On Monday, November 17, 2008, at City Hall, the Waite Park City Council voted to keep the bicycle lanes on 2nd Ave South. This was the correct decision. The bike lanes are a community asset that are utilized by many area residents including professional-amateur cyclists who use the route to access our beautiful Stearns County countryside via Granite View Road.
The bike lanes also serve as a safe route to Discovery school for our local students, and are utilized on a consistent basis during the Spring, Summer and Fall months by the area residents who live nearby. As our national and local economies are in a financial crisis, I foresee even more use of bicycle transportation as we move towards a greener way of life.
This is the second time in two years that the council has been asked to create parking lanes on this road, thus benefiting a minimal number of residents who have forward facing homes on the avenue. Most of this homes have adequate daily parking needs because their lot sizes among some of the largest in the neighborhood. One resident that testified for the removal of the lanes said that he would only use the street parking two times a year for family gatherings. He also didn't know that there would be a $5000.00-$10,000.00 cost to the city remove the bike lanes. The community advantage of the lanes far outreach any minimal parking benefit for these individuals.
Although the first vote of three abstentions on this issue was terribly disappointing, in the end, the ten residents who testified about the benefits of the bike lanes won a victory for our community. Only mild courage was needed to make the right decision here. Thank you Mayor Rick Miller for leading the council in the right direction.
The bike lanes also serve as a safe route to Discovery school for our local students, and are utilized on a consistent basis during the Spring, Summer and Fall months by the area residents who live nearby. As our national and local economies are in a financial crisis, I foresee even more use of bicycle transportation as we move towards a greener way of life.
This is the second time in two years that the council has been asked to create parking lanes on this road, thus benefiting a minimal number of residents who have forward facing homes on the avenue. Most of this homes have adequate daily parking needs because their lot sizes among some of the largest in the neighborhood. One resident that testified for the removal of the lanes said that he would only use the street parking two times a year for family gatherings. He also didn't know that there would be a $5000.00-$10,000.00 cost to the city remove the bike lanes. The community advantage of the lanes far outreach any minimal parking benefit for these individuals.
Although the first vote of three abstentions on this issue was terribly disappointing, in the end, the ten residents who testified about the benefits of the bike lanes won a victory for our community. Only mild courage was needed to make the right decision here. Thank you Mayor Rick Miller for leading the council in the right direction.
brutal
more biking lanes everywhere please