Getting tipped to the Seattle DOT video of Leaning Rails, I at first imagined a Cascade lobbyist forgot to clip out at the most congested Burke-Gillman intersection, fell over, then a little banged up rode straight to City Hall to demand a solution! Over coffee, recreational cannabis, and some 2Bar moonshine from a SODO distiller, a stay-clipped-in deal was hashed out.
The real story is far less politically intriguing, as I learned from a transportation specialist:
Leaning Rails are used in Europe to queue up crossings at busy intersections, and diminish the Lemans start, and peloton dash into pedestrians. They actually work very well. Cyclists don’t like to in clip or put a foot down if they don’t have to. Then the placement of the call button on the rail is the key. It’s a cheap project that might tame a very busy crossing.
Yep or explained even simpler, Seattle’s Copenhagen envy and with the purpose of organizing ped-bike crossings.
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