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    Consider Pedestrians and the Image of Cyclists


    February 25th, 2011 | Categories: People | 4 comments

    Despite the lingering snow and general nastiness of the past few days’ weather, there were a lot of B’more people on bikes.  Yesterday, in a 2 blocks span of Howard, I saw riders utilizing the Lombard St lanes, a BMXer riding a wheelie down Pratt and an older gentleman putting his bike on the light rail.

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    I walked the Little Italy Bike Route with a community leader there.  We discussed amending some signs, while another sign completely disappeared.  Yes, bike signs have been stolen in Bolton Hill, Park Heights and now Little Italy.  Is it a “badge of honor’ to have a bike sign or do people just not want bikes coming through their community?

    If you are pedaling through Little Italy, the residents kindly request that cyclists:

    Little Italy is a unique community and an excellent place to bike with the quieter streets and fine restaurants.  Let’s make sure the cycling community is maintaining a positive image to the rest of the city.


    • Anonymous

      Keeping the volume down? Whaaaaaaaaaa?

    • Jjsedwards

      It sounds from the blog post like there is a specific regular early morning ride three days a week. I usually ride through Little Italy on my evening return commute and I’ve never noticed other bike commuters making any sort of excessive noise.

    • Anonymous

      What I take away from this is that some Little Italy citizen has complained to the DOT about bike lanes, and offered a laundry list of complaints, some real but mostly imagined: including complaining about all the noise those loud cyclists are making.

      Come on now, let’s be realistic. A few cyclists chatting with one another in during a group ride cannot possibly create a significant noise disturbance, not when compared to groups of children walking to and from school, or patrons leaving restaurants. I understand that Nate Evans cannot disregard any such complaints. But we can. Although I do respect the reminder to cyclists to always yield right of way to pedestrians, especially senior citizens. Always consider the more vulnerable road user.

    • http://bike.baltimorecommutes.com Nate Evans

      Sorry, no laundry list here. We got a specific complaint about noisy cyclists in Little Italy between 5:30 and 7am. The local representatives I met with don’t mind cyclists coming through their neighborhood when they are respectful. In fact, many wanted to get out on bikes now that they have a bike route! But when a specific time and date is stated of the repeated offense, it gives more credit.

      For being right next to downtown, Little Italy is surprising quiet in the morning. Residents just want to keep it that way.

     

     


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