First let me admit that I’m not a cyclist and I have an extra 30 pounds under my belt to prove it. In the interest of full disclosure, I drive a little Ford pickup and a not-so-little Explorer. With all due respect to my pal Steve Abel, I disagree that the rumble strips are worthy of the rumble. Truth be known, I welcome them, even though I hear the dreaded rumble right outside my bedroom very early each morning.

In addition to providing a wake-up call to weary or distracted drivers texting their way to work, the strips provide a valuable buffer zone between the road space designed for motor vehicles and the bike lane reserved for cyclists. The fog line is the line of demarcation between the two, and neither the cyclist nor the driver should consider the fog line a reasonable or prudent place to put their tires. As the Cascade Bicycle Club noted, a bike lane four-feet wide provides ample room for cyclists and a rumble strip designed to keep vehicles and bicycles from occupying the same space. Each operator — cyclist and driver — has a clear and undeniable warning if they violate the buffer zone. Any cyclist riding to the right of the rumble strip is much more apt to receive the “give them three feet” they regularly demand than if they are riding on or across the fog line.

Having heard the rumble ruckus, I watched more than a dozen cyclists as they navigated the rumble-stripped bike lane on Sunday. None of them were scowling. All of them appeared to be enjoying the fresh air, and all of them were well out of harm’s way from my front bumper. The county has been very careful not to rumble-strip sections where the bike lane is necessarily narrow. As a result, I think we’ve got a safer highway for cyclists and vehicle drivers alike. It will be even safer when they finish the project.

— John van Amerongen