Seattle Public Utilities officials estimate there are between 70,000 and 80,000 grates throughout the city. Some have vertical slots such as the one in Schaefer’s accident. Others, including all replacements, have designs that make it unlikely bike tires can get stuck.
Full article (Seattle PI)
1 response so far ↓
1 Ted Diamond // Jan 15, 2008 at 12:57 pm
You know, I acknowledge that storm drains are a danger to cyclists, and as part of any upgrade to cycling infrastructure, the ones on commonly traveled bike routes should be replaced. This is common sense.
But I get this creepy feeling that this is a drama manufactured by the P-I to stir up the cycling-anti-cycling pot once again, and as this article tops the popular Sound-Offs list, it looks like it’s succeeded. This, coming just a few weeks after the out-of-the-blue post about legislative attempts to license cyclists spurred another explosion of Sound-Off ranting.
The folks at the P-I may be chasing revenue (assuming that for them, each hit on the Sound-Off is an impression that can be counted for ad revenue), or maybe they sincerely believe these articles are a public service. But I’m tired of having cyclists continually held up in the spotlight, as if we’re somehow asking for anything more than reasonable citizens and road users would.
I should take off my tin foil hat and just learn to ignore it, eh? Hop on that bike and ride, and forget about the chatter.
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