Don't bike on me

A judge rules that the city of Seattle wasn't wrong to return to the halycon days of the 19th century (rails were originally put down on city streets because it made it easier for the horse to pull the streetcar);

A King County Superior Court judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by six bicyclists who claimed the South Lake Union streetcar tracks caused them to crash and that the city of Seattle knowingly allowed unsafe conditions.

Judge Harry McCarthy last week agreed with the city that the cyclists hadn't proved the city fell short of any design or engineering standards when it placed the streetcar tracks on the right side of the roadway, where bikes were likely to travel, rather than in the center.

Another part of the lawsuit was dismissed last year when a different judge ruled the city was immune from liability in its decision to build a streetcar and align it in the right-hand lane.

"We never disputed the tracks were a hazard," said Rebecca Boatright, assistant city attorney who handled the case. "The legal question was whether we fell short of any engineering standard in designing a road with a streetcar. The judge concluded we did not."