By Matt Pacocha, US editor, in Boulder, USA
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At points the group found peaceful corridors through rough and ragged neighborhoods, while in other areas there was an appalling lack of bike access. “In Maryland, on our way into Baltimore, we followed this road that pops out on the Susquehanna River — it’s half a mile wide or more, it’s huge — and there’s no way to get across it,” says Johnson. “The sign says, ‘pedestrians, bicycles prohibited’. The story gets even better. We’re sitting there for, like, 20 minutes looking at this sign that says ‘no bikes’ and we’re just about to start hitchhiking when a cop car pulls up.
He throws the lights on and asks us what’s going on. We got through the ‘hey, get the heck out of here thing’, I kind of explained what we were doing and he said, ‘how fast can you go on those things?’ I said 25- to 30mph, and he said, ‘if any of you drop below 30, I’m going to give you a ticket’. This thing was two lanes, jersey barriers on both sides, not one inch of extra room, and we blasted across this thing with him giving us a police escort from behind… It was a lot of fun. He hooked us up.”
Rarely do riders have police escorts to get across auto-only bridges, though. “You look at the map… and that’s the only thing within 15 miles," says Johnson. "To find a bridge to ride across would have taken 25 miles. It was impossible. Whether it’s a bridge or a four-lane-wide road in front of a mall, the barriers [to bikes] are there.”
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B’ Spokes: In the linked article there is a lot of "up" stuff about Tim Johnson’s Ride on Washington including pictures and a video. But if you are appalled as I am about the lack of bicycle access over the Susquehanna and why the State "needs" two bike prohibiting high speed toll bridges a mile apart, write Michael Jackson mjackson3@mdot.state.md.us
For a decade we have had a state law "The Department shall ensure that the State maintains an integrated transportation system by working cooperatively to remove barriers, including restrictions on bicycle access". When is that going to happen exactly?
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Tim Johnson’s Ride on Washington: https://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/interview-tim-johnson-the-unlikely-bicycle-advocate-29685
And if you do need or want to get across this bridge contact Biller’s Bikes: https://www.baltimorespokes.org/article.php?story=20100331111916157
And I really have to question why the State feels they need to keep Biller’s Bikes a top secrete and/or why they can’t make arrangements so we can all get police escorts across the bridge. Remove the barrier as required by State Law, please.
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Biking in Baltimore