The four of us met-up at a Kroger, along Whitlock. There was a bit of overcast, but no rain. We cycled up one of the only “bike lanes” in the city, along Polk, which was really a painted shoulder, for a short segment and not up to true bike lane standards. Having to cross into the main lanes to turn, we encountered a few angry drivers, even one traveling in the opposite direction chose to yell something at us while honking. A few people did give a friendly wave, though.
Despite its proximity to the M2R trail, Sessions Stand has no bike parking. So, we laid our bikes against the wall. After grabbing some coffee and chatting, we started our trip back. Traffic had picked up around 11 AM, and many cars seemed annoyed having to follow cyclists and quickly sped around us. Cars traveled at high speeds despite the neighborhood character of these streets. We ended up back at Kroger and talked about a variety of items: MSPLOST, another cycling route, and safe streets.
Some big takeaways, provided by Sam Foster:
- There are roads in Marietta that are big enough to accommodate protected big lanes. One of those roads, Polk St Ext, had a 3 ft unprotected bike lane and 4 car lanes. It’s not even a busy street.
- We need more bike racks, our starting point and ending point had none.
- There are calm streets in Marietta that can be designated as neighborhood greenways. These are streets that require almost no new infrastructure, but people feel safe riding on them because the speeds are so slow. They would add to the city’s bike network and provide connectivity to the trails.
