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Doris's Story - Bicyclists Should Use Bells

[Story collected in a personal interview.]

"I walk a lot. I usually walk downtown and back, or I walk on North Street and back. I do at least one long walk a day, and I take the bus all the time. I just love to walk outside. I walk for health reasons – I’m 77 years old, so I have to walk to stay alive!

"My only problem is the bicyclists on the sidewalks. They come right up behind you, and then they say, ‘On your left!’ ‘On your right!’ They scare me to death because I don’t hear them. I’m afraid I’m going to jump right in front of them! They’re much too close when they say something, and that’s just rude. The bicyclists are especially bad on Broadway. Often, I’ll walk down 13th Street because there are fewer cars and bicycles. It’s a nice street to walk down. Mapleton and Maxwell are also lovely. If the city could require bicyclists to use a bell – and if all the bells sounded basically the same – that would help the walkers. We would be able to hear them coming."
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walksMoreThanAnyOtherMode over 5 years ago
I have the same problem with bicyclists on the sidewalk, particularly along the sidewalks on Broadway north of downtown. It isn't legal to bicycle on sidewalks in business districts like this, but there are no dismount signs anywhere, and the city missed the opportunity to widen the sidewalks when they last rebuilt Broadway a decade or so ago. Why can't we at least have signage directing cyclists to use the bike routes over on 13th and and on 9th? As it is now, the sidewalks are narrow and unsafe for pedestrians!
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