Rent those apartments, crash those bikes

Another contribution from Christal shows a very serious pile on Fifth St. in front of Greystone Apartments. Apartment complexes are some of the worst offenders. Since most of their tenants are students who use bicycles, you would think that they would be sensitive to obstructing bike lanes. Nope.

This location is about one block from the Davis Police Station, so police patrol cars pass by here all the time. Unfortunately, they don't seem to care about the problem. I'll bet if this entire pile were placed out where the manhole cover can be seen, their attitude would change PDQ.

Next Year, Same Problems

It's been a year, and we're back in hazardous leaf pile season again. Nothing has changed.

This is a particularly bad spot for a leaf pile blocking the bike lane, because cars are blocked from moving left by the barrier strip. Experienced riders know how to "take the lane," but schoolchildren expecting a clear bike lane might have a problem.

This picture was taken at Fortuna and Alvarado. Thanks to Christal for the contribution.

815 B Street (again)

Once again, the folks at 815 B Street have shown their complete and utter disregard for cyclists. This pile was found today, Sunday, but will obstruct cycling traffic for most of the next week.

Check out the next photo for their house - they have a really nice place, but couldn't care less about their neighbors who get around by bike. One such avid cyclist lives only a block away...

City ordained hazards

This magnificent specimen was found today next to....wait for it....City Hall. All of the property next to this pile is City owned, which implies that it was a City crew that made sure bikes would be diverted into traffic at one of the busiest areas in the downtown.

The location of this pile is about half a block north of the intersection of Fifth and B Street - the pile is on B Street. Many cars and cyclists use this route to get downtown and to the University. I had to be careful while taking this picture to avoid traffic.


The second image is the same pile viewed from the side. It's about as long as a parked car. The building across the street is the School District headquarters.

Bicycle Friendly? Not at this location...

And a bit more irony - the US Bicycle Hall of Fame is three blocks down the Street, at 3rd and B Streets.

No tickets for leaf piles

So, can a leaf pile in a red zone be ticketed? Is that bike in the bike lane?

This is a very busy bicycle intersection in Davis - A Street at Russell. But no one blinks when the house on the corner (it's a frat or or sorority - I can't tell the difference) decides to nuke the bike lane, as well as part of the traffic lane. The address is 440 A Street.

And.....City Hall is right across the street.

St. James strikes again (sigh)

Location is on B Street at the South end of the church property.

Mayor Ruth told me that she spoke to the head priest last week about keeping bike lanes clear, after I sent an email to the City Council, but apparently he's hard of hearing. The catholic church may care about people's souls, but they obviously don't care too much about cyclists' safety.

This pile was placed on the street today, Saturday, but won't be picked up until late next week. Because a lot of yard work is done on weekends, the bike lanes are effectively obstructed most of the month during leaf fall.

Incidentally, most of the posts so far have involved leaf piles, simply because this is the time of year for such problems to occur. Future posts will show other situations in Davis where cyclists have problems with the infrastructure.

St. James Church, again....

The pile near the stop sign was very carefully placed not only to obstruct cyclists in the bike lane, but to cause chaos for cars wishing to turn right onto B Street. Can you ticket yard waste in a red zone?

You would think that this would start to get a little embarrassing for the Bicycle Capitol of the US....

All of the last four pictures were taken today.