Comments on: Divisadero/Fell Arco continues to confound

By: smushmoth

smushmoth — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 09:23:00 +0000

There is a reason for the dashed lines, it is so that cars can pull to the left hand lane and make a left turn. To be honest, as a cyclist who has ridden this route daily from 1998, I’ve never been hit, nor found it a particularly challenging/scary stretch of road, just get in your lane and ride fully aware of your surroundings, which is the way I ride everywhere.

By: ciao

ciao — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 00:28:54 +0000

welcome to San Francisco, once you hang out for a while you’ll notice the obvious reason that it doesn’t make much sense for a cyclist to take Page or Hayes Westbound and why the wiggle exists. the statistical analysis you pulled out of your bum is impressive though.

By: emu

emu — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 23:28:37 +0000

“Correct procedure” at any intersection in the city is something that a much greater percentage of bicyclists rather than cars seem to have trouble grasping. If I were still a bicyclist I would avoid Fell and Divisadero like the plague, striping or no striping. Just because the law says you can do something, the laws of physics are really the only ones that matter. Stop bitching and take Page or Hayes.

By: Bob

Bob — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 22:56:30 +0000

I’m pretty sure the broken up bits of the bike lane mean that it’s legally ok for a car to drive in it if the car is making a turn or there are no cyclists present.

By: henri!

henri! — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 20:57:17 +0000

Not an easy fix at that intersection. Always ride offensively in SF.

By: hoboking

hoboking — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 20:20:10 +0000

I blame the bicyclists … they don’t wear helmets, run lights, don’t ever have brakes and think they’re better than drivers, or something. Just getting that into the thread because it’s required.

That spot is so bad and has been for years. I think the city needs to aggressively enforce penalties for straddling the bike lane. Of course it looks like it’s only a $100.00 ticket.

By: brian

brian — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 18:57:26 +0000

i ride that bike lane everyday on my way work. got hit by someone exiting the arco about 6 months ago. people always straddling the bike lane/turn lane…then not paying attention after their thirst for fuel has been quenched.

By: Luba Muzichenko

Luba Muzichenko — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 18:15:45 +0000

Sometimes even Mission-dwellers need some spicy soup from the Sunset.

As for why this section of Fell is still so difficult for drivers? I’d say people, at least quite a few of them, are oblivious to anything outside of their automobile’s frame.

A green stripe, and I bet some of those white flexible cone thingies (think “obvious physical barriers”) would probably help do the trick.

The City even tried to make the intersection at Fell and Masonic flow more smoothly, to make it safer for bicyclists and reduce congestion from the left turn onto Masonic, but that was a waste. There’s an actual lane for a left turn, yet I consistently see people either not in it at all making lefts, or having a wheel or two in the left lane.

Yeah…. I’m all for getting rid of vehicular riff-raff, but sadly, I don’t think there will ever be “common sense” component to the DMV test.