Traveling on left sidewalk just to get over bridge?

[Blueshift]

In my area there is a bridge that i feel safer crossing on the left sidewalk. If i had to go on the right side walk i would have to cross this busy street and there isn't a stop light for quite a while.

Do you think its ok to ride on the left sidewalk just to get over the bridge.. then continuing to ride on the right hand side?

 

[veloman]

I ride sidewalks all the time, they are way underrated IMO. Just go slow and watch for entering/exiting cars at driveways.

I would definitely take a sidewalk over a dangerous bridge. Why not? Some places have laws against bikes on sidewalks but if it's dangerous to ride the road, I doubt you'll have any issues.

 

[GrayKard]

In my area there is a bridge that i feel safer crossing on the left sidewalk. If i had to go on the right side walk i would have to cross this busy street and there isn't a stop light for quite a while.

Do you think its ok to ride on the left sidewalk just to get over the bridge.. then continuing to ride on the right hand side?

In this case I think riding against traffic on the sidewalk is OK and I would, and have, done it. Places where there are lots of driveways/streets crossing the sidewalk and I have to use it I only ride with traffic.

I prefer taking a lane if I don't hinder traffic doing that.

Gary

 

[LI-ghtcycle]

In my area there is a bridge that i feel safer crossing on the left sidewalk. If i had to go on the right side walk i would have to cross this busy street and there isn't a stop light for quite a while.

Do you think its ok to ride on the left sidewalk just to get over the bridge.. then continuing to ride on the right hand side?

In this case I think riding against traffic on the sidewalk is OK and I would, and have, done it. Places where there are lots of driveways/streets crossing the sidewalk and I have to use it I only ride with traffic.

I prefer taking a lane if I don't hinder traffic doing that.

Gary

Absolutely, even though there are some areas that have laws against riding on the sidewalk (downtown Portland for one) if I personally feel it's going to be safer to cross a busy area that way, I will but I will also go much slower, and even get off and push the bike if needed.

The St. Johns bridge in Portland is a perfect example of a place where I would ride the sidewalk. I have been told of at least 2 cyclists who have been killed crossing that bridge using the road.

I try not to use sidewalks more than I have to, but sure, I will use them any time it's safer.

 

[StudEbiker]

In Oregon it is absolutely legal to ride on the sidewalks unless it is specifically marked "No bicycles". Another change in the law that recently happened Li-ghtcycle is that we no longer have to push our bikes across crosswalks in order for traffic to have to yield to us. They now have to stop if we are crossing on our bikes. The one caveat to that though is that if we are crossing with pedestrians we have to be the slowest thing crossing the walk.

 

[ddk]

oh good, I'm NOT breaking any laws
I ride the sidewalks everywhere the right-hand side of the road has parking
I do slow down from my blazing 8mph to a more pedestrian speed

 

[Ypedal]

Depends on 3 things, mainly, Your Bike, the Sidewalk, and Your local's attitudes towards you..

Sidewalks, there are the 3ft wide, only enough for 1 pedestrian, crowded with constant foot traffic ** ( I would get off my bike and walk with it across that section ) ..

Then there are the sidewalks that are 8ft wide and have barely never anyone in sight while the roads are packed bumper to bumper with cars.... i would not think twice about it, i'd be on that sucker like flies to a S!@#pile..

Me, in NB, some of the bridges are safe while others are suicide, the people are friendly ( mostly ) and courteous , but some spots are deadly and cars get into accidents all the time , like a 4 way traffic light at the bottom of a huge bridge that you dont see until you get to the top... no way in hell i'm getting my ass near that type of stuff no matter what bike i'm on.

Then the bike, some of my bikes have no problem keeping up with city traffic, while one's like my A2B are slow off the line and much more bicycle than motorcycle. this changes how i ride drastically.. being in the middle of the lane with the flow of cars at partial throttle is fun, stuck to the right side getting passed way too closely by traffic goin 40 kph more than i am... no fun.

To hell with the law.. do what's safe for your own ass !

 

[Rassy]

StudEbiker wrote:

In Oregon it is absolutely legal to ride on the sidewalks unless it is specifically marked "No bicycles".

Not exactly, a regular bicycle yes, but not an electric assist bicycle. crosswalks are okay. I always assume riding on a sidewalk is okay if they can't tell if you are using your motor. Here is an ODOT summary:

http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/DMV/docs/pocketbikeguide.pdf?ga=t

 

[StudEbiker]

Wow, I stand corrected. I was under the assumption that electric bicycles within the legal limits were considered regular bicycles under the law and held all the rights of regular bicycles. Good info Rassy. Thanks!

 

[veloman]

There's one long section of sidewalk that has barely any driveways or conflict points, parallel to a busy road with no shoulders. I take the sidewalk with my ebike. Lately, I've really been keeping it slow, like 20mph on the flats. Some downhill portions I'll coast up to 25. If there's a pedestrian, I'll slow to about 10mph and most likely run off onto the grass since most runners have earphones playing and will never hear you or move over if going the same direction.

It's a LOT less stressful than sharing the road. The plus is that most of the time traffic piles up at one of the lights and I simply gain a minute or so right there. Can't pass traffic in the road there, too narrow. So sidewalks like this one, to me are great opportunities to chill out and go real efficient speeds. It then leads directly into the downtown sidewalk trail that eliminates a lot of stops and of course no cars. That's the section I laied some concrete down to make it ride-able. People love it.

 

[LI-ghtcycle]

In Oregon it is absolutely legal to ride on the sidewalks unless it is specifically marked "No bicycles". Another change in the law that recently happened Li-ghtcycle is that we no longer have to push our bikes across crosswalks in order for traffic to have to yield to us. They now have to stop if we are crossing on our bikes. The one caveat to that though is that if we are crossing with pedestrians we have to be the slowest thing crossing the walk.

I'll do some more digging, but you are correct that a regular bicycle can be used in on a sidewalk in Oregon, however, City Ordinances can still apply and restrict that rule further from my understanding, and I heard recently that a new Ordinance in Portland makes it an offense to ride a bicycle at all on the sidewalk in the downtown area which makes sense because the average car speed is about 15 MPH.

 

[LI-ghtcycle]

StudEbiker wrote:

In Oregon it is absolutely legal to ride on the sidewalks unless it is specifically marked "No bicycles".

Not exactly, a regular bicycle yes, but not an electric assist bicycle. crosswalks are okay. I always assume riding on a sidewalk is okay if they can't tell if you are using your motor. Here is an ODOT summary:

http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/DMV/docs/pocketbikeguide.pdf?ga=t

Thank you for reminding us about the rules with electric bikes Rassy, I however will take Y-Pedal's view on safety, and surprisingly enough, even with my crazy cargo bike, I don't think most people realize it's electric, they just see my cargo pods and think I'm just weird!

I can't say if they are laughing with me or just laughing at me, but I do get a lot of thumbs-up from kids!

Or "Hey, how fast does that thing go!" 8)

 

[dogman dan]

I have a similar spot on my route. I ride the street in the morning with less traffic and going the right way. But coming home, it's noonish at the Sams Club gas pump. The street is now a death route. So to link the sams parking with the k mart parking lot I ride the left side sidewalk for 100 ft. After the k mart, the bike lane resumes. Great planning two bike routes seperated by 1/2 mile of congested death road.

Cops have seen me do it, and don't care. They likely assume I'm not a motor, and localy cops only care when you bleed anyway. Legal to ride the sidewalk. Unclear if legal to ride it wrong way. Definitely dangerous, I've suprised many drivers at the k mart entrance. So I don't blast it. One time I encountered a walker in 4 years. Nobody walks to sams club.

Even if the riding on the sidewalk was highly illegal, I'd still do the same thing. It's just simply death to do the crossing, then ride in the lane in that spot at noon. Do it safe, walking the bike if that's what it took. More likely just ride it slow and stealth.

 

[chroot]

I usually ride on sidewalk most of time at 15mph less. I had local cop stopped me twice and they said I am not supposed ride on sidewalk however I explained local cops the car almost hit me as a reckless driver or rage driver that time I was on bike lane. NEVER AGAIN during the busy hour.

They understood and let me go without any violation. Actually, It's all depends on your local police attitude.

Just use your judgement and You will be fine.