Work from the core outward

Re: “Battle on to scrape away bad bike lanes,” David Staples, June 24 Thank you, councillors Michael Walters and Michael Oshry, for taking constituents’ advice and proposing to return out neighbourhood streets to the safe, congestion-free roadways they were intended to be.

Presumably when these illconceived bike routes were in the planning stage, it wasn’t taken into account that illuminating full lanes of traffic would result in congestion and bottlenecks, especially in the exact locations where children go to and from schools and playgrounds.

Motorists waiting in these “engineered” lineups find it very irritating to look at the two empty lanes reserved for cyclists when there is minimal usage in summer and almost non-existent use during our long winters.

Excellently planned bike boulevard routes on the north side of 34th Avenue between Calgary Trail and 119th Street and on the east side of 111th Street from Century Park to Southgate have existed for several years.

Instead of cheap solutions scattered through the city, Walters said we should build a great network of cycle tracks and bike boulevards in the core and begin to work our way out. I agree.

J. Marple, Edmonton