Loading…
31
The green bike lane in Portland made me see red for a month
Portland put in a bright green lane on Division Street last June and I kept watching cars drift into it at every corner, not one ticket in 30 days of riding that stretch. Turns out the paint only matters if there's a curb or a cone behind it, drivers just see a wider road when the lane is flat and open. Anyone else notice these fancy colored lanes actually make drivers act worse than plain white lines?
1 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In1 Comment
the_patricia16d ago
The paint color itself is only part of the problem. What nobody mentions is how the green strip actually encourages cyclists to ride faster and take more risks because it feels protected, but drivers still see the same road they always used. My neighbor rides that stretch daily and she said she almost got clipped last week when a delivery van used the green lane as a loading zone, which happens all the time. So the real issue is that the paint gives both sides a false sense of order, when really it just paints over the same old parking and turning conflicts that existed before any color was added. Plain white lines at least force everyone to slow down and pay attention, while the green seems to make both parties feel entitled to the space and that is where the trouble starts.
8