D.C. bike lanes should be two-way streets

Regarding the Nov. 14 story "No doubt about it -- this lane is for bike traffic":

Southbound cyclists on 15th Street NW may not doubt that the new curbside bike lane is meant for them, but northbound cyclists seem clueless about where they're supposed to ride. I know because I nearly took one out on a dark, rainy night this past week.

The District Department of Transportation's well-intentioned redesign suffers from one major flaw: It fails to account for human nature. The large, bright white lettering on the far left lane warns drivers turning left to watch for bicycles and pedestrians, but it also seems to signal northbound cyclists that they should ride in that lane, too, rather than in the far right lane, where much less visible lane markings allegedly "encourage" them to ride.

The new design certainly doesn't eliminate the chances of "dooring" a cyclist. And the photo accompanying the story showed ample room for the curbside bike lane to be made bi-directional as long as cyclists ride single file. DDOT ought to do that.

Alan J. Roth, Washington