Editor,
A recent letter writer claimed the Humboldt Street bike lanes in North Central were “deserted” and that, in three months he “has yet to see” a bike using the lanes. I invite him to spend time on my block of Humboldt: I see bicyclists all day, every day.
On a recent five minute morning dog walk along our block, I counted 10 southbound bikes and eight northbound, all between 9-10 a.m. He took a swipe at the “backpack lobby,” whatever that is. I saw people cycling in work coveralls; moms cycling with kids in bike seats; kids cycling to school. The bike lanes are being used and are clearly useful to people of all kinds living in this neighborhood.
I do agree that the city’s promise to follow-up with an array of solutions to parking loss has been poor. A very well attended neighborhood meeting, billed as a way to explore solutions to the parking loss, shed little light and left most participants I talked to frustrated. The moderators seemed interested in a different agenda, however laudable.
Mitigation actions needed are staring us in the face: a permit program to ensure equitable access to street parking by neighborhood residents; better policies on commercial vehicle parking; marking of parking spots; and enforcement of these as well as existing parking time limits. I don’t see much evidence of effort by the city to tackle these tougher needs. If they’re working on it, we residents aren’t hearing about it.
Kevin Simpson
San Mateo
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(1) comment
Mr. Simpson, I find it hard to believe you see bicyclists all day, every day. I daresay you wouldn’t see bicyclists all day, every day if the Tour de France decided to relocate out here. Maybe if Humboldt Street were part of an outdoor velodrome… Meanwhile, I get the feeling the city has forgotten about mitigation actions, or it’s near the bottom of the list. The city has expended the “use it or lose it” money to implement the road diet and I believe any actions now will come out of San Mateo’s bank account. You’re better off voting out the folks who created this self-inflicted wound.
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