It seems strange to read that the mayor is distraught at an overcrowded courthouse, but not overcrowded streets that went from two lanes to one.
Both 55th Street and 39th Street are alike in that parents and school buses can create havoc on single-lane streets, especially where left-hand turns can be executed. In these pre-back-to-school days, only one vehicle got through the light change on a left-hand turn on 39th Street and 30th Avenue.
Alberta’s Traffic Act states that it is illegal to cross a solid line, yet some bike lanes are solid to the corner and some are not. Thus right-hand turns will be attempted from the left (centre) lane!
It was bad enough for Red Deerians to turn a corner correctly before these changes. They often turn into the left lane when making a right-hand turn and into the right lane when making a left-hand turn. We have witnessed police and peace officers doing this as well as school bus drivers!
We are relative newcomers to Red Deer and are curious as to the numbers of bicycle accidents on city streets. How will these compare to exhaust pollution and winter smog from idling vehicles backed up for a block or three?
Ed Rowell
Red Deer