What are the politics and people involved?

Our city council listens to facts, and we have a well-considered "bicycle master plan," so that when a couple of business owners put up a stink about putting bike lanes on Main Street, others had facts to address their concerns. Seems the one lady thought that car parking was being sacrificed for the bike lanes and I don't think she's ever been convinced otherwise... and "somebody" told other business folks that with the bike lanes would come restrictions on when loading and unloading could happen and a few other things that were, um, lies. There were also studies showing that there wasn't a parking shortage (but people didn't know where it was)... some of teh business folks outright changed their minds at that meeting... and they're planning to go ahead with them.

... then there was the bike lane on Washington -- citizens came out to say that traffic would get more congested because the lanes would get narrower. Since the council had information about our traffic counts that said otherwise (we weren't even reducing the number of lanes; just the speed, a **good** thing for safety for everybody), and since the other arguments went along the lines of "the children in my neighborhood aren't smart enough to stay on the quiet roads; if there is a bike lane they will go ride on the busy road and get hurt" ... welp, that bike lane is there (tho' I don't care for it; cars pass me closer as if the line were a genuine barrier).

How well designed is the bike lane? How busy is the road it's on? There are some rather sad excuses for "bike infrastructure" out there... but if it's done well, it will get more folks out riding. (We have our own issues with vocal vehicular cyclists who have their very own strong opinions about bike infrastructure that are occasionally based on reality but often based on their own little conclusions... they write long articles and cite each other and consider that "evidence.")


It's helpful to know what the real issues are (people thinking things will get congested -- and then they learn otherwise, assuming they're right -- or people not wanting to lose parking, or being afraid Some Kind Of People They Don't Like WIll Be In Their Neighborhoods...)

Quote Originally Posted by shootingstar View Post
...it's being proposed and there's a huge wad of documentation for the public to read. Huge, frickin' signs advertising by road, another bike path, on public consultation sessions this month. City probably wants to make sure public is made aware and invites all feedback.

I think there might be a big public fight over this one. It is the first 2-way, proposed on road bike lane. There are several in Vancouver BC already. But not in the prairie city, where I am now. The problem is, that there won't be a true barrier to separate cars from bikes.

So do you live near a bike lane. Was there a huge public outcry over it?