The Stupidest Bike Lane

Published Mar 31 2008, 03:53 PM by Will Spitz

Last week, Slate's video editor Andy Bowers posted a video of his self-nominated "Stupidest Bike Lane in America," a lane in Western Los Angeles that runs a mere 275 feet before disappearing suddenly and completely amidst busy LA traffic - sort of a "Fuck off" to bikers from LA road officials. The video:

It's undoubtedly a dangerous gaffe by non-bike minded road planners but, as many Boston bikers were eager to point out on the Critical Mass e-mail list over the weekend, any local biker has probably seen worse. Ever tried to bike through Harvard Square? Lanes disappear, then re-appear, vanish into sidewalks with high curbs, mysteriously transfer to the opposite side of the road, or are wholly swallowed by construction sites. And that's Cambridge, which is decidedly the most bike-friendly part of the city. Any downtown, Back Bay, or Allston cyclist considers bike lanes an uncommon treat. Still, what's the point of even having a bike lane if it could possibly be more dangerous - blindly leading bikers to a dead end - then no bike lane at all?

-Caitlin E. Curran