Tag: bike lane

A look at Fresno’s first protected bicycle lane

It has finally happenedFresno has a protected bicycle lane! The new lane is located downtown, on R Street between Ventura Street and Tulare Street. The roadway previously did not have bicycle lanes, but had one lane in each direction, parking, and a central turn lane. The central turn lane was removed, the parking was moved out from the curb, and bicycle lanes were added between the curb and the parked cars. Additionally, regular bicycle lanes and sharrows were added between Tulare Street and Fresno Street, providing a link to Community Hospital.

protected map
The new lane is between the two stars

I’m not quite sure why this was chosen as Fresno’s first protected bike lane. Many years ago, there were talks of protected lanes on Fulton and Van Ness, connecting Downtown and the Tower district. Those were never built. This lane is a bit out of the way, but that may be intentional, as no one is around to NIMBY it. Now that it is in place, the city can point to it as an existing product, instead of a hypothetical, when it comes to future implementation. Click to read more!

Cyclist captures hit-and-run on camera

A teenager with a camera mounted on his handlebar caught a truck driver slamming into him. The truck was accelerating – rather than slowing down – to make a right turn at the upcoming light.The truck driver then fled the scene. Will Fresno PD act?

A TV station has the story, and apparently because they have the exclusive on the video, they have the “exclusive” on the news – I didn’t see any reporting in the Bee. 

The TV station is calling it an “accident” and running with the “both sides are to blame” angle. Why are both sides to blame? Because the wife of the driver says so.

KMPH news reporter Erika Cervantes spoke with RMS manager Marcey
Stark on the telephone. Stark told her that she did not want to comment
on camera, but Stark did say her husband was the person driving the car
that ran into the bicyclist. Stark also said that her husband told her
that the bicyclist is the one at fault, because he’s the one who hit the
car. Stark went on to say if her husband did something illegal Fresno
Police would contact them, but they haven’t, so she is not concerned
about it. She also added that Fresno Police need to hear her side of the
story and she’s skeptical that the bicyclist contacted a news station.
Then she hung up on Cervantes.
KMPH Click to read more!