Lake Mary Road Widening.
From: HellBelly
Yo, There is a public meeting this Wednesday between 5-7pm at the Coconino Community College Lone Tree boardroom to discuss the road project from Walapais Drive to the Mormon Lake overlook. Initial electronic signage indicates that the road will be closed to bikes from 3/31 to December. WTF? I plan on attending to make a plea to somehow keep it open for bikes during this project. I know that this project will ultimately benefit the cycling community, but being shut-down for 9 months on the only decent road-riding route? I’m thinking the more cyclists in attendance, the better.
Although the end results will be beneficial for cyclists, the road widening project’s refusal to allow bikes through during the construction is ridiculous. Especially for 9 months starting at the end of this one.
More details at the flagstaffbiking.org and via the cities pdf contruction notice right here.
March 24th, 2009 at 11:04 pm
…sorry, gnomer but that foto sequence w/ “no exceptions” at the end was ironically comical…it was like they had you pegged from the get go…
…that being said, i do empathize & find it hard to imagine that a state or federal agency could severely discriminate against a viable form of transportation w/out offering an alternative…
…attending that meeting “en mass” might help turn the tide when the authorities realize the inconvenience they’re creating…
…at least hopefully so & then alternatives can be discussed…
March 25th, 2009 at 12:31 am
…& whoops…it was gnomer posting for hellbelly…but frankly i can never remember exactly where, other than the state of arizona, any of ya live…
…but then again, i live in a state of confusion…
March 25th, 2009 at 7:34 am
Just checked out that road on Google Maps. Looks like a great place to ride. The part between town and the cattle guard seems to be the part that needs the upgrade. I am not sure how the guardrail on the north side of the road along Lake Mary helps.
Still seems quite excessive completely restricting bikes. Good luck at the meeting.
March 25th, 2009 at 7:38 am
That is full on bullshit,,,,when i lived on lake mary road that was the only way to town. do they really want cyclist going down to the I-17 lake mary intersection? Do they remember what that intersection has brought to cyclist??
Wish that I could be there to help..
March 25th, 2009 at 8:10 am
Let’s play Devil’s Advocate for moment…
Closing the road to bicycles completely lessens risk for cyclists. Construction debris, road workers, constructions vehicles, narrower road for cars to travel on, and blind spots created by one or all of these things are just dangerous.
If a cyclist rides through, catches a wheel in a hole or on a metal plate and eats shit, what happens? In our overly litigious society, my bet is a lawsuit.
Risk and liability are concerns here.
Find a way around…doesn’t look too damn difficult.
Settle down…there are more important things to worry about than your favorite road being closed while it’s IMPROVED for safety!!!
March 25th, 2009 at 8:17 am
Fair. nevermind the whole thing. Bike should never have the same rights as cars. Cars should be the end all solution. Perhaps even make the restriction permanent since bikes can, at any time, hit a paperclip and fly off the road.
If – when the Gordon Biersch on Mill gets its 2.0 update including the addition of 5 extra floors of arbitrary space for their “nik-nak” display to lure turons with – the construction dudes can make a little tunnel right next to the construction area that allows the little pedestrian gerbils to continue their mindless saunter without getting donked by the falling debris, they can accommodate cyclists on the road. It’s a matter of choice & a matter of voice.
oh, AND Lake Mary is THE ONLY road in flagstaff that is safe for road riding. they can accommodate. This is all about cyclists being a discriminated minority.
March 25th, 2009 at 9:34 am
…ah, I’ll be there for sure… I’ve been pretty curious about this project as Lake Mary is pretty much my only road ride (I know, how sad.)
Also… for you fellow Flagstaffians… there is a GoldSprints competition coming up this Saturday! Hype this event… it’s not like it involves either cycling or getting drunk…
http://robothouse.org/2009/03/16/mustache-march-flagsprints/
FlagSprints
Saturday March 28th
8pm @ Tacos Locos (signups@8 races start@9)
$5 entry fee, various prizes
Watch for free!
ALL AGES EVENT.
FlagSprints is Flagstaff’s very own Goldsprints, a bicycle roller racing and social event. Compete head to head to head in 400m sprint races. If you’re over 21 years of age, wear a mustache and get 2 for 1 PBRs! Various prizes from local businesses for male and female winners & the most proper mustaches.
March 25th, 2009 at 9:51 am
We just need to find out if the construction project is restricting down to one lane with a pilot vehicle or ? If it is one lane, make it a 14′lane and dilineate 4′ for bikes. It sounds as if you can still get through that 4.5 miles with a car or truck, but this will fuck-up any solo or group ride leaving from town. Drive to ride. I already do it because that 4.5 miles is dangerous as hell, but the county will have to deal with a pretty large parking lot after the cattle guard.
March 25th, 2009 at 10:38 am
Lately I have seen so many different websites that are bicycle related. Be it video(s) which show demonstrators on bicycles riding down a congested road and taking up every lane possible.. getting in front of cars and barely peddling, even coming to a stop to harass drivers, etc. In one of these videos, I saw a group of bikers get in front of an elderly couple and even the people who were there in person had to admit that these elderly people were a bit rattled and scared. The van ended up partially running over a couple of bikes with it’s right front wheel and what was hilarious and pathetic is the fact that a few of the cyclist’s were screaming, crying, and yelling “You ran him/her over!” Then they proceeded to video tape the license plate (as if that does any good, anyone who watches the video will see that the van was not at fault and the people on bikes could have approached the whole situation from a different way to begin with instead of blocking the van from moving). I mean, I have no problem with people that ride bikes, even the people who are against cars/trucks/any gas operated vehicle but when you get in front of me in a 45mph zone and are going < 10 mph, it’s going to make myself and anyone else irritated, just as if I were to swerve at a person on a bike and cause them to possibly fall off.. it’s called being ‘annoying’ for either side.
Anyway, if people plan to demonstrate, at least do it in a way that instead of blocking every lane leaves at least one lane open for automobiles to drive the speed limit. The bottom line is that when you get a lot of people together to protest, the slightest thing can escalate into something far more serious than a simple protest… some people simply lack the ability of self control and will follow instead of leading in situations that are malicious, etc. This pertains to all protests, not just cyclists protesting automobiles and fossil fuel usage. Either way, both automobile and bicycle drivers/riders could have a bit more respect/patience for each other.. even though you don’t exactly see a bunch of people in cars protesting against those on bikes (unless you sneak in something stupid like “that’s what they do everyday when they are on the roads in huge numbers just… driving”).
As far as this construction goes, it is very common for them to shutdown sidewalks, not allow pedestrians, limit access to certain vehicles, etc. etc. etc. There are many regulations that they must follow and that is just how the law works, more unfortunate in some cases than others. However those that drive automobiles face the EXACT same situations when entering a construction zone, having to take an detour that adds X # of mins/even hrs. to travel time. But after reading what will be available once construction is complete, it sounds like the road will be even better suited for those on bikes.. but having to wait months and the lack of an alternate route w/o adding on substantial time does suck but I mean hey, this is why there are automobiles/buses/cabs/etc. so perhaps during this time, those of you that do have a car should take advantage… just for several months however some of the demonstrators are just too ‘hardcore’ to give up their bike, carpool, whatever. Just get over it, today’s society/economic situation/etc. sucks for everyone, not just those on bicycles. There are much larger issues that need attention than making sure your bicycle can access every area at anytime and block all traffic while doing so in large numbers even carrying your babies with you (yes I have seen the videos with people carrying babies on their back while on a bicycle on a congested street with other bicycles/automobiles/etc.) These people are so hell-bent on creating a fuss about their cause that they actually endanger the lives of their children… in one video even to the point of the child screaming and crying and the parent just yelling at someone in a car.
Relax people, bicycles are cool and so are cars but there is one lesson that repeats itself in every confrontation with a automobile and a bicycle. The automobile will win every time in a head-to-head battle so at least leave some room for cars to move, otherwise I’m sure more bicycles will needlessly end up being crushed underneath more vehicles and I’ve seen many posts by people who are apparently hunting for these people just to do that very thing and run as many bikes over as possible.
P.S. To the girl in the video with the old couple in the van, you actually had a panic attack, screaming, crying, shaking, etc. b/c your bicycle’s front tire was bent when it was partially ran over by the front right tire. You get the over dramatic award thus far in a video depicting cars/bikes and the outcome. Pathetic. And to the guy w/ the video camera yelling “Everyone who is NOT hurt and didn’t get ran over.. something something something….” that was just hilarious as NO one was ran over.
And on a closing note, If a big mob of people on bikes are purposely blocking the road by taking up every lane just to make people angry and you stop in front of me all of a sudden, I am going to run your bike over.. not you, but your bike.. and I’m sure there are going to be replies like “Yeah, and I will kick your ass, blah blah blah.” It’s not so much that I would be worried of a fist fight but that if someone ended up trying to enter my vehicle and attack me, they will definitely meet my problem solver and I’m sure you can guess it’s name. I doubt you are going to stand there and let yourself be ran over but based on the decisions I’ve seen in videos thus far, it wouldn’t be a surprise at all to see idiots doing this.
The hell with idiots of all creed, religion, race, etc.
March 25th, 2009 at 11:19 am
What is the name of Black Sabbath’s first album? Holy shit!
March 25th, 2009 at 8:04 pm
Who was that troll? I think his processor is overheated.
March 26th, 2009 at 1:20 pm
Hey, I didn’t make it to this meeting… any word on what people who commute to and from work will be able to do during this construction?
March 26th, 2009 at 2:10 pm
No bikes during the week, however weekends they are allowed. About 30 peeps showed w/ 1/3 being cyclists according to hellbelly. a decent compromise.
March 26th, 2009 at 6:58 pm
Hi.
There is a solution.
I suggest that “bikes” be replaced, perhaps, with “cars.”