The Outspokin’ Cyclist: Cyclists don’t like concrete islands
Phillip Barron
The Herald Sun
Willetha Barnette, of Durham, rode her bike in traffic for the first time on October 4th. Encouraged by her friend Cynthia Ferebee to join the Critical Mass ride, a monthly group bike ride through the streets of Durham, Barnette said that she enjoyed the freedom to ride on the streets in safe numbers, but that she would not feel comfortable riding alone.
As the group made its way down Anderson St, Barnette said, “it’s uncomfortable. Drivers don’t seem to be used to sharing the road. They seem annoyed, frustrated that we (cyclists) aren’t going as fast as they are. That’s the way it feels to me.” Afterwards, she said it felt “dangerous” to ride down Anderson St., even with new traffic calming measures in place.
Barnette is referring to a series of concrete islands that the City of Durham installed along the hills and curves of Anderson St this summer. The islands were installed in an effort to slow speedy traffic. Anderson St is a wide street, but is lined with houses and parks. It connects Duke University’s west campus with the Lakewood community and Chapel Hill St and is a major traffic artery for daily commuters.
However, since the concrete islands, or “neckdowns” as they are often called, were installed they have raised the ire of many cyclists.
The sentiment of a string of emails to the durhambikeandped listserv in July is, “why did the City put concrete barriers in the bike lane?” While Anderson St doesn’t have designated bike lanes, there are stripes marking the outer limit of the lane which are several feet from the curb and narrow the lanes of traffic significantly. Many cyclists interpret the wide space of pavement between that white line and the curb as a bike lane, feeling that riding in that space and out of the flow of automobile traffic is the safest place to ride.
But mix in artificially placed concrete islands every few hundred feet, and Anderson St. now feels like an obstacle course. When approaching one of the islands, cyclists have the choice of either entering the lane of traffic or navigating a 2 ft wide gap between the island and the curb.
Lawrence Trost, in a letter to the Herald Sun editor dated July 25th, said “the problem with the neck-downs is that because of overhanging tree branches, uneven pavement and debris between the barrier and the curb, a cyclist can’t safely ride on the inside of the barrier. Instead, they force a cyclist to weave unpredictably from the shoulder to the center of the lane each time they pass a barrier.”
Riding predictably and in the lane of traffic is the safest way for cyclists to ride on city streets, but Anderson Street’s “steep hills will prevent most cyclists from taking the lane the entire length of Anderson for fear of being rear-ended,” says Trost.
From a driver’s perspective, the islands are equally confusing. Alexis Richardson, a teacher at Hillside High School, encountered the islands for the first time at night.
“I was taken completely by surprise when I turned on to Anderson Street and I saw some obstruction in the road to my right,” Richardson said. “I squinted and it registered that there was something there, but I had no idea what it was.” When she later learned they were designed to be traffic calming devices, Richardson “was appalled because they seem downright dangerous. I have perfect vision, and I could hardly tell what they were.”
Dale McKeel, Durham’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator, says that “a contractor will be planting landscaping in the neckdown islands this fall” to improve their visibility. He also noted that a consultant will be evaluating the neckdowns, after which the City will decide whether the remove them or how to improve their compatibility with bicyclists.
Feel free to share your thoughts on the concrete islands or other cyclist-unfriendly traffic calming measures with Dale McKeel in the City’s Transportation office at dale.mckeel@durhamnc.gov or 560-4366.
What is Critical Mass?
Durham cyclists give several answers to a simple question…
What is Critical Mass? from Phillip Barron on Vimeo.
October Critical Mass — 5:35 on the 4th
One week from today, Critical Mass Durham continues. Just to get you warmed up…
Thanks to Tino for originally spotting the video.
Meet at Major, the bronze bull in the CCB plaza (can we come up with a better name for the CCB plaza since CCB isn’t any longer the owner of the tall building?) at 5:35pm.
Critical success!
Thanks to the 80+ beautiful people who turned out tonight, Durham’s first Critical Mass in years was a success. I don’t know how it was throughout the pack, but in the back, it was calm, courteous, and yet powerful. Thanks to all of you for making it happen.
If any of you have photos or video you would like to see posted here, send it to me. I’m happy to collect the imagery.
Camera-phone video from Jack Warman.
Jack Warman’s flickr photos.
Seth’s inconvenient flat.
Photos by menshi mihas
Photo by Eleni Binge
The success of our Durham Critical Mass is being noticed as far away as Brazil — see apocalipse motorizado.
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Critical Mass is a monthly event — we’ll start at Major, the bronze bull sculpture downtown, at 5:35pm on the first Thursday of each month.
HS: Critical Mass planned in Durham
By Monica Chen : The Herald-Sun
mchen@heraldsun.com
Sep 2, 2007 : 8:39 pm ET
DURHAM — Area bicycling enthusiasts are trying to bring Critical Mass, a mass gathering that occurs monthly in other cities, to Durham this week.
The ride will begin at 5:35 p.m. Thursday at the bronze bull downtown at Corcoran and Parrish streets.
Phillip Barron, an organizer of Critical Mass in Durham, said that, unlike events attracting only dedicated Lycra-clad, helmet-wearing cyclists, this event is for the people.
“Our design is for anyone who wants to show up. Tricycles, unicycles, Rollerbladers … We’re happy to have anybody,” Barron said. “The idea behind critical mass is a celebration of human-powered transportation.”
Barron is a columnist for The Herald-Sun and is also the semi-anonymous cycling blogger on Nicomachus.net. He and other cyclists tried to bring the event to Durham in 2001 and 2002, but it never gained traction.
The first Critical Mass was started in San Francisco in 1992, and was intended to draw large numbers of cyclists to celebrate cycling and assert cyclists’ right to the road. The event has resulted in several violent clashes between cyclists and motorists in recent years.
In April, a Critical Mass in San Francisco resulted in $5,300 in damage to a minivan, according to The San Francisco Chronicle. The driver said cyclists surrounded her van and smashed her rear window.
The hostility of some Critical Mass events is well-known among cyclists themselves, some of whom reject the idea of having one in the Triangle at all.
But Barron and participants say Critical Mass will be a peaceful ride in the Bull City.
“I believe Durham CM will be non-confrontational, and the positive will outweigh the negative. I trust we will be car-friendly and not piss off any drivers,” wrote Frank Ferrell, owner of Ninth Street Bakery, on Barron’s blog.
“The stereotype is a bunch of black ski mask anarchist who want to overturn every car they see and set it on fire,” said Barron. “We don’t have that kind of subculture [in Durham].”
Barron hopes that about 50 cyclists will come out to the event on Thursday.
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Never knew I was semi-anonymous…
Durham Critical Mass returns — September 6
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After a 90+ year hiatus, Critical Mass returns to Durham. These never-before-seen (unless you visit the Durham County Library) photos prove that Critical Mass is much older than those San Franciscans claim. 1992? Try 1920s.
What is unclear is why Critical Mass Durham has lay dormant for the past 94 years.
No longer.
The cycling community swells again. At 5:35pm on the first Thursday of every month, meet at Major — the new bronze bull sculpture right smack in the middle of downtown — for a group ride you won’t forget.
If you want to see more bike lanes, more roads designed with bicyclists in mind, more respect on the road, then come ride with us. If you want to find a safe route to ride to and from work, then come ride with us. If you want to enjoy the company of others like you, who choose to ride, then come ride with us. If you want to find out just how strong Durham’s cycling community really is, then come out and ride with us.
See you Thursday, September 6th, at 5:35pm.
Come ready to ride. All bikes welcome.
what is Critical Mass?
While no one can tell you what CM is (because first, you have to experience it for yourself; and second, what CM is depends on who shows up to ride), Daryl Hannah portrays it sympathetically and positively in this week’s dhlovelife episode.
critical mass — in raleigh
Raleigh’s got an established Critical Mass. Chapel Hill had something like CM while I was in graduate school. So why can’t Durham? I’ve never lived in a city so afraid to hold a Critical Mass. Every time CM comes up for discussion on local listservs, the killjoys chime in and convince everyone that riding down the road in a group is going to invite the crazies to run over us.
A few years ago, a friend and I tried to get it going in Durham, but we couldn’t keep a regular crowd. On the day of the last one we held, only the two of us showed up (it was raining) along with an Indy Weekly photographer. The picture actually ran in the paper, so I’m pretty sure that’s got to be the best rider-turnout-to-press-coverage ratio out there.
About
nicomachus.net is the virtual representation of Phillip Barron, who is responsible for all of the writing and photography, unless otherwise credited. Want to know more?
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CM Durham
What is Critical Mass?