There is a special two-way path for bicycles and a pedestrian path for running, and all manner of other slow activities. Children under the age of five that are just learning to ride bikes should also be on that path. Rollerbladers can choose a path based on their skill level. Most Korean skaters prefer speed skating, so they're about as fast as bike traffic.
The pedestrian path meanders all over and occasionally widens into large plazas.
People that aren't on bikes can enjoy the larger spaces, seating, volleyball courts, fountains, and so forth. The only thing they shouldn't be doing is walking on the bike path. If you look carefully, there is one man in this picture who is trying to cause an accident.
Bicycles do not belong on sidewalks. Pedestrians do not belong on bike paths. In the Han River Park, the density of people means that accidents happen quite often. Pedestrians are always getting hit by bikes. This is especially true where the lack of facilities force the two traffic streams to merge.
The idea of segregating leisure traffic is one that requires a lot of public education, and a general consensus among designers.
Recently in St. Louis, the Dual Path in Forest Park become an issue of concern. The 'wheels' path for bikes and rollerblades is constantly invaded by joggers unaware that the swampy gravel path adjacent belongs to them. In response to a survey and a large donation, Forest Park Forever decided to work on their signs and to completely segregate the paths throughout the park.
FPF took a lot of time and money to figure out the combined traffic problem, but their solution should be one we keep in mind with all of the bike projects in the region.
I personally am very excited about the future bike park in Old North.
The renderings for the Iron Horse Trestle are spectacular.
There will be a path for bikes and a path for pedestrians with plenty of seating and overlooks, but...
Perhaps some of the pedestrians will decide to walk on the bike path.
In parts of the Trestle, the pedestrian area will not exist, and people will apparently walk right in the middle of the path.
Remember that the St. Louis bike culture promoted by the powers that be is not the casual urban biking from point A to point B of the Copenhagen Cycle Chic varity, but of the head-over-the-handlebars, helmet-required, preparing for the big race, gotta-lose-ten-pounds sort of cycling.
 |
| primed for a head injury |
This guy is not going to hit his brakes for you. He can't. He will fly over his handlebars immediately. A European might lean back, slow down, smile, and pass you. This guy is going to scream at you and wave his arms until you jump out of his way. Or... he will hit you.
The Iron Horse Trestle is a fantastic project that I hope to ride on regularly. I've been thinking about it off an on for years. I am therefore super excited by the proposed retrofit of the MacArthur Bridge by SOM for the arch design competition.
SOM proposes interesting bike infrastructure around Chouteau's Landing similar to the plan for Old North. It could be transformative for the neighborhood.
I am excited, and I could be much more excited, but the more I look at their bridge rendering the more unsettled I am.
There's a huge mix of activity here that is supposed to convey a sense of the bridge being actively used. It looks as if the designers failed to talk to each other. Is there a person rollerblading on gravel? Is that woman powerwalking in the right place?
It isn't like this is the only rendering in the competition with bikes about to crash into joggers, but it is the rendering that I'm most excited about. That excitement has promoted a sense of concern and ownership. I want to see this happen, but I want to see it designed properly.
If mixed traffic is a problem in Forest Park, then it would be a problem here. There needs to be a plan to keep kids from getting run down by these sporty people out to lose weight.
 |
| the Great Rivers Greenway District's racing bias |
Agreed - the MacArthur Bridge proposal is exciting, particularly the connections it makes with a larger trail loop and its intrusions into the city, a-la the High Line.
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me that the renderings are just conceptual at this point, intended to get the feel of the place across rather than the specific design moves that would surely come later (of course pedestrians and cyclists will be separated, just as there would also be a railing on the north side of the bridge). Much of it probably also has to do with the fact that the design ultimately depends on cooperation of other groups outside of the Park Service and the city. As far as I know, this wasn't actually part of the competition boundary per se, although it certainly helps reconnect the cities, park, and river.