Truckee cyclists irate over road conditions
By Emerson Marcus, Reno Gazette-Journal
Its views are serene.
Its neighborhoods are gorgeous.
But local cyclists are saying Truckee’s bike lanes on state roads are “lousy” and a “dilapidated mess.” California state officials are beginning to listen.
“It’s a joke,” said Paco Lindsay, who has lived and biked on roads in Truckee since 1978. “I’ve never seen it this bad.”
Highway 89, along the western shore of Lake Tahoe, is the root of the problem, Truckee’s Gregg Betonte said.
“We started getting pretty vocal about the issue this spring,” Betonte said. “(The California Department of Transportation) has told us for years that they were going to replace the paths, but they haven’t. They pave the road, but not the shoulder.”
Betonte said the road is filled with potholes and cracks after years of neglect and is unridable.
Maybe if the cyclists were to pay a regestration fee, buy libility insurance them there would be money to pave a bike path on the shoulder. As it is now they pay nothing to ride on the roads and complain about everything! If one of them runs into you they have no insurane to cover the damages! If they want to ride on state highways then they should pay just like the rest of us have to for our cars!
Robert,
Really? You don’t think virtually all cyclists own cars and pay the same highway gas taxes and liability insurance? By riding a bike instead of driving a car, cyclists don’t contribute to pollution or traffic congestion which benefits everyone. Also cycling helps fight obesity, heart disease and diabetes thus cyclists and all regular aerobic exercisers are much less of a burden on our illness care system. Tell ya what……pass a couch potato tax on anyone who can’t pass a basic age appropriate physical exam (aside from congenital or environmental disorders)so all those life style diseases are paid for by those who don’t bother to take care of their health. Then there will be more than enough money to fix our roads and paths.
Nice one Tom !
Cyclist like Tom think way to much of themselves.
Cyclists must start paying their way. Tahoe needs to consider a bike registration fee. They need to also make more bike lanes.
Just like many areas are slapping extra fees on electric cars.
City, State and National govt’s are all broke. The public should be asking what the crooks did with our money. It’s all gone folks. An elaborate world ponzi scheme and the culprits are probably on some small island saying screw you. An island called Washington.
Tom you guys pay for insurance on your car not your bike. Let one of these bikers run into your car or private property do you think your auto libility is going to pay! Guess again!
Don’t know ’bout your insurance Robert..mine does. I’m not disputing that there are some idiots on bikes out there….I encounter them every day both on my bike and in my car. These people aren’t “bicyclists”…. they’re people who because of DUI, financial constraints, car in the shop etc. are forced to ride a bicycle. Many don’t particularly enjoy it and are clueless or simply apathetic as to how how negatively they effect other people who are forced to share the road with these boneheads.
Legitimate bicyclists are here to stay, they are a major economic driver for our recreation-based economy, bicycling is clean transport and recreation and PWTV and the rest of the anti-bicyclists will just have to accept that. With more bike lanes and paths in the works, that should help create some seperation between cyclists and motorists and that will make everyone safer and happier.
Tom- I take offense to your charactorization of people who are “idiots on bikes”. There are many people who ride bikes for reasons beyond financial hardships and DUIs. Anyone on a bike is a bicyclist. I have seen so-called “legitamate bicyclists” doing very stupid things. Apparently you’ve never driven around Emerald Bay to find road bikers riding side by side around the turns. This to me is very idiotic. People are going to do dumb things, no matter their mode of transportation, that endanger other people, even you “legitimate bicyclists”. I am all for people riding bikes and love riding mine but when people like you act all high and mighty it is very disheartening and makes you sound a little idiotic.
The point of the article is that the roads are in bad condition for cyclists not about what constitutes a “cyclist”.
Caltrans has ignored the Lake Tahoe Basin for many years. We absolutely need to have them implement their own directive of providing elements for ALL transportation users when planning or designing projects. Our gas tax is primarily what pays for these projects and unfortunatley, the fund is getting smaller and smaller as fuel efficiency in vehicles rises (less gas consumption = less revenue). I believe Nevada is investigating going to a miles driven tax versus a gas tax to fund road improvements, knowing that gas tax is an insufficent source relative to impact to the roadway.
Cyclicts do not impact the roadway much, the weight and speed of a cyclist do not provide deterioration of the asphalt as do cars and trucks.
The State needs to combine fund sources to have the projects accomodate all users. (water quality, gas tax, maintenance funds, air quality funds, bicycle transportation funds, public transit funds, and of course any local funds etc.) Until the State stops planning and implementing single goal projects primarily driven by single fund sources, and starts planning and producing mulitple goal projects as they are REQUIRED to do, we will not see much progress with the cycling or pedestrian element of the roadway, nor progress towards noise reduction, traffic synchronization, air quality benefit etc.
Until then, suck it up, ride fatter tires, and keep pounding at Caltrans and your local agencies to incorporate the required improvements.
I fully understand the point of the article and am just commenting on other’s comments. The roads are in bad shape for ALL users. The state is broke and without serious reforms this will continue to be a problem.
Thank you Froggy for bringing the conversation back to the core message.
If my comments about “idots on bikes” offended you snoheather…please understand that this borne out of my frustration of seeing so many people ride their bikes in a manner that not only endangers themselves…but other cyclists as well. In particular, those who ride against traffic…even in bike lanes with clearly marked directional arrows. When I encounter these worng way riders.. . often with cell phone to ear or with a dog on the leash, I now have to take evasive action which not only puts me at risk but reflects poorly on cyclists as a group. I’ve actually seen a wrong way rider collide with a car on Lake Tahoe Blvd. This person (and her friends) then proceded to blame the driver who was leaving a driveway. This only creates emnity between drivers and ‘cyclists’. That is my point. If looking out for my own safety and working to affirm the legitimacy of cycling as a viable transportation mode makes me ‘high and mighty’ in your view…so be it.