Posted Nov 6, 2014, 4:51 PM
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Moderator
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Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Portland
Posts: 8,103
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Quote:
Joseph Rose: Left? Right? Portland's 'left-sided' bike lane on North Williams creates passing chaos (video)
By Joseph Rose | [email protected]
Q: The city of Portland moved the bike lanes on North Williams Avenue from the right side of the road to the left. I've noticed bicyclists, including myself, are confused regarding which side we should pass on when overtaking a slower cyclist. Should we pass on the left, as is customary? Or should one pass on the right, which is closest to the traffic lane?
A: Legally speaking, there's no right or wrong answer. What we're talking about here is a sudden shift in two-wheeled urban custom.
Since the vast majority of the city's bike lanes are painted on the right side of the road, pedaling etiquette has long dictated that a bicyclist overtakes a slower cyclist by entering the adjacent auto lane and passing on the left.
But now the Portland Bureau of Transportation has decided to shake things up on what is essentially a one-way bicycle superhighway cutting through North Portland, carrying about 5,360 bike commuters compared with about 8,000 automobiles a day, according to the city's latest counts.
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...continues at the Oregonian.
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