Tonight, a prime example happened. An older man on a wobbly was ahead of me in the right lane, going southbound on Buena Vista at the Calumet Grove entrance. It was 6:50 p.m. and the sun had already set. It was "dusk", and low visibility. The man was dressed in dull grayish clothes, excelpt for his dull red shirt, and bike was grayish too. It was not easy to see him.
I stayed behind him because other cars were coming up behind me doing 35 mph as is the speed limit, and they had to "swerve" to go around me in my car, trailing behind the man going 11 miles per hour in a 35 mph zone. I eventually passed him, but I had to wait for the cars coming up behind me as they "swerved" to the left because they didn't expect a car or bicyclist ahead to be going only 11mph.
There was not a single cart or bike anywhere in sight on the multi-modal path, where this man should have been riding. From Calumet Grove all the way south to 466, I saw only one golf cart going southbound on the multi-modal, and I saw only 2 going northbound. The multimodal was empty and wide open.
Now I would like somebody to explain how it is preferable and safe for a wobbly, uncertain bicycle rider to be on a 4-lane avenue going 11 mph in a 35mph zone……
But a regular golf cart with power to accelerate, and ability to go 20 mph, is not allowed on that avenue amidst car traffic going 35. (I'm not saying I want regular carts in it. I'm comparing the safety.)
To me it makes no sense. The multimodal path was open and perfect for this type of rider.
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