Making Allentown bicycle friendly is what lawyers call an attractive nuisance. Pity the poor suburbanite with his helmet and spandex who peddles to 4th and Turner. He might as well have Mug Me embossed on his jersey. I know the mayor is a cyclist, and takes some riders with him on group excursions; but alone, they are just bait for trouble.
Readers know that I have been working lately from my Washington office. There's a new blog in town which makes my Tuerk-centric posts about the mayor seem like Hallmark cards. He has actually taken to say hello when he jogs past me in a park. This new blogger has almost made me appear gentlemanly.
So Matt, as one gentleman to another, Allentown realistically is no place to encourage cyclists. The other day I saw a car going in reverse for a block near 15th St.. The police need to write 5000 more traffic tickets before we start inviting cyclists downtown.
I'm not here to be polite or popular
shown above Mr. T, known for his catch phrase,"Pity the fool"
Thank you for your nonpartisan perspective on Allentown’s current state of affairs. It is extremely valuable.
ReplyDeleteLike many of your loyal readers I have mixed feelings about the bike situation. It’s commendable, attractive, dangerous and vexing at the same time. The mayor is serious about bicycling and has been since he arrived in town.
Commendable.
The performative nature of the mayor public image also produces a mixed reaction.
As a young, recent transplant he was reckless. He’s older and wiser now, even to the extent of tempering his longstanding and deep distain for an old blogger. That’s a positive, for everyone.
I style my self a bicyclist and have four or five that I am able to ride less and less due to the personal nature of advancing age, the changing environment of the roads and the psychology of contemporary drivers. There is a lot to unpack here, not the least of which are public safety issues especially in an urban setting where courtesy of the road as well as rational enforcement is in serious decline. I wonder how the Police Mountain Bike Patrol Program is doing. What an excellent addition to public safety that has been when it’s been utilized and supported both as a hard hitting LE tactic and as a piece of Community Oriented Policing.
I suppose Allentown can always re-invent the Hamilton Mall and ban nothing but bicycles between 10th an 6th on Hamilton Street.
ReplyDeleteNo one goes there anyway so it won't be as disruptive as it was the first time.
Let us pause and remember the young man killed by a bicycle in Trexler Park. It’s unlikely that the current Allentown mayor has any recollection of that tragedy.
ReplyDeleteTrexler Park has been closed to automobiles since 1974. I doubt that the Mayor has a recollection of it. He was born in 1975 and moved to the Allentown area in the 2010s.
DeleteThe Mayor from Boulder doesn’t do public policy, he does public performances. His bike, like his socks, tattoos and sneakers, is part of his act.
ReplyDeleteThe homeless community isn’t impressed with his honesty. City Council isn’t impressed with his budget. The police aren’t impressed with his leadership.
His adoring fans, like NPR, love his act.
Like much of his resume it’s good theater.
I am amazed at bicycle riders on any streets and highways today. To me it is putting their lives at risks every time. Same goes for motorcyclists, it is indeed Russian roulette. Actually, I don't even feel as safe as I once die in my car. Forget about having the right of way or insurance, it does not protect your life.
ReplyDeleteOnly cowards quiver at the notion of traversing the public roadways on a bicycle, real men bravely saddle up like modern day cowboys and endure rain, wind, snow, sleet and hail in furtherance of lowering their carbon footprint while ninnies drive around in gas guzzling SUVS which they let idle as they go grab another 6 pack of Schlitz to imbibe in order to cope with their lack of manliness
ReplyDeleteA little note about comment and more: This is not a comment centric blog....Yesterday, I passed over about 20 submissions. Unfortunately, more than a few were from a known predator/harasser who is responsible for several blogs being comment moderated.( I will not maintain a link with any blog which hosts him.)
ReplyDeleteI also get repetitive comments from several poets, taken with descriptions of the mayor and others. They are subject to quotas.
I wouldn’t worry too much about this issue. It’s been four years already. Not much has changed.
ReplyDeleteAgree with the post, but is there a new ill-conceived project or something going on that I missed?
ReplyDeleteBTW, not a whole lot of bikes on the roads in Allentown, especially today. Go figure.
anon@8:19: There are plans for new traffic patterns in center city, changing the one way streets to two ways, and adding bike lanes and bike racks. The plans completely ignore the reality downtown, i.e, double parking, running lights and stop signs, etc. etc.
ReplyDeleteAlso the plan to connect the parks with bike links is being resuscitated.
The widths of the streets will not be changing. I do hope that with all of these changes you mention, that street parking will be eliminated as the streets in downtown Allentown were designed in the 1800s, long before motor vehicles.
DeleteI find it amazing that I learned to drive on the streets of Allentown as a teenager, and the streets today are so narrow and the corner to corner lines of cars parked along both sides make it a very white-knuckle environment to have two-way streets and drive on them without lots of scraping sides of the cars parked along them.
Over the years, I have lived in other cities that have much more modern streets that came about during the motor vehicle area and do not allow street curb parking. But I tend to avoid city centers anyway, I've become a suburbian and there isn't a lot in the center of the city that interests me anyway.
Allentown is most certainly not Boulder Colorado and less so every day.
DeleteWhat could be more obvious.
Hipster city planning is not going to improve the quality of life in the once All American City.
Enforcing quality of life issues would be a step in the right direction.
As an avid bicyclist in Allentown, I have to admit that certain different cultural attitudes towards correct and legal bike riding on the street can get you in some trouble downtown. I've been cussed at, threatened, horn honked at and had litter thrown at me by motorists who believe bikes belong on the sidewalk. Outside of downtown Allentown this hasn't been an issue and I love riding in the City with rides over the 8th Street Bridge, Trout Creek Parkway, Little Lehigh Parkway and Canal Park to Bethlehem the best.
ReplyDeleteHaving spent more time in the Lehigh Parkway than any other human being, besides Earl Nagel, I have seen numerous near misses that endangered pedestrians, particularly those with dogs on a six foot lead. It’s most often the spandex posses that exhibited the dangerous behavior. Yes, most riders are responsible.
DeleteIt’s fortunate that horses have become rare on the Bridal Path.
The advent of E Bikes is scary on several levels.
Enforcement inside the park is virtually nonexistent even with the location of the Academy.
Any rider using the bike lanes on MLK has a death wish.
Riding in center city after dark is absolutely fool hardy.
mj adams
@8:48
DeleteYou call it “cultural attitudes”, technically it’s criminal behavior.
@8:48 Growing up in Allentown, I tended to avoid bike riding on the main streets. Alleys worked fine or less busy streets. Cars and bikes do not mix well, and I wanted to stay out of car's way, not demand my right to bike in the street full of traffic. You can get hurt that way and you also are aware of how people are if you get in their way.
DeleteAlso we did not have all of the saftey gear bicyclists wear today. Biking does not mean demanding your right to use the narrow streets. You want to get to where you are going safely and carefully.
As a long time citizen of Allentown I'm hoping your 8:29 comment about the switch from one way to two way does not come to fruition. It is hard enough to get around the double parked cars without having to cross double yellow lines to get around them.
ReplyDeleteThere is almost no “traffic” in downtown/center city Allentown at any time of the day. There are speeding vehicles encouraged by unnecessary double (triple in a few areas) lane streets designed for some vision of the future during a bygone era that never really came to fruition. If adding bike lanes reduces traffic to one orderly lane with, accommodations for turns and busses, my mind is open. There are plenty of cities that have added bike lanes and significantly improved safety for drivers and pedestrians despite the modest use of the bike lanes by actual cyclists. This debate already happed 100 times across the country 20 years ago.
ReplyDeleteBike lanes in center city is totally loony. It only makes sense for those delusional dreamers still waiting for the horde of young urban professionals about to stream into the city.
DeleteThe science of Traffic Calming is a legitimate engineering discipline. The Mayor doesn’t know anything about the subject, neither does anyone in his administration….and quite obviously neither do you.
DeleteHe is motivated by hipsters visions.
Of course a politician can always hire a specialist to justify their preordained position.
The idea of a basic bike lane as a stand alone traffic calming piece is ridiculous.
Matt is a faux hipster visionary in a declining blue collar minority majority midsized Pennsylvania city.
MM Thank you for re entering the Allentown scene. You insight, courage and integrity was missed.
ReplyDeleteEven if the city would foolishly take out lanes of parking to accommodate bike lanes, many city street corners downtown have been extended to allow for a shorter crossing distance for pedestrians (which would cut off the bike lanes at the corners).
ReplyDeleteOr wouldn’t/doesn’t pedestrian safety matter anymore?