The Gazette article about the Seven Locks Road Bikeway (not pictured) that ran last week prompted quite a few letters. The first was a letter claiming the county hasn't done enough homework or given enough alternatives.
The planners have presented only one option when there are clearly many less intrusive options that need to be looked at. They have not explained the rationale for sidewalks and bikeways in terms of meeting future pedestrian and cycling demand. In fact there are no demand projections at all.
Even more troubling, the proposals focus on providing sidewalks and bikeways and say nothing about controlling the increasing traffic and speeds along Seven Locks. To consider one without the other is lamentable.
What is needed is a comprehensive study, with input from the community, of the problems along Seven Locks along with ...estimates of future traffic, pedestrian and cycle movements.
In defense of DPWT, the project focuses on providing sidewalks and bikeways because it's called the "Sidewalk and Bikeway Facility Planning Project." But still, I'm not going to oppose a holistic approach. This doesn't sound unreasonable to me.
Another letter focused on the very real dangers to cyclists and pedestrians that exist today. It calls for immediate action (which would preclude greater study).
We welcome any attention to the mounting traffic and safety problems facing our neighborhood, and have asked to become part of the study mentioned. However, we cannot wait years for solutions to the hazards pedestrians and bicyclists face daily.
So there you have it. Does one follow a deliberative path that could lead to the best solution, or does one make immediate changes to improve safety now? I suspect a two phase program, immediate changes for safety in parallel with the study called for in the first letter, followed by changes the study recommends. Of course, as is often true with the best solution, it would probably be more expensive.
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