In reading the story headlined “Durango exploring dedicated bike lanes on College Drive” (Herald, Dec. 24), I could not believe the city of Durango is looking for yet another way to foul up automobile traffic in Durango. Isn’t the mess that was created with the intersections of College and Main and College and Camino enough?
Who comes up with these bone-headed ideas? Does anyone from the council or city government ever drive these streets? Reducing College Drive to two lanes will do nothing but create traffic tie-ups and long lines of cars and trucks. Has anyone ever driven westbound on College certain times of the day and have had to wait for two or three lights to get across or onto Main?
While I support all bicycle and public transportation, the majority of us who live outside city limits do not have that luxury. Does anyone in city government ever consider the fact that the majority of the population lives outside the city? And how about the population of SkyRidge? If anything, the city should be looking at ways to help traffic flow rather than hinder it.
Another question I have is why do bicyclists feel they have to cruise the most heavily trafficked streets in town? There is West Second Avenue or the Animas River Trail for north-south access and there are side streets on both sides of College that could have a bike path designation and would be much safer than riding on the main thoroughfares.
Then, of course, there is the $200,000 price tag for some consultant to do a “study.” It seems a little strange that there is this money in city coffers given that there is $250,000 needed to support the trolley.
To solve that shortfall, the city, in its infinite wisdom, doubles parking fines. Maybe the city should look more closely at its priorities. At the rate it is going, everyone will be able to ride their bicycles into an empty, deserted downtown.
As for the problematic Third Avenue, adding a few more stop signs would seem a simple enough solution.
Ed Lehner
Durango
