Chutes and Ladders - Gay Street Viaduct is Uphill Battle

Chutes and Ladders: why pedal over when you can pedal under?

Today I had an exam at 8:10 and needed to be on campus a bit early.

I hoped that perhaps parking on a level spot would let my car's clutch ease back into some kind of working order.

Nope.

Biking time.

Gloves. Check.

Down water resistant jacket: check.

Hat with ear flaps: check.

So I made my way to campus in cold, snowy conditions in time to print off my "reference sheet" at in Hodges Library.

What could make the morning in snowy weather more pleasant easier?

Today I took a route through the old city.  One of my least favorite spots to navigate is Jackson at the Gay Street Viaduct.

The decorative brickwork is awesome and historic, but a pain to bike on.  Plus, why should I bike UP the ramp on Jackson to the viaduct, brake at a stop sign, then lose all that hard-won altitude?

It's much easier just to take the lower portion of Jackson UNDER the Gay Street Viaduct, then pop up.

So I do that.  Complaint?  The pavement is uneven and broken, and it kinda looks like a post-apocalyptic nightmare in sections.  When the Jackson Avenue portion of the viaduct is done, I hope that amenities for cyclists UNDER the viaduct on "old" Jackson, so to speak, will be considered.  

But I still have to bike UP Broadway to get to campus - it's a waste of energy and a date with a Federal Highway.  Not so bad for now - but once the Henley Bridge opens - I'll have to cut across an Interstate exit ramp to get to the Candy Factory viaduct and get to campus.  There's a high chance I'll be smushed by a car as I merge across two lanes.

So the safer option would be a passage UNDER 441, down behind the former McClung warehouses, Southeastern Glass, and Foundry.  This would connect the Old City with the Second Creek Greenway running through World's Fair Park and down to the Neyland Greenway on the Tennessee River.

Bikes on roads is not my first choice.  It's dangerous for cyclists and motorists.  Plus, I'm working pretty hard to move on a road - you never saw Lance Armstrong sucking on a tailpipe (Nevermind other things he was putting into his body - Carbon Monoxide and partially combusted hydrocarbons were not among them). 

Greenways are the "secret gardens" of the transportation world and give a "cheat code" to the city - if we can connect them.