After watching the Netherlands bike path videos, it is clear to me more
than ever that the communities that have realized that bikes and cars
don't play well together, and have built separate infrastructure for the
two, have strong bicycling communities. It seems to me that the bike
activists in Madison fight a bit too hard insisting that bikes and cars
DO mix well together.
I believe that bikes and pedestrians are actually a better fit. One of
the Netherlands videos in particular shows a clear mingling of
pedestrians and bikes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlQYP4WN-5w&feature=related
(If you watch long enough, there is a section that is in real time, and
not sped up.)
When I fought to have the East Mifflin Bike Blvd. be a true blvd, with
through traffic blocked, I was told this is too much to ask. The
Bicycle Federation was at a neighborhood bike blvd meeting, and while
they were enthusiastic for a true bike blvd, they felt a sign was enough
too. A sign does not make a bike blvd.
As one who is a very polite, yet defensive cyclist, and who was put in
the hospital by a car that ran a stop sign, it is NOT safe on our
streets for bikes. A portion of my route home in the Tenney Lapham
neighborhood is down East Johnson street, where I have 2 feet of
operating space. Cars sometimes buzz by within 2 feet of me. All I
need is for one inattentive driver on a cell phone to take me out.
This is a plea for separate paths for bikes, like it would seem to me
exists in the videos from the Netherlands. For a true bike blvd on
East Mifflin so that my Tenney Lapham neighborhood has a safe route to
send our kids.
Regards,
David Waugh
1213 East Mifflin
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