Battle of the bike lanes

Last autumn, the main drag in town was finally repaved and new lines laid down on the road. For the first time we had bike lane lines on the edges of both sides of the street. It surprised me the first time I saw them. The street sees heavy traffic and it didn’t seem like a particularly wise use of road space (or parking space), but there they were and what are you gonna do? We all learned to cope and bike riders finally had a lane where they felt somewhat protected. Drivers were aware, daily, that the bike lanes were off limits and I’m sure that has made it much safer for bike riders. We have a lot of bike riders, especially kids riding to school in the mornings for 9 months out of the year. They ride in the winter as well as summer, if the roads are clear enough.

Wellll....many people have complained, looks like. Now the mayor has decided it was a bad idea and she wants to have the bike lane lines eliminated. To the tune of $10,000. Now lots of other people are complaining over the frivolous use of money to erase lines when we’re too strapped to pay for things like lifeguards at the beach—or school books.

I don’t really like the bike lanes, but now that they’re there, I think they should stay. They serve a good purpose. I’m happier to see people riding in them with drivers taking care not to drive in the bike lanes. It works. Bike riders are safer. And it would cost a lot less to leave the lanes than remove them.

Reading the paper this morning suggests this is going to be a city-wide battle of epic proportions. Money will be raised to campaign for both sides of the argument and much energy will be expended. And I sat there for a few moments thinking that in our current world, fighting over bike lanes seems pretty darned stupid. Just think what else could be accomplished with all that time and money being spent on something that won’t even be remembered in a couple of years. This is where my cynicism kicks into high gear and I am convinced that politics is the worst of human inventions.