Letter to the Editor: Bicycle lanes

Dear Editor:

I find it interesting that the Council stiffed the cyclists over a bike lane on Brookshire.  

As you must be aware, the Gardendale upgrade has been completed, with the subsequent reduction in vehicle lanes to one in each direction, and the addition of bike lanes. Strangely, I see no real increase in ridership after this program.  

Does the City have data showing the numbers of bicycle trips on Gardendale before and after the make-over? Surely they would want to have such data in-hand to make meaningful analysis of the effectiveness of the changes they are making to traffic within the City? Has there been a significant uptick of bike trips to justify the costs they’ve sunk into the Bike Master Plan in this first application of the plan?
 
Disclosure against interest:  I occasionally use my bicycle for trips to Downtown (City Hall) and Brookshire is my preferred route from the Golden Park neighborhood. 
 
My observation:  Brookshire does not need bike lanes – nor did Gardendale.

Drew Kelley
Downey