As the tracks of the South Lake Union Transit have been laid, numerous reports of bicycle accidents have turned up in these areas, particularly at the Fairview-Valley intersection, where left-turning bicyclists are hard-pressed to approach the tracks at a 90-degree angle.

In addition to the streetcars themselves, cyclists must take care to avoid the streetcar tracks, which can easily ensnare the average city bike tire.

Joe Pomerleau, a bicycle commuter, learned about this new safety hazard the hard way.

“I was biking to work downtown heading towards Mercer Street,” Pomerleau wrote in an e-mail. “I crossed over the rail line and my back tire got caught and threw me off my bike, shattering my left elbow. I probably will not have full functionality of my left arm again because of this.”

Unfortunately, Pomerleau is not alone.

On Dec. 6, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported another streetcar related accident along Westlake. Additionally, many online blogs and message boards, run by groups such as Seattle Likes Bikes, turn up many instances of accidents and injuries related to the new tracks.

“We like the idea of the streetcar and support expanding the network,” said David Hiller, advocacy director for the Cascade Bicycle Club, which has received at least nine reports of severe injuries from cyclists.

A 2005 technical report prepared for the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) by Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade & Douglas, Inc. alludes to the potential hazards at intersections such as Fairview-Valley and the need for alternate routes along some of the main stretches of track.

“Unfortunately, the Seattle Department of Transportation ignored the safety concerns and decided it was better to get the streetcar built quickly, rather than correctly,” Hiller said.

Portland’s experience with the streetcar may serve as a lesson for streetcar designers.

“There were crashes — and still continue to be crashes — at some intersections, where bicyclists have to approach the tracks at a very acute angle,” said Roger Geller, who at the time served as a project manager for Portland’s bicycle program.

Geller, who now serves as Portland’s bicycle coordinator, also recalls that there were many conflicts with streetcar tracks and platforms, which were originally located in the rightmost lane.

In response, the city put up warning signs and took bicyclists’ concerns into consideration when expanding the streetcar lines, keeping the tracks and platforms in the left-hand and center lanes and providing safer alternative routes for bicyclists.

Although proponents of the South Lake Union streetcar were quick to cite Portland’s success story when pitching the idea to Seattle, they neglected to incorporate some of the hard lessons learned by that city’s commuters.

SDOT now finds itself in a similar position, scrambling to put up warning signs. They now have 40-50 signs posted, said Josh Stepherson, SDOT’s community liaison for the streetcar line. SDOT urge bicycles to use extreme caution when pedaling along these potentially hazardous areas.

SDOT has also completed a joint use path near the especially treacherous Fairview-Valley intersection and are researching the use of rubber “flange” filler for the streetcar tracks, which would support the weight of a bicycle, yet yield under the pressure of the streetcars.

By the end of 2008, SDOT plans to add a bike lane to Eastlake Avenue and add more signs directing bicyclists to alternate routes, such as Dexter Avenue.

There are also plans to convert Ninth Avenue North, which runs parallel to Westlake, into a two-way street, with bicycles lanes in each direction; that may take until at least early 2009, Stepherson said, due to interference from construction in this area.

“We realize that there have been many serious issues and are working hard to fix them,” he said. “Both bicycles and streetcars are important to increasing our ability to get around more easily and out of our cars.”

[Reach reporter Christian Nelson at news@thedaily.washington.edu.]