The City of Lakes is known as a highly friendly city for bike riders.  Our bike lane system has become a selling point for marketing our city as well as a great way to cut green house gas emissions.  Frankly a drive lane + bike lane plan that works well for both bikers and drivers is the goal.  Our transit corridors must operate in a way that works efficiently for both bikes and cars while reducing car emissions.

I think both sides realize that the current system leaves something to be desired. Therein lies the opportunity to create a better bike + drive lane plan for our transit corridors.  The City Council needs to have the courage to revisit what is a highly personal and polarizing issue to many voters.  Frankly, I think that it is possible that we can install a better separation system between the car lanes and bike lanes than the current thin orange pylon (bollard) system.  The city council needs to come up with a plan that utilizes a more attractive separation barrier – so that our entire city does not look like a construction zone littered with broken pylons for twelve (12) months a year.  I also believe there needs to be some debate on winter riding conditions, where some bike routes continue year round but some lighter traveled streets might have their bike lane collapsed or become narrower in the difficult winter months in our city.

There is an opportunity here for better policy and a better plan. It is time to come to the table and come up with solutions that work well for our city.