The tracks. The cursed tracks.
I get a lot of calls and emails from people with shattered elbows and the like asking me if there is anything that can be done about the trolley tracks at 4th and University. I think more people go to the hospital from those tracks than ride the trolley.
I always sigh deeply, roll my eyes, express sympathy, and say, well, no, there isn’t really much we can do. Probably.
I wouldn’t put it past a lawyer with the perfect client and a lot of time and money on her hands to succeed in a lawsuit over those tracks, but it would be tough. Cities get to put trolley tracks in the streets along popular bike routes. And they also get to be somewhat neglectful when it comes to keeping the pavement around them flat.
Still, there is a lot that could be done to make those tracks safer, and I would sure like to see the City do it. As bad as a shattered elbow is (just ask my friend T. about the one she got from tracks in San Francisco) I am fearful that one day we are going to see something worse than a shattered elbow from these tracks. (I am now crossing my fingers, spinning twice, and throwing salt over my shoulder to counteract any possible jinx.)
Anyway, the point of all this is that those tracks got some well-deserved bad media today on the gridlocked blog.
–Erik Ryberg
August 22nd, 2008 at 3:19 pm
Erik,
Saw Josh Brodesky’s column in gridlocked about the trolley tracks at 4th and Univ. Yes, I’m one of the many to biff it on the tracks. I agree with you about the new tracks by the Rialto. With that much volume of traffic going through there, the potential for more than scraped elbows is much higher. Another area of concern is the eastbound Broadway lanes as they go under the railroad bridge at the light for the Aviation Parkway. Many cars go to the extreme right lane, which is the right turn /bus lane and continue through under the false asumption that it is a 4th lane on Broadway only to realize they are wrong as they go across the intersection. The cars then make a mad rush to try and get back into the correct lanes. There is a bike lane there and this situation becomes extremely hazardous for bikes. Is there anyway for the city to paint some diagonal lines or paint “BUS/BIKE LANE ONLY” at that point just beyond the right turn for Aviation? Thanks,Octavio
September 3rd, 2008 at 2:07 pm
Erik-
I myself have also eaten it on the trolley tracks on 4th Ave, although my wreck was as I was attempting a left turn ontol 7th St. I very nearly got run over by an oncoming car (not their fault, of course, and they were going slow enough to swerve in time), but I was lucky to escape with a couple sprained fingers.
I have, however, seen motorcycles go down at 4th and University. I know that I myself steer well clear of 4th Ave in general and that intersection in particular on both of my two-wheeled vehicles. Maybe if the City won’t listen to bicyclists on this issue, motorists on two wheels can raise a loud enough stink.
-Dave
February 21st, 2010 at 2:44 am
Sorry, fellas. The courts have already ruled in several cases (back in the 1990s)that the tracks (as constructed) do not present an unsafe hazard. Every case brought against the City by plaintiffs were found in favor of the City. No attorney in the county will touch a case like this-not worth the time.
February 21st, 2010 at 11:05 am
“As constructed” maybe….
but as maintained, I don’t
think so. All you have to do
is go out and look at them.
The courts may say ’safe’,
but the number of incidences
won’t bear that out; especially
compared to another recently
debated hazard area. Is the city
setting itself up for another
liability award? With the huge
increase in the amount of track
it’s adding and the placement in
the travel lane, the city seems
to be skewing the odds against
itself in this, I believe, second
most traveled bicycle route.
How negligent will it be
considered of the city to not have
adopted any safety features for
bicycles on this street car line.
March 27th, 2010 at 12:46 pm
Not at all. By all applicable engineering standards, the roadway is safe. In order for a flanged wheel to operate, the pavement must be below the head of the rail. As the courts have ruled, the argument that the city has created an undue hazard has no merit and the maintenance falls well within the standards set by the Federal Transit Administration and the American Public Transit Association recommended practices. I will also point out that the court rulings also addressed the maintenance of the right of way in additional to the claims concerning design.
A properly trained cyclist can mitigate much of the reasonable risk by riding parallel to the rails outside the track-where space permits and crossing the tracks at an angle.
Also, the city did evaluate various safety features-such as flangeway filler-but found on closer examination that none of these would be viable long term. Unfortunately, that is mostly due to the extreme summer heat. The simple solution will be to eliminate street side parking on the affected streets, but that’s going to be more of a political issue.