I ride over the Burnside Bridge on my way to work every morning, and I’ve been worried about safety on the west end of the bridge. There’s construction going on at the White Stag building, and often a crane takes up half the roadway. Bicyclists come off the sidewalk and are forced to merge with fast moving cars and trucks coming downhill off the bridge, into one or two lanes.
On two mornings this week, though, the contruction company (Bremik Construction) had built a little temporary cycle track, separate from the car lane. It was awesome! Not to mention super courteous and safety conscious of them. I think technically it’s also a sidewalk detour, but whatever. Thanks Bremik!
All the downtown construction is really hard on businesses, and I’m occasionally frustrated when the street I need to be on, or get across, is shut. But I have to confess, I am enjoying the overall effects: fewer cars downtown, slower moving traffic, and lots and lots of safety-obsessed people in orange vests making everyone drive carefully and be on the lookout for traffic control changes.
It does look nice. However, you should know it is definitely not the first cycle track in Portland. There is a very short one on the north side of NE Hancock for one block. It’s on the block that the east leg of Hancock and Sandy.
When I was just in Europe, I saw and photographed different types of cycle tracks. Shared sidewalks, curb separated, and island separated. However, these cones look more like the bollard separated kind.
Here’s a photo of a bollard separated track I took in Bruges, Belgium: http://www.flickr.com/photos/84977575@N00/1173860169/in/set-72157601548174072/
and here’s an uglier looking (but very comfortable to ride) one from Brussels, Belgium:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/84977575@N00/1174847134/in/set-72157601555438129/