Ghost Bike Removed Hours After Installed
Written by Boston Biker on Aug 24In Lincoln apparently even placing a ghost bike is too much for the locals.
More than anything, Erik Limpaecher was surprised.
The Concord resident late Sunday night erected a “ghost bike” along a busy road in the neighboring town of Lincoln, near where a cyclist was killed in a crash on Aug. 17. By Monday morning, the memorial, a stripped-down bike painted a glaring white and adorned with a sign bearing the victim’s name, had vanished.
“I didn’t expect it to be taken down within hours,” said Limpaecher. “It was really disappointing.”
Limpaecher said he spoke to a police officer parked near where the ghost bike had been chained to a stop sign on Virginia Road. The officer told Limpaecher that the bike had been removed by the town, and would need to be placed on private property if he wanted it to stay up.
“The police officer was deferential, and said he appreciated the sentiment, but said some people don’t appreciate having such a stark reminder of a tragedy like that,” said Limpaecher. “I assume they [took it down] because of some interpretation of the town’s laws. But I would hope that they would have empathy for the family of the cyclist, and for the cycling community.”
Insensitive, and problematic. Particularly this little gem:
Higgins said the stop sign chosen as the location is at the corner of a “heavily traveled intersection, where the roadways meet at a sharp angle.”
“A more inappropriate location could not have been chosen,” he said, because it can be distracting to drivers.
Oh you mean like get them to slow down because apparently people are dying in this area while riding their bicycles?
Boston used to do this sort of thing in the bad old days, and it solved nothing and only made the problem worse.
I can’t imagine a worse way to handle this sort of thing, city of Lincoln, get your shit together. Maybe Lincoln can call up the Boston city hall and ask them how to get their heads out of their asses.
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