolley's recessed tracks are big hazards for cyclists. Your wheel can get caught in the recessed channel, and the iron tracks are slick as ice.

Another hazard: heading north across the Fremont Bridge and trying to stay north on Fremont. There's a right-hand turn that veers off to the right shortly after you get off the bridge, and it's not marked for cyclists at all. Cars come up behind you, pass and immediately turn right, leaving you no room. A woman could have hit me yesterday with that particular move -- oh, I saw her coming, so it wasn't like a close call or anything, but it irritated me no end.

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