Carol Becker writes: "I think one of the biggest issues with balancing modes in the downtown is that the City has taken a whole traffic lane out of automobile service and turned them into bike lanes on several major streets, substantially reducing the carrying capacity of the street system overall. Fewer people can now get in and out of the downtown because of this change and this is adding
substantially to traffic problems in the downtown. This, in turn, makes the downtown less economically viable as a business center when compared to suburban locations. Accommodating all modes of transportation is very important but this tradeoff seems to have large negative consequences." Robert replies: This is what irritates cyclists, the sheer arrogance of car drivers. Where is the balance in this. Do I get space on the road if I pay taxes? maybe... if I'm good. Carol thinks I should get my 3 feet, but not in her backyard. Carol, it's called sharing, try it, it might feel good. She also doesn't consider that a bike is taking up less room, carrying that one person to their destination. Another lane of traffic would actually make things worse not better. The roads she is talking about are called freeways, we have them and I believe they are being used now by at least some people..... What Carol wants is to move cars and not people, look at the occupancy of most commuter vehicles. One car, one driver. I know we tried car-pooling, It didn't work, yeah, that's the problem, it didn't work because people have grown accustomed to their freedom and to hell with the rest of the world, where, oh, where have I heard this before?, could it be Johannesburg? Yeah, I'll compromise, I'll stop at every stop sign and light at 20 below zero when people who drive are willing to compromise. Real compromise, it's called sharing.... I won't hold my breath. But the best, the absolute topper, is that the sidewalks will be rolled up and we'll all move to the suburbs if we give our city streets over to bikes, busses and walkers....yeah, when is the revolution coming.... I've been waiting to have free and unobstructed use of all lanes and streets. Dream on!!!! It seems the only rational thing to do would require everyone who works downtown must live downtown..... On second thought......we'll just pave the seven county metro area, take out some houses, some buildings, an oak savannah, endanger a spring, yeah that sounds like balance. Thinking about starting the first sarcastics' anonymous, right here in carsville...... Robert Yorga St. Anthony West Should you want to contain something, you must deliberately let it expand. Should you want to weaken something, you must deliberately let it grow strong. Should you want to eliminate something, you must allow it to flourish. Should you want to take something away, you must deliberately grant it. This is called subtle illumination. Flexibility and yielding overcome adamant coerciveness. Fish shouldn't be taken from the depths; the effective tools of the nation shouldn't be shown to others. .......from the Tao Te Ching _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
