Rusty Platinum

Rent those apartments, crash those bikes

2010-12-23T14:21:00.000-08:00

Another contribution from Christal shows a very serious pile on Fifth St. in front of Greystone Apartments. Apartment complexes are some of the worst offenders. Since most of their tenants are students who use bicycles, you would think that they would be sensitive to obstructing bike lanes. Nope.

This location is about one block from the Davis Police Station, so police patrol cars pass by here all the time. Unfortunately, they don't seem to care about the problem. I'll bet if this entire pile were placed out where the manhole cover can be seen, their attitude would change PDQ.

Next Year, Same Problems

2010-12-22T09:40:00.000-08:00

It's been a year, and we're back in hazardous leaf pile season again. Nothing has changed.

This is a particularly bad spot for a leaf pile blocking the bike lane, because cars are blocked from moving left by the barrier strip. Experienced riders know how to "take the lane," but schoolchildren expecting a clear bike lane might have a problem.

This picture was taken at Fortuna and Alvarado. Thanks to Christal for the contribution.

815 B Street (again)

2009-12-20T16:56:00.000-08:00

Once again, the folks at 815 B Street have shown their complete and utter disregard for cyclists. This pile was found today, Sunday, but will obstruct cycling traffic for most of the next week.

Check out the next photo for their house - they have a really nice place, but couldn't care less about their neighbors who get around by bike. One such avid cyclist lives only a block away...

City ordained hazards

2009-12-09T16:57:00.000-08:00

This magnificent specimen was found today next to....wait for it....City Hall. All of the property next to this pile is City owned, which implies that it was a City crew that made sure bikes would be diverted into traffic at one of the busiest areas in the downtown.

The location of this pile is about half a block north of the intersection of Fifth and B Street - the pile is on B Street. Many cars and cyclists use this route to get downtown and to the University. I had to be careful while taking this picture to avoid traffic.

The second image is the same pile viewed from the side. It's about as long as a parked car. The building across the street is the School District headquarters.

Bicycle Friendly? Not at this location...

And a bit more irony - the US Bicycle Hall of Fame is three blocks down the Street, at 3rd and B Streets.

No tickets for leaf piles

2009-12-08T19:49:00.000-08:00

So, can a leaf pile in a red zone be ticketed? Is that bike in the bike lane?

This is a very busy bicycle intersection in Davis - A Street at Russell. But no one blinks when the house on the corner (it's a frat or or sorority - I can't tell the difference) decides to nuke the bike lane, as well as part of the traffic lane. The address is 440 A Street.

And.....City Hall is right across the street.

St. James strikes again (sigh)

2009-12-05T16:19:00.000-08:00

Location is on B Street at the South end of the church property.

Mayor Ruth told me that she spoke to the head priest last week about keeping bike lanes clear, after I sent an email to the City Council, but apparently he's hard of hearing. The catholic church may care about people's souls, but they obviously don't care too much about cyclists' safety.

This pile was placed on the street today, Saturday, but won't be picked up until late next week. Because a lot of yard work is done on weekends, the bike lanes are effectively obstructed most of the month during leaf fall.

Incidentally, most of the posts so far have involved leaf piles, simply because this is the time of year for such problems to occur. Future posts will show other situations in Davis where cyclists have problems with the infrastructure.

St. James Church, again....

2009-12-01T16:39:00.000-08:00

The pile near the stop sign was very carefully placed not only to obstruct cyclists in the bike lane, but to cause chaos for cars wishing to turn right onto B Street. Can you ticket yard waste in a red zone?

You would think that this would start to get a little embarrassing for the Bicycle Capitol of the US....

All of the last four pictures were taken today.

1302 B Street

2009-12-01T16:38:00.000-08:00

1224 B Street

2009-12-01T16:37:00.000-08:00

1042 Miller

2009-12-01T16:35:00.000-08:00

Piles are on B Street at Miller.

815 B Street

2009-12-01T10:47:00.000-08:00

This bicycle-eating pile was graciously placed in front of 815 B Street. Imagine riding down this street after dark.

Notice that there are no cars parked on the street. That's because B Street is the only street in Davis that has on and off bike lanes. During the day on weekdays, no parking is allowed. In the evenings and weekends, parking is allowed, which also effectively blocks the bike lane. And B Street is a major arterial!

Fall on B Street

2009-12-01T10:43:00.000-08:00

This is just one short stretch of B Street that shows what Davis' greenwaste policy does for cyclists. This time of year results in hundreds of these piles, many of which encroach on bike lanes.

Yard and Water Waste

2009-11-28T12:32:00.000-08:00

Here's a strategically placed pile of yard waste that not only blocks the bike lane, but also prevents motorized traffic from smoothly merging into the right turn lane. A nice added touch is the enormous amount of water being wasted due to runoff.

Picture was taken in early August this year. Location: next to an apartment complex on the Southeast corner of the intersection at Covell and Sycamore.

2009-11-27T13:33:00.000-08:00

This pic is from December 2006, before these lanes were double striped. Kind of shows the problem, doesn't it? Not only are the bike riders at risk of bike-eating branches, a few branches are lying in wait for pedestrians on the sidewalk.

Location: In front of the high school on 14th Street, just across the street from the church featured in the previous post.

2009-11-27T13:03:00.000-08:00

This is the image that finally inspired the creation of this blog. It is a bicycle rider's view of the bike lane on 14th Street in front of St. James Catholic Church. The picture was taken yesterday, Thankgiving Day, at 4 pm. To get some perspective as to the size of those piles, cars can be parked to the right of the right bike lane stripe without intruding on the bike lane.

Davis used to have single striped bike lines, and yard waste like this blocked the lanes all the time. In the last couple of years, we've been trying out double striping on major arterials, just to prevent this kind of situation. Apparently, some people (churches?) don't think cyclist safety is important if they've got leaves to dispose of. Imagine the reaction if those piles were in the middle of the (car) traffic lane. The police would be there within minutes.

Introduction

2009-11-27T12:41:00.000-08:00

Davis, California is a relatively small University town in the middle of California's Central Valley, near Sacramento. Davis is the home of the University of California, Davis, and is also renowned for its bicycle friendliness. In fact, Davis was awarded the highest recognition by the League of American Bicyclists, designating Davis as a Platinum Level Bicycle Friendly City.

With this honor, Davis now has a reputation to uphold. Are we perfect? Not quite. In spite of all the progress made over the last 40 years, even Davis still has some rough edges. The idea for this blog came from running across (many times literally) a number of those rough edges. Perhaps publicizing them might help progress to a more finely polished bicycle friendly City.

Thus, the name of this blog. Welcome to our blemishes!