Re. Red Deer’s new bike lanes
I am writing to voice my opinion of the new bike lanes being incorporated on many of Red Deer’s busiest streets.
I am not opposed to kids riding their bikes to school, but I am opposed to where the bike lanes have been put.
Why was there not a plebiscite on this? An exchange of ideas?
I am a professional driver in Red Deer and as such drive all over the city, mainly during school commuter hours.
The bike lanes on 40th Avenue, 39th Street and 55th Street will cause nothing but havoc for morning commuters.
Yes, some of this traffic is parents taking their children to school, but a lot of it is people going to work and using the main routes.
My own children rode their bikes but wouldn’t be now. It is far more dangerous to put children on the road with traffic than to have put an extra path beside the sidewalk and make that a bike lane.
All the schools in these areas have bus transportation of some kind, and this is just going to add to the confusion and congestion.
It is a poorly thought-out plan and should have had more public input before it was implemented.
40th Avenue and 55th Street are the main roads to get from Inglewood to the downtown core and across the river.
With all the buses and traffic, why would you funnel everyone into two lanes?
55th street is already so congested that sometimes in the morning you sit through a light twice before you get across.
How is putting a bike lane in going to relieve that?
All I see happening is frustrated and impatient drivers, which leads to increased speed and accidents.
Elizabeth Leinweber
Red Deer