July 3, 2024

Sharing Concerns About Bike Safety on Witherspoon Street

To the Editor:

It was a beautiful sunny day. I used my new multi-geared bike to travel from Bank Street to the hardware store in the Princeton Shopping Center. I decided to take the new Witherspoon Street with the “sharrows.” Because Witherspoon Street slopes downward to Valley Road, I was traveling along in the highest gear at a good clip.

Three cars came up behind me honking their horns and passed me at high speed over the two don’t pass lines, seemingly trying to cut me off. A fourth car also passed illegally and the driver gave me the finger, yelling out the window, “get the f— off the road.” What about “share the road” do they not understand?

If this continues, sooner or later someone is going to get seriously injured or killed on Witherspoon Street. For public safety, perhaps better signing, slower speed limits, police surveillance, or restricting all bicycles should be considered.

Tony Nelessen, PP, CNU, MArch UD
Emeritus Professor
Bank Street