Tuesday, June 8, 2010

In the Northtunnelpolkhayes.

Just another day on Stockton.
Just another day on Stockton st.
North Beach > Stockton tunnel > Polk street > Hayes valley:
14-18 minutes - approx. 3 miles

Picture 12
route map (+BTW, not what google recommends)
Cutting through the city's northeast from North beach, to get to the Hayes Valley for some more coffee is pretty fun. Biking all over the city, seeing sharrows is like seeing new cafes - I notice them right away.

The other postcard.
An alternative postcard. You might recognize that little pointy building.

However, blog-reader Andre brought to my attention the weirdness he experiences on Sutter st. with the sharrows that seem to be thrown in the middle of traffic. I had not noticed these ones, so I decided to check it out. This one-way street during fast rush hour time, can be pretty intense, it has been a couple of years since I last rode in the midst of crazy traffic on Sutter.
Sutter st.
Green light. Looking west on Sutter st.
To be honest I have always taken the bus lane because the MUNI line (3 Jackson) will probably not be around in between the time that takes to get across Sutter from around Union Square, to get to the Polk street corridor.
sutter panda
On the bus lane. Not much going on behind me.
Sutter st.
Here is an example of the lanes.
ah look who is there.
ah look who is there. I got a text from my friend, so I stopped at the corner.
After a few minutes, the bus came out of nowhere - & yes, there are burrito joints everywhere :D

Anyways. I'm sure that many of you have biked this street in heavier traffic. These shots were taken mid-day Sunday. As you can see there is not much traffic at all.

As far as I can compare, a similar situation applies to Post st. I used to ride in the early mornings and not having a designated bike lane was no big deal, however, car-traffic in the morning seems pretty impatient, so more than a few honks did happened.
Personally, I haven't had to bike on Post or Sutter during AM/PM commute hours. Have any of you ridden either one lately? What other street do you take to head west or east, on the northside of Market? Geary? go through the Broadway tunnel? California – Do share your experiences and let us know how you feel about the designated sharrows that are placed in the middle lane, to the left of Muni.

Hola.
South of City Hall/Civic Centre. Hola, adiĆ³s. –til next time!

2 comments:

  1. Interesting comments about the new sharrows on Post/Sutter. I've noticed them, too. Since I've usually used the bus/diamond lane on Sutter, I'm not sure that I'd ever feel comfortable riding a bike out in the middle lane where the new sharrows are.
    But it's sure nice to have some sharrows in the right lane, further west on Sutter, heading into Japantown, where there's no bus lane!

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  2. ah yes - the japantown area!
    thanks for yoyr comments Dale, see you on the bike lane
    xxo.meli :D

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