One of Vashon’s most quirky and iconic sights will be gone by tomorrow as King County’s roads department is slated to remove the exercise bikes at Portage.

King County Roads Director Brenda Bauer said Friday that the move is a part of a new initiative to make sure all “clear zones” within 10 feet of roads are hazard-free. The county defines clear zones as an area at either side of a road that is “available for use by errant vehicles.”

“It’s just not safe,” Bauer said before explaining that there have also been multiple lawsuits in the county and the state in which objects in the clear zone have been blamed for crashes, making the city or county roads departments responsible for the crashes in the eyes of the law.

She said the department will hold onto the bikes for a few weeks in case another place is found where they can go.

While the county’s intentions for getting rid of the bikes are clear, it is also strange that it has taken the county so long to act when roads division documents from as far back as 2011 state that the division should remove all hazards in the clear zone. Bauer said the program was around in 2011, but was put on hold until now because of the recession.

The bikes have been in the same location for years (minus a few months in spring 2012 when they disappeared) and have become iconic, so why are they a problem now? There have been no documented incidents that occurred because of the bikes: No tourists have been hit and no cars have crashed.

The speed limit at the Portage Bay and Dockton roads intersection is slow, and drivers coming off of Portage Bay have a stop sign.

When the bikes disappeared briefly in 2012, the community was shocked and left wondering what happened. Many thought that a county road crew had tossed the bikes. At the time, islander Nadine Edelstein said that the removal could have been “an easy misunderstanding” by road crews that thought they were doing the community a favor, but Bauer said her department had no involvement in the 2012 disappearance.

Vashon is a place that prides itself on its quirks and the bikes are one of many that have become icons. The tradition of the bikes shouldn’t end because the county is stating that their current location is unsafe. The community needs to find a new location for them.

There is no shortage of beautiful views on this island that would lend themselves well to a few retro exercise bikes.