New bike paths in Tel Aviv more like obstacle courses

Tel Aviv has just completed its much-touted work on creating bicycle paths along Rehov Ibn Gvirol, but riders are finding that the new paths are more like obstacle courses.

By MIRIAM BULWAR DAVID-HAY
bike lane 88 (photo credit: )
bike lane 88
(photo credit: )
Tel Aviv has just completed its much-touted work on creating bicycle paths along Rehov Ibn Gvirol, but riders are finding that the new paths are more like obstacle courses, reports Yediot Tel Aviv. Concrete blocks, electricity poles, trees, bus-stops and even a lotto booth have been placed squarely in the middle of the bicycle paths, forcing riders to weave around them. According to the report, the city's recently completed extensive renovation work on Rehov Ibn Gvirol included replacing all the sidewalks, building traffic islands, installing new lighting and creating new bicycle paths. But unlike many cities overseas, where bicycle paths are placed between the sidewalk and the road, in Tel Aviv they are placed on the sidewalk itself. This means that electricity poles, bus stops and other obstacles jut into the path or block it entirely, with the "highlight" being the lotto booth that sits squarely across the entire bicycle path. The report says that the obstacles "defeat the purpose" of having a bicycle path and endanger pedestrians as riders are forced to weave in and out. At least one municipal official described the bicycle paths as "a sad joke." But Dr. Moshe Tiomkin, who holds the city's transport portfolio, said the city is aware of the problem and is working on relocating the obstacles, although removing some of them is "complicated." "The aim is that the entire path will be clear," Tiomkin said.