One in a series of "difficult riding" posts, describing some part of what should be an easy way to get around Ann Arbor that turns out to be exceptionally challenging.
Garbage day for South State Street in Ann Arbor is on Monday. After it's picked up, some of the cans live at least temporarily near or fully blocking the bike lane inbound. That lane is protected by flex posts for part of its way, from Granger to Hoover.
If I'm just out for a ride and not hustling to get into town, I'll stop from time to time and move cans out of the way and onto the easement, but there's only so much you can do every week. Residents are supposed to pick up their cans within 24 hours.
V., who rides that route frequently, has been keeping track. 38% of her rides have trash cans that obstruct the northbound bike lane on State Street between Granger and Hoover (4 blocks). Sunday night, Monday, and Tuesdays are the worst.
Gotta get the trash picked up right? So it's not easy to see how to fix this. It would help if the trash collector was mindful of this problem, but I don't know if their machinery is precise enough not to plant a trash can exactly in the space needed to make it not a problem.
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