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Charlotte trying to be more bike friendly


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What I really don't understand is why there is 0 enforcement of any traffic rules in the downtown area.

I understand people's distaste for red light camera's due to past issues with inaccuracy and giving the money to 3'rd parties but if we can build autonomous cars I would think we could accurately ticket people for red lights running, blocking box not yielding to pedestrians etc...  Hmmmm, i have to research if the technology exists.

And someone should have a talk with the cops that always park in the EV spots on Tryon. 

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5 hours ago, Squid7085 said:

I had a car turning right at Tryon and Stonewall honk at me for walking in the crosswalk legally while I had a white crossing light one morning while walking to work. So there is that. Apparently he felt he had the right of way. The whole turning left from Tryon to side streets in front of pedestrians thing is going to get someone killed one of these days. Drivers don't care, they gun it to turn left and beat on-coming traffic. Pedestrians, with the right of way, have to jump out of the way of the cars. I got a nice key mark down the side of a car that did that to me one day. It's the little things. I'm all for banning all left turns from Tryon. Period. Although people don't adhere to the temporary no left turn signs anyway. I have noticed many people who apparently failed drivers ed seem to think these signs are "Wait there until I turn off and then turn left" signs.

Creating a situation where you turn onto Tryon and cannot get off of it does not help anything. 

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15 minutes ago, SgtCampsalot said:

I get serious anxiety when I need to turn off of Tryon in my car.

Alternatively, Tryon St is my FAVORITE street to bike down. It feels safer than most in CLT.

When you hit the green wave of lights on Tryon just right and can fly right through the belly of uptown, it's fudgeing magical.

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On 2/4/2017 at 7:52 AM, elrodvt said:

There's an enforcement officer???? The bike lane at 3rd and Tryon outside WF is almost always blocked during AM by illegal parkers using ATM or going in bank. Same with most of the downtown bike lanes. Police just drive by. Is enforcement an actual outdoors job where they go and issue a ticket / tow the car? Is their a tip line or something to call?

Sorry, I should have specified that I work for the City of Lexington, not Charlotte.  And our Code Enforcement Officer deals with blighted properties and such, not traffic enforcement, although we sometimes get involved with people blocking right of ways, etc.

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23 minutes ago, Windsurfer said:

You can always turn right.  Works well in larger cites where you merely circle the block if you need to get to the 'left side' of town.

Not true for several of the streets.  I sometimes drop my wife off in front of Hearst Tower and you cannot legally turn off of Tryon, heading south, until MLK.

2 minutes ago, SgtCampsalot said:

I get serious anxiety when I need to turn off of Tryon in my car.

Alternatively, Tryon St is my FAVORITE street to bike down. It feels safer than most in CLT.

Yeah, when you have a lot of anxious people driving cars....they're going to do some stupid stuff.  

 

I personally would love for Tryon St to be permanently shut down like they do for festivals. 

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3 minutes ago, Desert Power said:

Not true for several of the streets.  I sometimes drop my wife off in front of Hearst Tower and you cannot legally turn off of Tryon, heading south, until MLK.

Yeah, when you have a lot of anxious people driving cars....they're going to do some stupid stuff.  

 

I personally would love for Tryon St to be permanently shut down like they do for festivals. 

Exactly, this would be awesome. Not every street needs to be a racetrack to the suburbs / SC. 

And some level of enforcement on the other streets. I've never lived anywhere with so little traffic enforcement. We're they all laid off? 

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2 hours ago, elrodvt said:

Exactly, this would be awesome. Not every street needs to be a racetrack to the suburbs / SC. 

And some level of enforcement on the other streets. I've never lived anywhere with so little traffic enforcement. We're they all laid off? 

I've also always noticed how seldom you see anything enforced here.  Driving around the city, particularly during weekdays, feels like anarchy.  

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27 minutes ago, Desert Power said:

I've also always noticed how seldom you see anything enforced here.  Driving around the city, particularly during weekdays, feels like anarchy.  

So I've been driving down Tryon from 7th St to Stonewall for years, just to make a turn, FOR NOTHIN'?!

Edited by SgtCampsalot
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A Summer bike camp for kids ( 9-4:30 ) is now open for registration.  It will meet for three weeks this year with one week from three of Charlotte's neighborhoods, NODA, Camp Green, & Plaza Midwood.  Check it out and pass the link along to friends who have kids who would be open to exploring the city on two wheels.   www.cltbikecamp.org 

"Geared for young riders who are eager to gain independence, learn new skills and build confidence on their bikes while exploring our amazing city! Riders will learn the essentials of safe riding, bicycle maintenance and route planning and will be able to practice riding techniques in a safe, supportive environment."    

Edited by Bikeguy
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  • 3 weeks later...
On 2/6/2017 at 2:34 PM, Bikeguy said:

A Summer bike camp for kids ( 9-4:30 ) is now open for registration.  It will meet for three weeks this year with one week from three of Charlotte's neighborhoods, NODA, Camp Green, & Plaza Midwood.  Check it out and pass the link along to friends who have kids who would be open to exploring the city on two wheels.   www.cltbikecamp.org 

"Geared for young riders who are eager to gain independence, learn new skills and build confidence on their bikes while exploring our amazing city! Riders will learn the essentials of safe riding, bicycle maintenance and route planning and will be able to practice riding techniques in a safe, supportive environment."    

 

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It was a nice 75 out today, thought I would ride by bike out to Target to get a few things. I live in Uptown, so obviously ill take 3rd street to get there. From Tryon to Target this was my experience.

- Turn off Tryon Budwiser delivery truck in the bike lane, have to get over in traffic to pass.

- I just stay in traffic, two FedEx trucks in the bike lane.

- Get back over in the "Bike Lane" and cross College.

- Really nice BMW decides to just ignore me and appear out of the hidden driveway to buzz across the bike lane.

- Get honked at for being in the "Bikes and Parking only" lane. 

- Passes me as closely as possible while flipping me off.

- CATS bus up to the right with hazards on, so I continue. With about three feet to the bus, the bus without any signaling pulls out in front of me causing me to slam on my breaks and eat crap.

- Bus stops for a second and then pulls off.

- Bus then cuts BACK in front of me to turn right on McDowell.

- Side Note: CMPD car right there likely sees the whole thing, Ignores it.

- Bike lane just vanishes, now in traffic, and there is no easy way to get down to the greenway without backtracking through the bank parking lot. 

- Make it to Target, No paper towels in the bathroom to clean the blood off my knees, but I can blow hot air on it, so that was fine.

 

So glad Charlotte is trying to be bike friendly, thank god we have these "Dedicated Bike Lanes"

 

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4 hours ago, Squid7085 said:

It was a nice 75 out today, thought I would ride by bike out to Target to get a few things. I live in Uptown, so obviously ill take 3rd street to get there. From Tryon to Target this was my experience.

- Turn off Tryon Budwiser delivery truck in the bike lane, have to get over in traffic to pass.

- I just stay in traffic, two FedEx trucks in the bike lane.

- Get back over in the "Bike Lane" and cross College.

- Really nice BMW decides to just ignore me and appear out of the hidden driveway to buzz across the bike lane.

- Get honked at for being in the "Bikes and Parking only" lane. 

- Passes me as closely as possible while flipping me off.

- CATS bus up to the right with hazards on, so I continue. With about three feet to the bus, the bus without any signaling pulls out in front of me causing me to slam on my breaks and eat crap.

- Bus stops for a second and then pulls off.

- Bus then cuts BACK in front of me to turn right on McDowell.

- Side Note: CMPD car right there likely sees the whole thing, Ignores it.

- Bike lane just vanishes, now in traffic, and there is no easy way to get down to the greenway without backtracking through the bank parking lot. 

- Make it to Target, No paper towels in the bathroom to clean the blood off my knees, but I can blow hot air on it, so that was fine.

 

So glad Charlotte is trying to be bike friendly, thank god we have these "Dedicated Bike Lanes"

 

^ A helmet attached GoPro evidence vid would have ended up at city council for viewing had it been me.  

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It's easy enough to replicate (other than the bus) since it's that way every weekday.

I've seen cmpd ignore obvious red light runners and blocking intersections. Since I've moved here I've never seen anyone stopped for a traffic ticket in uptown.

What's with that anyhow? And why do they have to park in the EV charging spots.

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@Squid7085 what you described is pretty common in the Charlotte cycling scene.  You have to be incredibly resilient to ride regularly and not get toasted.  I ride quite a bit and luckily over time have learned where to go and where not to.  I have generally found that I'm better off in the road making people mad than riding the obstacle course that is our "bike lanes".  My wife doesn't even enjoy riding from our neighborhood to OMB/Sugar Creek, which is only 2 short miles (all with dedicated bike lanes) because cars are just so so close to you.  That and the bike lanes are just coated in glass and rocks and everything else on Old Pineville.

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18 minutes ago, SgtCampsalot said:

That's hilarious. To be fair that design should definitely include a small curb or plastic traffic barriers to make it clearer and make people feel like they aren't parking in the middle of the road. Whether drivers end up breaking the rules or not I'd still kill for that kind of effort in biking infrastructure here. 

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