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Anecdotally, as an Austin, TX, resident and cyclist — this city is so far away from adequate cycling infrastructure that it’s inclusion in this piece taints the

by dayjah 5y ago

Anecdotally, as an Austin, TX, resident and cyclist — this city is so far away from adequate cycling infrastructure that it’s inclusion in this piece taints the rest of it for me. Clearly this piece is light on meaningful details. One example is how the increase includes areas that are completely unsafe to ride — for example adding lanes that are essentially storm drain run offs which are generally unfinished - so you have to bike in the road. Our local news has a great example of a lane with an electricity pole right in the middle of it… :facepalm: https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/austin-cyclists-flag-mobility-safety-concerns-in-newly-installed-bike-lanes/ https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/austin-cyclists-flag-...

mplanchard 5y ago
I live in Austin and largely stopped cycling after a motorist tried to run me off the road on trinity south of MLK. I was going straight and had taken the lane a little early to pass a bus that was stopped in the bike lane and to avoid that dangerous spot closer to the intersection where the bike lane crosses _through_ the right turn lane, with plenty of room behind me and open lanes to the left. This guy was not having it. Got maybe 2 inches from my rear wheel, then jerked around to the left, sped up, and then swerved right into my lane when he was even with me. This is all maybe 100 ft from the intersection, where there was a red light. I passed him less than ten seconds after all this, since he was sitting in the more congested right turn lane and I was going straight.
billsmithaustin 5y ago
I live in Austin. The bike infrastructure varies a lot depending on what part of town you’re in. No doubt that’s true for most places — including around the University of Texas. I’ve ridden many trips up and down Dean Keeton Street without any trouble from motorists. The electrical pole story is ridiculous — someone didn’t know what they were doing. But readers should not assume the entirety of Austin’s bike lanes are like that.
- dayjah 5y ago
  That’s fair feedback! I found my OP started to meander with my calling out the bits of Austin that aren’t bad; but clearly in culling those my piece made it sound like a terrible-to-cycle-in-city. It’s not… Except in the summer obvi, when anything outside sucks ^_^ I guess my main schtick with the Axios piece is that it lacks any form of nuance; starting percentage increases as uniformly good.

by dayjah 5y ago

mplanchard 5y ago

I live in Austin and largely stopped cycling after a motorist tried to run me off the road on trinity south of MLK. I was going straight and had taken the lane a little early to pass a bus that was stopped in the bike lane and to avoid that dangerous spot closer to the intersection where the bike lane crosses _through_ the right turn lane, with plenty of room behind me and open lanes to the left. This guy was not having it. Got maybe 2 inches from my rear wheel, then jerked around to the left, sped up, and then swerved right into my lane when he was even with me. This is all maybe 100 ft from the intersection, where there was a red light. I passed him less than ten seconds after all this, since he was sitting in the more congested right turn lane and I was going straight.

billsmithaustin 5y ago

I live in Austin. The bike infrastructure varies a lot depending on what part of town you’re in. No doubt that’s true for most places — including around the University of Texas. I’ve ridden many trips up and down Dean Keeton Street without any trouble from motorists. The electrical pole story is ridiculous — someone didn’t know what they were doing. But readers should not assume the entirety of Austin’s bike lanes are like that.

dayjah 5y ago
That’s fair feedback! I found my OP started to meander with my calling out the bits of Austin that aren’t bad; but clearly in culling those my piece made it sound like a terrible-to-cycle-in-city. It’s not… Except in the summer obvi, when anything outside sucks ^_^ I guess my main schtick with the Axios piece is that it lacks any form of nuance; starting percentage increases as uniformly good.