 | | | | | | Bicycle Lanes Annoy Many | | Laura Mathisen
Staff Writer
You are driving down the street when all of a sudden a bicyclist is right in front of you on the street. Before you know it they are right beside you riding down the road thinking they are a car.
The truth of the matter is that bicycles are prohibited from riding on the sidewalks and are encouraged to ride in the street with cars. However, witnessing this act seems idiotic and annoying. Bikes aren’t cars therefore they shouldn’t be in the street next to cars. No one has ever seen a car driving on the sidewalk, so it does not make sense to see a bike on the street.
A problem arises with this argument that does give reason to have bikes in the street. More often, there aren’t as many sidewalks for people to ride on and the sidewalks are supposed to be for pedestrians. This does seem like a reason to allow bikes in the street, but if you have ever driven next to a bike you might notice a little tension and frustration towards this type of transportation.
The Department of Motor Vehicles claims, “Each year in California, over one hundred people are killed, and hundreds of thousands more are injured in bicycle accidents.” Even though this is true for California which has a lot more traffic than the Twin Cities, there are still plenty of accidents involving bikes and cars. Why continue to endanger people when you can just ride on the sidewalk and not in the street?
Riding on sidewalks would help prevent accidents, but there are never sidewalks where there is heavy traffic. Sidewalks are disappearing from neighborhoods across the state. These days, construction dollars are spent on road work and there doesn’t seem to be any money left for adding sidewalks. Instead of wasting money on bike paths and bike lanes we should spend money on sidewalks that can be shared by bikers and pedestrians.
Another issue that can be noticed while driving through the city is when you cross the city line into another town. For example, if you are driving down Edgerton St. in St. Paul and then switch into Maplewood, the bicycle lanes suddenly go from being in the street to being where parking lane. If you were a bicyclist you would have to switch lanes and hope that you wouldn’t run into a car. Yet, in St. Paul there is still a sidewalk right next to the street., but we still waste money on making a bicycle lane in the middle of the street! This makes no sense.
Driver’s across the nation are frustrated with the ridiculous number of bikes along side them in the street. Junior Brandon Callais feels very nervous around bikes on the street; especially on the busiest roads. “You feel really anxious to get as far away from the bikes as fast as you can, and it is just such a pain to deal with,”said Callais. He has only been driving for a short while, but the frustration is just as strong as any highly experienced driver.
Bicyclists are not as thrilled about the rules either. Being nervous is not at all insane considering some bikes may have to ride next to a Volkswagen bug or an eighteen wheeled semi. Whether you are driving, bicycling or just watching people on the road, everyone should be cautious towards this issue.
The simplest solution to this issue is to eliminate the bicycle lanes in all major and even minor streets. However, so much money has already been spent or rather wasted on lanes that just frustrate everyone. This problem will not be easily solved since every year more and more lanes are added. The most popular places to add these lanes are in fact the places without sidewalks such as suburban areas.
Suburban residents are not as against the lanes as many east siders are, but the issue still remains that the lanes are unwanted by many. There is not much chance of getting any cutbacks on the construction of bicycle lanes just as much there won’t be any cutbacks on the complaints of people who deal with bikes everyday.
The simplest way to deal with the problem of lanes where cars should be is to be extra cautious. Bicycles might also want to refrain from riding on busy streets, even where there are bicycle lanes. Try the sidewalks to avoid any injury or frustration coming from drivers.
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