Not all streets suitable for bike lanes

In the rush to add bicycling lanes to city streets, I suggest that city councils and urban planners rethink which streets are used for dedicated lanes. An illuminating article was published by Lawrence Solomon that essentially came to the conclusion that in their desire to add dedicated lanes, cities have erred in locating lanes since “cycling lanes consume more space than they free up, add to pollution and drain the public purse.”

By locating the lanes on major commuter roads, the bike frenzy has many more negatives than positives.

The City of London confirmed that its “cycle superhighway” has contributed to increased pollution, and as a result not only do cyclists breathe two to three times more pollution than walkers due to increased rate of breathing, but walkers are also subjected to more pollution due to slower traffic and more idling. Sydney, Australia, decided to ban bikes on major commuter routes.

Commuter streets are underused by bicyclists for most of the day. Lost parking spaces are affecting city revenue, and retail suffers lost business as well. In addition, commuters start using residential streets instead of the commuter roads.

City planners need to evaluate more than city-council directives to add dedicated bike lanes to include secondary effects and locate bike lanes on streets that are more appropriate to cycling.

Chris Sheldon Victoria