02-14-2016, 03:51 PM
Bicycle lanes; ca. mid-00's
For over fifty years city council approached the universities and its students as a disease that needed to be kept in check. For example University Ave. is zoned commercial throughout its original length except when close to university where it was mandated to remain residential, lest a university look and feel were to develop. An even more egregious example was the lack of biking facilities in town. We are blessed with wide roads near the two universities which could easily have accommodated cycling lanes with minimum cost, and indeed when the finally the decision was made to add cycling lanes, they quickly spread through the region. Sadly, they are still underutilized, but they are a good first step towards a cycling infrastructure in the city.
For over fifty years city council approached the universities and its students as a disease that needed to be kept in check. For example University Ave. is zoned commercial throughout its original length except when close to university where it was mandated to remain residential, lest a university look and feel were to develop. An even more egregious example was the lack of biking facilities in town. We are blessed with wide roads near the two universities which could easily have accommodated cycling lanes with minimum cost, and indeed when the finally the decision was made to add cycling lanes, they quickly spread through the region. Sadly, they are still underutilized, but they are a good first step towards a cycling infrastructure in the city.