Bicycling tends to lend itself to do-it-yourself projects — DIY panniers, DIY tall bikes, DIY bike trailers. Now, we can add DIY bicycle lanes to the list.
Dan Koeppel writes in Bicycling magazine about an experiment in DIY bike lane painting last summer in Los Angeles.
damaging to the cause of legitimate bike advocates everywhere—and
really, really effective.”
Koeppel accompanies a group of bicyclists who are frustrated by the city's inaction on bike infrastructure that's approved in planning documents but never sees the light of day.
At first they try a late-night DIY project on a bridge, but are scared off by police who start asking questions. Doing the job in broad daylight leads to success.
Although Koeppel writes that the lane was only there for a few days before the city removed it. Oddly, city crews covered it up with a black stripe that seemed to accomplish the same task.
Los Angeles isn't the only place where bicyclists have taken lane design into their own hands. The Urban Repair Squad in Toronto regularly paints sidewalks and bike lanes. There are links to some 30 projects in other cities worldwide.
Another DIY bike lane uses bike-mounted lasers that beam the pattern of a bike lane on the street as the bicyclist pedals along. Read more about the LightLand concept from Altitude.
Photo above from Sean Bonner at flickr.com.
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