April 18, 2024, 10:52:32 pm
Welcome,
Guest
. Please
login
or
register
.
1 Hour
1 Day
Forever
Login with username, password and session length
News
: Update About Cuba Underwater Megalithic Research
http://www.timstouse.com/EarthHistory/Atlantis/bimini.htm
Home
Help
Arcade
Gallery
Links
Staff List
Calendar
Login
Register
Golden Gate Bridge Speed Limit Plan Angers Cyclists
Atlantis Online
>
Forum
>
Modern Historical Mysteries
>
Great Cities of the World
>
Golden Gate Bridge Speed Limit Plan Angers Cyclists
Pages: [
1
]
Go Down
« previous
next »
Print
Author
Topic: Golden Gate Bridge Speed Limit Plan Angers Cyclists (Read 193 times)
0 Members and 29 Guests are viewing this topic.
Shonnon
Superhero Member
Posts: 4545
Golden Gate Bridge Speed Limit Plan Angers Cyclists
«
on:
April 25, 2011, 12:22:14 am »
Golden Gate Bridge Speed Limit Plan Angers Cyclists
By GARANCE BURKE 04/23/11 07:25 PM ET
SAN FRANCISCO -- Plans to put the brakes on bicyclists riding across the Golden Gate Bridge has cycling enthusiasts crying foul in this urban center of two-wheeled activism.
Hundreds of commuters, residents and tourists ride the bridge's stately span each day, and occasionally there is a smash-up when bikers run into one another or collide with tourists drinking in the views. Still, the city was taken by surprise this week when bridge officials proposed speed limits as a way to reduce the accident rate on San Francisco's signature landmark.
The initial plan would hit riders with a $100 fine if they don't slow to 5 mph around the bridge's iron towers, or 10 mph along the bulk of the 1.2-mile span. There is currently no speed limit, and authorities say some riders have been clocked going more than 20 mph.
But after groups of pedallers raised sharp critiques, the bridge's board of directors decided to postpone a vote on the limits to allow public debate.
"Five miles per hour is definitely slower than I would ever go," said Uri Friedman, a manager at Pedal Revolution, a non-profit bike shop near the hip cafes of San Francisco's Mission District. "This just kind of penalizes someone who knows how to ride their bike. As it is already, having to navigate through the tourists as you're trying to get out of town on a ride makes for a potentially frustrating experience."
On Saturday, as busloads of German, Mexican and Korean tourists snapped photos using the verdant Marin County hills as a backdrop, Frances Denner was recovering from a near wreck on her rental bicycle. Pausing for a minute to admire the sailboats and surfers dotting the bay below, she said she thought speed limits sounded wise.
"This person wearing full bike gear came around me and I wasn't expecting it. It was a little scary," said Denner, who was visiting from Janesville, Wis. "I think having a speed limit would be a good thing."
A committee of the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District recommended the limits after commissioning consultants to do a cycling safety study.
According to the Berkeley-based firm Alta Planning + Design, there were 165 bicycle crashes from 2000 to 2009, and speed was cited as a factor in 39 percent of those accidents. Over that same time period, there were 235 reported vehicle incidents, including anything from a fender-bender to a more serious collision, said bridge district spokeswoman Mary Currie.
Report Spam
Logged
Shonnon
Superhero Member
Posts: 4545
Re: Golden Gate Bridge Speed Limit Plan Angers Cyclists
«
Reply #1
on:
April 25, 2011, 12:25:51 am »
Several cycling activists questioned how many wrecks involved tourists on rental bikes, and said it was misguided to craft a safety policy to address speed if that was not a problem in a majority of the accidents.
"There is poor visibility, and there are surfaces on the bridge that when the fogs rolls in can get really slippery or can catch a cyclist's tire," said Kim Baenisch, executive director of the Marin County Bicycle Coalition, which opposes the limits. "To be ticketed for going 11 mph because you have some tailwind behind you seems really unreasonable. We don't want to see limits that are going to discourage any type of cyclists from using the bridge."
The Golden Gate, which was the largest suspension bridge in the world when completed in 1937, has been considered one of the greatest engineering feats of the 20th century. Riding its narrow paths requires a keen sense of how to navigate the gusty winds, fog and storms that blow through the gate and into the San Francisco Bay.
Scott Klimo, who bicycle commutes from his home in Marin County to his office San Francisco's financial district, said he and his fellow commuters know how to ride at safe speeds because they do it every day, even if most lack speedometers. In his 10 years bicycle commuting, he has seen one accident, he added.
"It's not that the tourists are bad people, but riding a bike safely isn't their first priority. It's enjoying the view," he said. "A little bit better education or orientation from the bicycle rental companies would be a far more effective safety measure than imposing some sort of random speed limit on all of us."
Bridge officials will have to balance a host of competing considerations as they consider future safety proposals. Space is one. This summer, bridge authorities plan to close the bridge's west sidewalk, which serves as an afternoon bike lane on weekdays, to complete a long-needed seismic retrofit.
Tourism is another. In 2009, more than 15 million people visited the city, pumping nearly $8 billion into its economy, according to the city's Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Bicycle ridership and the clout of regional cycle advocates are also growing. According to the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, ridership has increased by 58 percent since 2006.
The bridge and its adjacent coastal parklands also often play host to organized bicycle tours and festivals of all stripes. Saturday, a group of Tibet supporters held a ride from the city's downtown to the Golden Gate to highlight the missing Panchen Lama. Even the once-monthly Critical Mass bicycling movement has on occasion barnstormed its way through Friday rush-hour traffic to the bridge.
"Local riders and bicycle commuters need to recognize that part of their commute is an international tourist destination," said Nina Barker, a visitor from Charlottesville, Va., who was preparing for her first bridge ride Saturday afternoon. "Why can't they just make two lanes: one for commuters and one for all the people who come to visit this beautiful place?"
Report Spam
Logged
Pages: [
1
]
Go Up
Print
« previous
next »
Jump to:
Please select a destination:
-----------------------------
Atlantis Online - Messages
-----------------------------
=> Messages
=> Administrative Messages
=> Commemorating Dates in History
=> Alerts & Warnings
=> Upcoming Events, Releases & Ads
=> Television: Shows & Events
-----------------------------
the Coffee Shop
-----------------------------
=> the Coffee Shop
=> Atlantis: Polls & News
=> Poltical Alerts
=> Causes & Activism
-----------------------------
Videos, Documentaries & Online Movies
-----------------------------
=> Ancient History & Lost Civilizations
=> Ghosts, UFOs & the Esoteric
=> Music, Entertainment & the Arts
=> Conspiracies & Suppressed Knowledge
=> Documentary & Videos
-----------------------------
Ages of the Earth
-----------------------------
=> The Early Earth, Geology & Fossils
=> Dinosaurs
=> Catastrophes & Mass Extinctions
=> Ice Age
=> Humanity's Origins & Civilization's First Steps
-----------------------------
Mythology & Heroic Sagas of Culture & Myth
-----------------------------
=> Mythology
=> Greek Mythology
=> Arthurian Myth
=> Quest for King Arthur
-----------------------------
Atlantis
-----------------------------
=> Atlantis & the Atlantic Ocean
=> Atlantis: Theories & Speculation
=> Plato's Atlantis
=> the Scientific Atlantis
=> Geology & Atlantis
=> Atlantis & the New Age
=> Atlantis in the Media
-----------------------------
Satellite Discoveries & Alternate Archaeology
-----------------------------
=> Alternate Archaeology
=> Satellite Discoveries & Aerial Archaeology
=> the Bock Saga
-----------------------------
Maps, Explorers & Adventurers
-----------------------------
=> the Oceans
=> Islands
=> the Bahamas, Bermuda, Cuba & the West Indies
=> Explorers & Adventurers
=> Maps, Cartographers & Cartography
-----------------------------
Egypt & the Pyramids
-----------------------------
=> Gods of Egypt
=> Egypt & the Pyramids
=> the Giza Complex
=> the Dynasties of Egypt
=> Egypt: Latest Discoveries
-----------------------------
the Guanches, Basques, Berbers & Sea People
-----------------------------
=> Guanches, Basques & Berbers
=> Pirates, Phantom Islands & Stories of the Sea
=> the Sea People
-----------------------------
the Ancient World
-----------------------------
=> Neolithic Europe
=> Stonehenge & the Druids
=> the Library of Alexandria, Ancient Historians & Philosophers
=> Ancient Warfare
=> the Spartans
-----------------------------
the Dawn of Civilization
-----------------------------
=> Africa, the Cradle of Life
=> China & the Asian Empires
=> Eastern Mysticism, India, & the Ancient Far East
=> Zoroastrianism, Arabia & the Near East
=> the Sumerians
=> Ancient Asia Minor
=> Hawaii, Australia, Alaska & the Pacific Rim
-----------------------------
Ancient Mediterranean Cultures
-----------------------------
=> Minoan Crete
=> Phoenicians & Carthage
=> Mediterranean Islands
=> Israelities & the Kabbalah
=> Etruscans
=> Ancient Greece
=> Rome: Empire & Republic
-----------------------------
Ancient European Cultures
-----------------------------
=> The Picts & Celts
=> Ireland: History & Myths
=> Balkan History
=> Italy & Magna Graecia
=> the Vikings & Scandinavia
=> Germanic History
-----------------------------
Timelines of Ancient Europe
-----------------------------
=> History of Britain
=> Scotland: in History & Lore
=> Continental Europe: Past & Present
=> the Dark Ages
=> the Medieval World
=> The Renaissance
-----------------------------
the Ancient Americas
-----------------------------
=> the Ancient Americas
=> Peru: Mysteries & Prehistory
=> Mesoamerican & South American Cultures
===> Aztec
===> Incan
===> Olmec
===> Toltec & Teotihuacan
=> Mayan
=> Native American
=> Canada: Past & Present
-----------------------------
The Crusades, Templars & the Holy Grail
-----------------------------
=> the Crusades
=> the Knights Templar
=> The Holy Grail & Christian artifacts
=> The Sacred Feminine, the Cathars & Gnosticism
=> the Da Vinci Code
-----------------------------
Ancient Mysteries
-----------------------------
=> Philosophy
=> Ancient Mysteries
=> Lemuria, Mu & other sunken civilizations
=> Easter Island
=> Oak Island
-----------------------------
Archaeology & Anthropology
-----------------------------
=> Museums & Universities
=> Archaeology
=> Ancient Languages
=> Archaeological News
=> Underwater Archaeology
-----------------------------
Ancient Knowledge, Mysticism & Sacred Beliefs
-----------------------------
=> Ley Lines, Ancient Astronomy & Archeoastronomy
=> Prophecy, 2012, End Times & the End of the World
=> Sacred Symbols
=> The Ancient Arts: Astrology, Alchemy, the Tarot, Arcane Recondite Practices & the I Ching
-----------------------------
Search for the Sacred
-----------------------------
=> Angels & Angelology
=> Goddess Worship
=> Search for the Sacred
=> World Religions
=> the Urantia Book
=> Wicca, Witchcraft, Paganism & Ritual Magic
-----------------------------
Health & Healing
-----------------------------
=> Health, Healing & Medical News
=> Human Biology
=> Love & Relationships
=> Women's Studies
-----------------------------
Science & Technology
-----------------------------
=> Science, Physics & Technology
=> History of Science
=> Evolution vs. Intelligent Design
=> Human Genetics
-----------------------------
Earth Changes
-----------------------------
=> Earth Changes
=> Global Warming
=> Botany & Plant Life
===> Plants of the Americas that Changed the World
=> Antarctica & the Arctic
-----------------------------
Space
-----------------------------
=> NASA
=> Mars, the Red Planet
=> Life on Other Worlds
=> the Universe
=> Images from Space
-----------------------------
UFOs, Aliens & Future Science
-----------------------------
=> UFO's
=> Aliens & Alien Abduction
=> UFO Evidence & in the Media
=> Alternate History & Multiverses
=> Future Science
=> Time Travel
-----------------------------
the Occult
-----------------------------
=> Ghosts & Apparitions
=> Communicating with the Dead
=> Paranormal Events, Reincarnation & Near Death Experiences
=> the Enchanted World
=> the Supernatural
=> the Occult
-----------------------------
the Unexplained
-----------------------------
=> Cryptozoology
=> Bigfoot Sightings
=> the Unexplained
=> the Hollow Earth, Crop Circles, Strange Structures & Devices
=> Vanishings & Unsolved Murders
-----------------------------
Science Fiction & Fantasy
-----------------------------
=> Lord of the Rings
=> Science Fiction
=> King Kong, Gigantopithecus & the Mountain Gorilla
=> Godzilla, King of Monsters
=> Comic Books
===> Comic Book Creators
===> Videogames & Toys
-----------------------------
Halloween & Seasonal
-----------------------------
=> Halloween
=> Seasonal
=> Monsters of Myth, Movies & Folklore
=> Ghost Stories
=> the Zombie Apocalypse
-----------------------------
Genres of Film & Literature
-----------------------------
=> Universal Horror
=> H. P. Lovecraft
=> Horror
=> Dark Shadows
=> Twin Peaks
=> Online Horror Movies Sci-Fi & TV Series
-----------------------------
Arts & Literature
-----------------------------
=> Online Books & Research Papers
=> Classical Literature & Book Reviews
=> Art History
=> Architecture
=> Sculpture & Statuary
=> the Great Masters
=> Music
-----------------------------
Media & Film
-----------------------------
=> Cinema
=> the History of Film
=> Marilyn Monroe
=> Actresses & Models
=> Entertainment News
-----------------------------
Modern Historical Mysteries
-----------------------------
=> American History
===> Presidents of the United States
=> the World Wars
===> the Great Depression
=> the Holocaust
=> the Middle East: Past & Present
=> Modern History
===> the Industrial Age
===> Civil Rights
=> Great Cities of the World
=> the Kennedys: Their History & Assasinations
=> New York City: Then & Now
-----------------------------
September 11th, 2001
-----------------------------
=> September 11th: Conspiracies, Cover-ups & Remembrance
=> The World Trade Center Remembered
===> Life of the Twin Towers
=> Modern Warfare
=> Environmental Disasters & Mass Tragedies
-----------------------------
Suppressed Knowledge
-----------------------------
=> New World Order
=> Conspiracies
=> Suppressed Knowledge
=> Media Matters
-----------------------------
Politics
-----------------------------
=> the Barack Obama Administration
=> Conservatives, Trump, & Republican Politics
=> Joe Biden, Democratic Politics & News
=> Tea Party, Constitution, Libertarian Parties & Ron Paul
=> Politics & News
-----------------------------
Current Events
-----------------------------
=> Current Events & Odd Stories
=> The World Today
=> Financial News & the Economy
===> The History of Labor
=> Breaking News
-----------------------------
General Category
-----------------------------
=> Opinions & Editorials
=> Cartoons, Humor & Comic Strips
=> Ecology, Pets & the Animal Kingdom
=> General & Miscellaneous
=> Sports
=> Computers & the Internet
-----------------------------
Art, Graphics & Creative Writing
-----------------------------
=> Fantasy Art & Graphics
=> Creative Writing
===> Horror Fiction
=> Poetry
=> Photography & Models
=> Earth Images
-----------------------------
Past Events
-----------------------------
=> Case for Bush Impeachment/War Crimes
===> Bush Administration Torture Scandal
=> Campaign 2008
=> Atlantis Online - Memorial & Biography
===> Atlantis Online - Old Posts
Powered by
EzPortal
Loading...