Committee asks for opinions; columnist puts in his two cents
Last week, the Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Committee tested a bike lane around Prexy’s Pasture in association with Earth Week. The goal of the lane was to minimize conflicts between cyclists and pedestrians, and to encourage bicycling on campus.
The committee is considering the permanent inclusion of a similar lane in the future. Many universities have dedicated bike lanes to minimize conflicts, and encourage bike use. In a survey we conducted last week, 73 percent of the respondents liked the lane, but the sample size was small.
Feedback to the committee via e-mail was less supportive. Some complained that the paint was unsightly (note: it is just temporary and will wash off), or that they did not like their student fees going to such projects (note: much of the time and money donated to the project came from Physical Plant, committee members, and ASUW’s Director of Sustainability).
The committee is still interested in your feedback on this endeavor. Specifically, the following three questions:
Do you like the bike lane?
Do you think the proposed bike lane would reduce conflicts between cyclists and pedestrians?
Finally, do you generally bike or walk to campus?
The committee asks that comments be submitted electronically to bike-committee@uwyo.edu.
Thanks for your time and consideration.
Dan McCoy
Chair, Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Committee
As the letter to the left shows, the Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Committee has been working hard toward finding a way to make walking around Prexy’s Pasture a bit safer.
David Demic
However, there have been complaints and criticisms concerning the need for these lanes and whether students will comply with the measure.
The need for separate bike and walk lanes is obvious, especially during campus rush hours when hundreds of students make their way across our relatively closely packed campus. Suddenly, the traffic of the walkways turns into a NASCAR race where longboarders dodge people, bikers make full stops inches from a tour group and pedestrians feel like the galactic rocks out of the game “Asteroids.”
Whether students will comply is completely up to said students. Frankly, once the measure is put into place, getting used to it will take no longer than a semester. Quickly, the separate lanes will just become common nature on Prexy’s and those few who think they are “fighting the man” by walking in the wrong lane will be left to play chicken with bicyclists.
The benefits are most important. Avid bikers might enjoy the entertainment value of dodging pedestrians, but not having to weave in and out of clusters of people will significantly speed up their travel times. On the flip side, pedestrians will not have the paranoid need to glance over their shoulders to see if they have to get ready to dodge and dive.
However, all opinions are valued and the Branding Iron is looking forward to receiving more letters and views on the matter.
