Letters to the editor for Thursday, July 27, 2017

Accommodating bike traffic essential to city’s vitality

In reply to Ronni Hannaman’s article “We’ve become bike friendly — but where are the riders?” that appeared in the Nevada Appeal on Sunday, I think Ronni’s article failed to address an important point.

Cities build infrastructure to accommodate cyclists and pedestrians, not because “it’s the cool thing for cities to do now,” but because bicyclists and pedestrians are also legitimate road users.

The streets belong to everyone who use them, not just the cars and trucks.

For decades the mindset has been to simply address the needs of the automobiles when planning and building infrastructure. Slowly but surely, municipalities have come to realize that they’ve been neglecting a large population of citizens that choose alternative forms of transportation. This is where Complete Streets got its start.

By addressing the needs of all road users (automobiles, bikes, pedestrians, and mass transit) the concept of Complete Streets approaches infrastructure design from a holistic point of view.

I’m proud of the fact that Carson City has adopted a Complete Streets policy, and I’m looking forward to the many new maintenance and infrastructure projects that will improve our community as we address the needs of all of our citizens.

Randy Gaa

Carson City