Question: Why aren’t all bike lanes in the city painted green?

Answer: Money. Money,money, money. That’s what transportation engineer Jerry Dobrovolny told me last week, when I nabbed him just before the viaducts report.

I had thought perhaps they were limiting the green because of some other reason. I noticed a couple of times when I drove over a green spot in the rain that my wheels seemed to slide. (Someone standing beside Jerry said maybe I was driving too fast, when I asked about that. So unlikely! Every time I have to cross a bike lane on Dunsmuir, where it happened, I’m so terrified I’m going to hit a cyclist inadvertently, because it’s very hard to see behind as you’re turning right off Dunsmuir, that I’m usually creeping along.)

But he said, no, the green paint is actually mixed with some sand and they’re even less slippy than regular asphalt. But engineering just doesn’t have the budget to paint all of the lanes instantly. So they’re chugging along, doing it slowly but surely.