Another great video from one of my favorite YouTube channels.
http://rethinkingstreets.com/
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So the walk light lights up and you just start stepping into the street without looking and seeing a car going 45 mph 10 feet away? If you were hit, they would be in the wrong but I wouldnât have any sympathy for you.
I didnât say anything about stepping into a crosswalk with a car 10 feet away going 45. Youâre trying to make me sound like an idiot because you think Iâm an idiot for not deferring to cars mentally. I wonât. People are stomping the gas through lights that were red for a full two seconds. I am a pretty polite pedestrian. I jog across streets to not hold people up, I wave people through if they are at a difficult light or something. But stomping the gas through reds when there are lots of pedestrians around is BS. The most recent time a turning car accelerated towards me once I was halfway across the street while looking right at meâŚI had to dodge the damned thing. Where was she going to go? It was McDowellâŚthe next light was synched red! If you donât have some sympathy for something like that, I donât think you should be driving downtown (or anywhere really).
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Take us to church! 
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You know I have handful of sermons memorized.
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IMO, the problem arises from a promised/presumed experience that doesnât play out the way that it should for drivers. That is to say that the intention of the signalling of the couplet one-way roads is a continuous movement N/S through the core at a low speed with the promise of only needing to stop once, if at all. What we know by experience is that one has to actually often drive faster than the posted speed limit sometimes to make all of the lights. It results in gamification of that driving experience. If you make it through all this lights, then youâve won the game.
If the lights on both couplet roads were just properly calibrated for the expected behavior at the posted speed, this would work itself out over a short period of time because you would be rewarded by not having to stop, but only if you were driving at the posted speed. Itâs like dangling a carrot out there for doing the right thing. This would make the road network downtown safer for both pedestrians and cyclists alike.
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I signed up to help with the Cycle Track installation on 4/5.
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Had to share this:
"BogotĂĄ, Colombia - Itâs like falling in love all over again; every Sunday without fail, and holidays too, the inhabitants of the car-choked, noise-filled, stressed-out city of BogotĂĄ, 8,660 feet up in the thin air of the Andes, get to feel that the city belongs to them, and not to the 1,600,000 suicidal private cars, 50,000 homicidal taxis, nine thousand gasping buses, and some half-million demented motorcycles that otherwise pack into the buzzing capital of Colombia.
The weekly miracle occurs at an event you could call the Peaceful Community Gathering on Wheels, but is actually named the CiclovĂa, or Bicycle Way. Starting at seven in the morning and until two in the afternoon, vast stretches of the cityâs principal avenues and highways are turned over to everyone looking to enjoy a bit of fresh air. All kinds of transportation are welcomeâbicycles, roller skates, scooters, wheelchairs, skateboardsâas long as they are not motor-driven."
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Iâve read about Ciclovia in several books including Happy City by Charles Montgomery. What seems particularly effective to me about this type of thing effecting change is the scale. 75 miles worth of city roads are closed to vehicular traffic.
I get it that itâs hard for a lot of people to embrace or envision a car-free or car-lite life. It sounds hard. It sounds dangerous. A Ciclovia type event could give people a view into what a car-lite/car-free life might be like and allow them to experience all the benefits that lifestyle can bring.
Iâm excited to help out with the Cycle Track installation, but itâs such a small scale thing. Itâs three blocks. Itâll have a completely insignificant impact on traffic that weekend compared to the Dreamville festival at Dix occurring that same weekend.
If we want to bring more people into the fold of trying to live car-lite/car-free then we need to try things at a much larger scale. Cities far larger and far more complex than Raleigh have implemented Ciclovias. It can be done here if there is the will to do it.
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Great work, Brian. See what amazingness is happening in Amsterdam?
Next Up in Amsterdamâs War on Cars: Kill 1,500 Parking Spaces a Year
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I donât believe this has been discussed much (if at all) here, but the City is planning to add a two-way cycletrack to the west side of Gorman St. between Hillsborough and Ligon/Sullivan. The project page indicates it is in the design phase, and should be completed in 2021.
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I actually ride this section on my way home from work. I kinda wish it was protected bike lanes on both sides but Iâll take what I can get. Currently I just ride on the sidewalk.
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Iâve been waiting for this one WAY too long. Youâll also notice on the project page that this started in 2014. 7 years to get this one launched? Iâm sorry, even if it is the cityâs first project, itâs clearly low on their priority list. Put me down as a supporter for new priorities here.
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Hey there yâall! Please swing downtown Raleigh for the Harrington Pop-up Cycletrack this weekend! It will be open all weekend through mid-Sunday and itâs a tactical urbanism project to show what a protected corridor would look like. Details on event programming here and below: https://oaksandspokes.com/harrington-st-cycletrack-pop-up-is-coming/
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Thanks Mary. This is awesome. I only hate that itâs just 3 days. Is the more permanent (~6 month pilot) still moving forward too?
Agreed! The hang up with the longer term pilot is that the city would have to install light signals due to bi-directional bike flow at NCDOT signalized cross streets (Morgan and Hillsborough). The hope is to get a permanent installation in soon after this if there is public support to move it forward! So come out, write your council members, and show public support! 
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I confess that I have been a bit of a complainer around this: âitâs too shortâ, âitâs only 3 daysâ blah, blah, blah. . .
But If we want better bike infrastructure in Raleigh we have to get out and support this, participate, provide feedback. And it doesnât hurt to do it with a smile.
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The Harrington Street cycle track has a big hurdle ⌠how to handle the traffic flow in and out of residential parking areas and loading areas for the condo and apartment buildings. In particular, the Quorum loading area in front of the building is in constant use not only with the current construction but with people moving in and out and deliveries and services. If you canât park in the cycle track these service trucks will be parked in the car lane. I hope the experiment this weekend doesnât slow down the construction! We really donât want any more delays!
Mary,
How far is the cycle track running and when will it be taken down on Sunday? Iâm out of town this weekend but hope to get back mid day/ early Sunday evening and check it out.
Thanks
The Cycle track this weekend will only extend from Davie St. to Morgan St. (Boxcar to Flying Saucer).
It will not affect the Quoromâs rehab construction this weekend.
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