Christofoo Review

Shortly after I started commuting, google released map instructions by bike, which I think is now superior to the old bike map that Salt Lake made in 2005. I tested it on my route and it wasn't too bad, but it is still pretty new and imperfect. I still recommend a little time studying satellite and street level photos of your route before you ride.

My own route has a few problem areas. Salt Lake City has made some progressive steps to be friendly to bicycles, and the City's heart is in the right place, but they could do better here and there:

• Heading East on 1700 South, there is a steep hill between 900 East and 1500 East, and this area is somewhat narrow, often with parked cars, and can have a lot of traffic at the time I travel. Fortunately there is an excellent alternate route using Westminster Ave, a very quiet street. I think SLC could label Westminster Ave as a bikeway between 900 E and 1500 E. It's a much better route, at least in my opinion, heading uphill. In truth, a bike is a vehicle and has rights to any route (except freeways), but a labelled route makes it easier for cyclists to navigate.
  
• 1700 South turns into a 4-lane road in between State Street and Pioneer Rd, with speed limits up to 40 mph. In places the bike lanes are 1 foot wide, in other places the bike lanes and the shoulders disappear. The saving grace of this corridor is that the traffic is usually quite light, which makes me wonder why it has 4 lanes. Generally I will take the right lane and keep it unless I see someone approaching in some manner that makes me nervous. Most cars will just take the other lane, but the oddball jerk will approach within 10 feet behind me before swerving halfway into the other lane, passing me at a 2 foot distance, then swerving right back into the lane. My intention is to pull away to the right at the same time that someone approaches in that manner, because I have no faith in such drivers and criminal prosecution isn't going to make me feel any better about my death. Salt Lake could possibly make this safer by repainting certain areas or widening the street, if possible, but then I suppose I'm probably a minority stake-holder on this one.
  
• There is a train track that crosses 1700 South at about 600 West, and this train can be unbelievably long and slow, sometimes it even stops while blocking the road. I've never waited for a whole train, but I believe someone can wait for this train for over 30 minutes at times. SLC could possibly label 700W, 1300S, and 500W as a "Train Track Bypass" or something. Every day a dozen cars sit behind those gates wondering whether they will ever see the other side.
  
• When the train is on the tracks, the alternate bridge on 1300 S is a terrifying place to be on a bike. The roadway is 4 lanes with absolutely no shoulders, and the bridge is quite steep, and I'm not strong enough to keep my speed above around 8 mph over the whole climb, whereas the cars are generally moving 25-35 mph. My strategy is to wait for a red light at the nearby intersection, and occupy the whole right lane, and to clear the top of the bridge before the light turns green. Another way to cross is to use the side-walk on the north-most side of the bridge, but this involves crossing two intersections as a pedestrian, and the side-walk is very narrow and requires dismounting, and I consider the light-timing method to be safer. 1300 S is labeled as a preferred bike route in SLC's bikeway map of 2005, my recommendation to SLC is to paint the entire right lane for bike use,  in the the same manner that they labeled lanes in the downtown area. It would be even better if they could rebuild the whole thing wider with a bike lane and a side-walk on both sides, but I have no idea how old the bridge is or when it will be due for replacement. Repainting is certainly cheaper.