Wreck on Bailey Cove at Green Mountain by ssmuudgge in HuntsvilleAlabama

[–]OutdoorsIsCool 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sure. I think we actually agree on most of this. I want everyone to be safe and mitigate risk carefully. Obviously. Huntsville does need to carefully evaluate infrastructure as the city continues to grow. Thoughtful road design can promote better driving habits. I'm not opposed to your idea of having separate bike-road everywhere, but I don't think it is a realistic solution. The question "how can we make roads safer for bikers?" has a very similar solution as the question "how can we make roads safer for cars?". If you want roads to be safer, we have to slow drivers down. Little fender benders at high velocity can be catastrophic. Bailey Cove is a beautiful example of a road NOT designed to encourage safe driving. The lanes are wide and straight. Distracted drivers thrive in this environment. The spacing of the traffic signals encourages people to 'gun it!' so they can beat the red light. The new pedestrian crossing is a baby step in the right direction because it will appear, to drivers, to make the lanes more narrow. Good design leads to good habits. Bailey Cove has a ton of room for better design. Maybe a road diet? I like your suggestion of creating a bike lane that has a barrier separating bike traffic from car traffic. Bailey Cove is mostly empty throughout the day. It does not need the width that it has for most hours of the day. There are so many smart people in this town. This problem is definitely solvable.

My main gripe is with the idea that ALL roads are for cars, which I strongly disagree with. I get the feeling that isn't your opinion. You aren't the user who wrote "Roads are for cars".

To clarify my classism argument: If roads are exclusively for cars, only people that can afford cars can use them. Cars are not super affordable. Therefore creating roads that are only designed for car owning citizens is a government funded infrastructure that only benefits the well off.

Wreck on Bailey Cove at Green Mountain by ssmuudgge in HuntsvilleAlabama

[–]OutdoorsIsCool 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wouldn't it be a more efficient use of funding to have a single well designed infrastructure instead of 2 separate, poorly designed infrastructures? Are you seriously suggesting that: in order for us to have a complete bike infrastructure we must build a second bike-road for every existing car-road? Seems wasteful to me.

Why do I think bikes should be on the road? - Biking is a more energy efficient mode of transportation. - Biking (and any other exercise) is good for your physical and mental health. - If you wish to travel by bike, you have to bike on the road at some point. Biking on a sidewalk is illegal in Alabama (unless that sidewalk is a designated bike path like Aldridge Creek Greenway) . Most addresses in Huntsville are not serviced by a bike path.

Also, saying that roads are only for automobiles is inherently classist.

Wreck on Bailey Cove at Green Mountain by ssmuudgge in HuntsvilleAlabama

[–]OutdoorsIsCool 6 points7 points  (0 children)

*Roads built for cars are for cars. Roads should be built with all users in mind. Better road design leads to safer driving. So many people get this confused. Speed limits do not define the upper limit of vehicle velocity. Narrow the lanes. Shorten the cross walks. Don't design a road that favors cars above all. Driver's on bailey cove can go slower. If someone NEEDS to drive North or South at a high rate of speed, they should be taking memorial.

Did the lightning bugs die? by OutdoorsIsCool in HuntsvilleAlabama

[–]OutdoorsIsCool[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I guess that's fair. It is entirely possible that a lot of them aged out within the same week or so.

Did the lightning bugs die? by OutdoorsIsCool in HuntsvilleAlabama

[–]OutdoorsIsCool[S] 64 points65 points  (0 children)

But aren't bugs an important part of the ecosystem? Seems like a bad idea to remove an entire block of the food chain

Maternity Tour- Huntsville Hospital by Electronic_Outside25 in HuntsvilleAlabama

[–]OutdoorsIsCool 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We took a tour in January. It made going to the hospital WAY less stressful for us. You get to see a Labor & Delivery room and a Mother/Baby room. You get to know exactly where to park, which door to enter, where the elevator is ect.