Tag Archives | roads

Beirut’s New Bike Lane is Just Impractical

By Rami on May 1, 2017 in Beirut, Traffic

It has been less than 10 days since the unveiling of Beirut’s first bike lane and it is already proving to be impractical, not only because drivers are unsurprisingly ignoring it, but also for the simple fact that it was set up on the left side of the road whereas bikers are obliged by traffic laws to ride on the right side of the road and on the bike lane where it exists. The result is an experience as the one you can see in the below video.

The problem lies in the fact that the lane seems to have been set up in a way not to disturb the valet parking guys who occupy the right lane day and night. You just can’t expect something to function correctly when you start it wrong… In my opinion, the municipality and Beirut by Bike are using this bike lane thing as a stunt to appear like they’re doing something for the city while they know beforehand that no one will make use of it, and best of all, it costs nothing to draw lines on the road!

We can barely fit cars in our street, let alone creating bike lanes, so in order to make that happen the municipality must first work on rehabilitating the roads, and in if it’s impossible then I think they better focus on improving something else and take proper credit for it.

video via Mohamad Cheblak

Terrible traffic at Ouzai this morning

By Rami on October 24, 2013 in Lebanon

Earlier this month, minister Marwan Charbel imposed a new traffic plan on truck drivers to keep them from driving during rush hours in order to reduce congestion on the main roads.

The drivers eventually didn’t like this plan, so they started complaining about it in the media until they decided to go on a protest today. And being the geniuses they are, they didn’t do that in front of the ministry of interior or any other reasonable place, on the other hand, they simply decided to block the Ouzai highway which is used by thousands everyday to reach Beirut, which made people wait for like an hour or two in their cars this morning! I know because I was one of them.

Police officers were as usual just watching the protestors, and not daring to speak a word with them, while trying to organize the traffic a bit.

Balad mat3oub 3leih!

Is Beirut Segway friendly?

By Rami on November 14, 2011 in Lebanon

I just read on Lindsay’s blog that she spotted a group of people on Segways in Hamra, so I Googled it a little and was surprised to find that we already have a Segway dealer here in Beirut, in addition to two companies offering Segway tours in Beirut and Byblos.

But before we get excited about it, how good are the roads in Beirut for a Segway? I personally can’t think of another good place to drive it except in the downtown, I mean some potholes around here are large enough to make a Segway easily disappear!

Out of subject: Wazawiz will definitely figure out a way to do a wheelie with this thing!

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Tag Archives | roads