I live pretty far Uptown. Just past Tulane University, but also pretty central.
I live so far up that cutting across the center of the circle/wheel/crescent is quicker than other ways.
St. Charles and Magazine are always slow routes due to traffic. Claiborne is lately just because of all the construction. Why are the not adding turn lanes when they are adding curbs and trees?
Anyway, by car, Tchoupitoulas is not too bad if you are already on that side of town.
But I have found out that Magazine is not too bad to bike down. I just don’t try to pass cars. I can keep pace with them, and they can’t complain about going slow due to me.
NOTE: when I bike I bike, I don’t wander. I hate people wandering in the quarter if there are cars around.
St. Charles is not bad at night… late.
I avoid central city though I have biked in parts even at night. (Yea, I’ve done Oretha C Haley at night)
Years ago, I was shown Earhart its a nice diaganal route from way uptown avoids the extra loop of going around central city towards the river. It avoids the heavy traffic of Claiborne. It has a great shoulder (concrete). There are some cars parked by some shops around lopez (there parking lot is not big enough–argh), and the projects (yea I feel pretty safe riding by there, but wish they had parking). It also gets pretty messed up just after the Home Depot on your way into the city. The shoulder goes away, and you ‘could’ take the sidewalk for a block or so, but its very winded, and kinda disappears when you need to cross by the train station/simon bolivar.
I have recently been shown Lafitte St. from the quarter to Bayou St. John. I’ve heard about the trail they are wanting to put in. Still no progress after 3 years or so. I had wondered about safety, but on the street, I feel pretty safe, it pretty smooth, and angled towards uptown. (safer than Orleans Ave) but I must wonder about when it either gets enough bike traffic to draw attention (but not enough to have a ton of good eyes), and also when the projects (er….. mixed income) get rebuilt.
When taking Lafitte, it drops you off at Jefferson Davis Pkwy, its great because it has a great trail on it, and so far feels pretty safe too. There are a few spots its rough i.e. why have a sidewalk that has a 6 inch ramp cresting in the middle. Just keep it street height. To keep water going somewhere? Well when it hits the end of the median (yea its a median there not neutral ground) it/water crosses anyway.) The trail, I believe its intended for biking as well as jogging and walking. (as do the cars who honk if I am on the road instead of the trail — yea honking is reckless driving, as its a known safety hazard for bikers–it causes them to look, and looking often causes the biker to lean and swerve into the lane. Be careful if you feel the need to honk to let them know you are there — Yea cars are quieter than ever. Perhaps you the car driver should just wait a second, or truly pass as you would a car.)
Anyway, back to the jefferson davis trail, it is nice to be separate from traffic going up the hill/bridge over I-10, but between Tulane Ave, and Washington, it swerves too much, and has too many ramps. I end up taking the road over the bridge. Coming from uptown I must cross traffic to get to the trail only to swerve and meander a lot on the trail. Going either direction, I want ride out room. I’m going 20+ miles per hour going down the hill and want all the momentum I can get after peddling up the huge bridge, and going uptown, I want all the help I can getting up the incline approaching the canal at Washington.
Things I came across when writing this:
Cop ticketed driver tailgating and honking at me today!
$1400 ticket for reckless driving on a bicycle — From the comments: Washington state says police should assist not ticket drunk bikers. Interesting since they ticket you for DUI on nearly anything in most states. It sounds like it is intended for those walking, but also covers those riding….