A couple of days ago there was a
huge incident on I-75. It blocked
traffic in both directions, and fouled things up for hours. I wasn’t traveling on the highway that
day, but it reminded me of another time.
I was returning from a long
driving trip. I was coming into
Atlanta from the north east, moving briskly along on I-85. Traffic had been light down from the
Carolinas, but it was picking up as I neared the outskirts of the metro
area. I was looking forward to
getting home and getting out of the
truck. I had the thought, “It’s Sunday afternoon. Traffic shouldn’t be too bad.
Home soon.”
I passed the perimeter
junction. Traffic was, by then
heavy, but moving. Then I got to
the merge for the connector. Brake
lights! Full stop. Five minutes later I heard the traffic
report. “Big jam downtown, take
alternates.” Now that was helpful. Nothing around me was moving, and I
could not get to an exit. It took me three hours to cover the
next 30 miles. Two and a half
hours of that were spent just getting below the “split.”
It occurred to me that I was
moving at a much lower speed than casual cycling. I had the thought (and not for the first time) that these
interstates would be so much more fun and so much faster on a bike. If only there were no cars here.
I started to imagine that, and
suddenly saw a vision. Imagine if
there was one, just one lane of the
urban interstate system that was dedicated to cyclists. It would have to be barrier-protected,
but what if?
What if I had a dedicated
lane? What if, I was in dense
cycle traffic, in a lane dedicated to cycling. That would allow about eight bikes to ride abreast. On such a lane, it would be so easy to
cruise along at 15 to 20 mph. And
what if the “Bikintersate” became crowded? Wouldn’t that imply a lot less traffic on the motor
lanes? Certainly it would be more interesting. The cyclists could actually talk to each other.
Wouldn’t this make so much more
sense than constructing a “Lexus Lane”?
Your thoughts, please.
No comments:
Post a Comment