Taken down by a Bike Lane Pylon on L Street

[TwoWheelsDC]

@SPHogan 69479 wrote:

Last week, I hit the base of a bike lane pylon on L Street and nearly went down. A few of these pylon bases have lost the plastic pylon they support, so you don’t see them until your front wheel hits them. This morning I wasn’t able to recover control and went over the bars into the left-hand lane on L Street. Fortunately, damage was minor, but I’m now convinced that there’s an issue here.

Have others had similar experiences? Any suggestions on how to raise this with the City? Thanks! – Sean

FWIW, DDOT is pretty responsive on Twitter…may sound silly, but I suspect DDOT has resolved more issues due to pressure from Twitter than any other feedback method.

[Oblivious Recidivist]

What was the cross street? I bike L Street in the morns and will watch out for it. thx!

[jnva]

It’s a problem. I’ve seen several people crash in front of the Quincy hotel. There is a bollard in the middle of the bike lane that breaks a lot and the base stays.
Send a tweet to @ddotc and @bikepedantic

[MFC]

@jnva 98569 wrote:

It’s a problem. I’ve seen several people crash in front of the Quincy hotel. There is a bollard in the middle of the bike lane that breaks a lot and the base stays.
Send a tweet to @ddotc and @bikepedantic

There is also on on-line form on DC gov’t web site for people who don’t tweet, or have twitter blocked at their jobs. I’ve reporting a number of potholes, and they been fixed with a few days. I’ve never used for bike lane issues.

[cephas]

Omg, I was attacked a couple weeks ago by a pylon too!! It was early – 6 am-ish, and there was a couple being weird – I don’t remember what, they just got my attention – on the left sidewalk. I rode straight into a pylon. Yes, I can attest that the pylons will move if you’re not watching them carefully. There’s no way I would have hit it if it hadn’t moved.

[GB]

@cephas 99974 wrote:

Yes, I can attest that the pylons will move if you’re not watching them carefully. There’s no way I would have hit it if it hadn’t moved.

The issue is actually that you’re watching it too carefully. About a yrar ago I went down when I hit a light that fell off the bike on front of me. It was about 2 inches wide and there was no one else on the trail. But it was still moving forward and I was fixated on it(don’t hit it, don’t hit it) so of course I nailed it, skated on it for a second then went down. I’m still not sure how people avoid this trap.

[cephas]

@GB 99982 wrote:

The issue is actually that you’re watching it too carefully.

If only! Really, I wasn’t watching at all where I was going.

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