Muscle Powered board member Tim Rowe offered an update on the Hwy 395 widening.
Please note – Monumental Day last week – the wall came down!
Yes, the non-bicycle friendly K-Rail concrete wall was completely removed on Hwy 395 South from Jacks Valley/Sunridge to Hwy 50 west. They started removing the wall Tuesday night and Wednesday as paving has been completed on the widening project. Douglas County also sand/oiled their part of Topsy Lane. Will be interesting to see how the contractor now stripes the new lane/shoulder with the existing temporary narrow & bumpy lanes and old rumble strip. Has been a reduced bicycle mile event here all summer but we survived.
Note that this certainly limited my riding to work and back. As, I would only ride to work early on the weekend when traffic was lighter and I felt somewhat safe. Making the hard right turn on Topsy Lane east bound on to gravel/various grades and equipment present was really interesting – especially on skinny tires and even in a car/truck. That is to say when Topsy Lane was open, as the contractor had it closed most days, and sometimes at night, and then without proper signage. Guess now bicyclists only just have to deal with the barrels/cones and rumble strip – but at least there is an escape route! I will certainly be glad when this is all over and I can ride to work and back more often.
Now we only have one real bicycle unfriendly construction area – Edmonds Ave. Note that the concrete wall/high fence on the southbound side has now been expanded to almost a full mile! I will Only ride Edmonds north bound and Only during off hours.