The brouhaha in Coronado shows what a vocal minority can do:
http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2015/sep/23/coronado-bike-lanes/
http://www.kpbs.org/news/2015/sep/23/coronado-puts-brakes-all-future-bike-lanes-after-r/
Here are the insane things people opposing bike lanes have to say when they have no real argument:
- Gerry Lounsbury: “You are covering Coronado with paint stripe pollution.”
- Aileen Oya: “The graffiti on the streets does not help our property values.”
- Carolyn Rogerson: The lanes “bring to mind a visual cacophony that if you look there long enough it will induce a dizzying type of vertigo.”
- Gerry MacCartee: “These black streets with these brilliant white lines everywhere ... it takes away from your home, from your outlook on life.”
- Darby Monger: “It’s very similar to personally taking all three of my daughters to a tattoo parlor and having them completely body tattooed.”
I am in awe of the opposition to these bike lanes.. I will say that based on the speakers at the city council meeting it does seem that not all sets of the community were well represented. It really seemed like there were no young or even male representatives speaking out against the bike lanes at all, and maybe the problem was anyone with common sense would have thought nobody would have problems with the bike lanes in the first place so the supporters didn't show up. The city had awarded the contract to a contractor already so I wonder how much the city had to pay to get out of it.. I mean I see that yes for people who moved to an area because of a clean look with no markings or whatever and they probably don't ride bikes so they could care less about cyclists safety. There was a quote in the story by someone who had been in 5 bicycle accidents and said that lanes wouldn't have prevented them.. well maybe the lanes could have if the person behind the bike had half a brain to know that bike lanes have a purpose and do affect drivers behaviors.
ReplyDeleteYeah, this strikes me as a situation where a few very loud people derailed something very late in the process, which is just a terrible way to do business. "Ways public participation can go horribly awry" should be a lesson in our public participation class.
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