I remember in the distant past at a group of activists trying to get the county I was living in at the time to build sidewalks on some street that was perceived (and probably was in fact) unsafe to walk in the shoulder. At some point someone suggested that the group just build its own sidewalk. There was some discussion about if we get the county’s permission or if we just go ahead and do it.
Nothing came of it, but the idea for that sort of DIY project that should be the government’s job as activism has always stuck in my head. So I was glad to read about this, even if it was only as a publicity stunt.
An extremely polite group of anonymous guerrilla road safety activists armed with $350 worth of reflective plastic pylons turned the painted Cherry Street bike lane under I-5 into a protected bike lane Monday morning.
The group—calling themselves the Reasonably Polite Seattleites—wanted to make a statement about how easy and affordable it would be for the city to use the method to make bike lanes safer all over the city. To stress how polite they are, they attached them using an adhesive pad for easy removal, according to an email sent to SDOT and Seattle Bike Blog.
I would really like to see some of these actions for real. Maybe don’t tell SDOT, and just put them up until they become part of the community, next time.
I’m in favor of anything that keeps cars and bikes separated. Cars and bikes don’t mix.
In fact, cars don’t seem to mix well with much of anything else.