As longtime members of the Cascade Bicycle Club, avid cyclists, and Mercer Island residents, we would like to ask for your help by observing some common sense safety rules when riding on Mercer Island.
Mercer Island is an understandably popular destination or ride segment for many cyclists and bicycle groups, but it also has its challenges. East and West Mercer are heavily shaded, narrow and hilly with limited shoulders. They also are main north-south arterials for motorists. Numerous runners and walkers make them popular pedestrian routes. Over the past 10 years there have been more than a hundred bicycle-car accidents on this loop. Complaints to the City Council from motorists were so numerous that several years ago the city considered passing ordinances aimed at reducing pelotons or other groups cycling on the Island.
After convincing the council not to impose restrictions on cyclists, a group of Mercer Island cyclists decided to take another approach. Since then we have worked to improve relations and safety among all those who use our streets and roads: pedestrians, cyclists and motorists. A secondary goal was to position cyclists as both good citizens and leaders in improving road safety. Over a year ago with the city’s help, we held an open Road Safety Summit, which both on and off-Island cyclists attended as well as local pedestrians and motorists. We spent several hours listening and discussing how to improve safety and courtesy without new laws or heightened enforcement. In the end we created a Mercer Island’s Best Practices for each major user group: drivers, pedestrians and cyclists.
The Best Practices recommend commonsense steps such as cyclists and pedestrians wearing bright or reflective clothing in low light conditions; motorists not talking on cell phones while driving; and cyclists pulling over when they are holding up five or more other vehicles.
In February, the City Council approved these Best Practices as a recommendation, not as enforceable ordinance. Now, we are asking the cycling community, including members of Cascade, to demonstrate leadership by observing them. We are asking the same of motorists and pedestrians. Given the potential benefit of improving the behavior of all three groups, we hope that our like-minded cycling brethren will sign on.
You should know that large groups of cyclists (aka pelotons) remain a hot-button issue for many Island motorists, especially for commuters driving home at the end of the day. East and West Mercer are curving, two-lane roads with many stretches where it is unsafe to pass large groups of cyclists. We ask you as individuals, as well as ride leaders, whenever possible to ride in groups smaller than six.
The Best Practices also suggests that, when safe to do so, cyclists ride single file on a paved shoulder. For the past 10 years the City of Mercer Island has paved miles of shoulders on East Mercer and West Mercer, in part to allow for a safer alternative for cyclists and pedestrians. This summer additional stretches of East Mercer have already been paved. We are not suggesting that anyone be “required” to yield to motorists by riding on a paved shoulder, especially if it is unsafe to do so, although state law does prohibit impeding more than five vehicles if it is safe to pull aside. Again, the Best Practices are simply a request do so whenever possible out of courtesy for other road users.
Another recommended “Best Practice” is to wear brightly colored clothing and use bike lights. Many parts of the Island are heavily wooded, and with all the cloudy weather and darkness in the rainy months, it just makes sense to improve visibility whenever possible. Too often we see cyclists and pedestrians without lights and wearing all black on rainy afternoons and evenings. The better course is to minimize the chances of being overlooked.
Many of us have seen the angry letters to the editor and online comments complaining about dangerous drivers or inconsiderate cyclists. We hope you will help us in our effort to break this vicious cycle by demonstrating the same courtesy and consideration that we expect from other road users. Cyclists in particular will benefit from the goodwill of motorists using the Mercer Ways by demonstrating consideration for others.
Thank you for your help.
Jim Stanton, Bob Olson, Mark Clausen, Lucia Pirzio-Biroli, Graham Hunter, Jolanne Stanton, Erik Jansen, Kirk Griffin, Frank Buty
On behalf of MI Cycling
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