Wednesday, Mar. 24, 2010

Yanking their chain

One of a city council member's hardest jobs is listening to everyone involved and then trying to do what's smart and fair.

Usually that involves balancing interests that conflict.

That's proving hard on the project to remake Hillsborough Street in front of N.C. State University, where some people, mostly cyclists, favor adding bicycle lanes, and others, mostly business owners, oppose them.

Lately, city officials seem to be listening more closely to the proprietors than to the pedalers.

With the road's widening underway after years of planning, cyclists launched a late push to add designated bike lanes instead of wide shared lanes for cars and bikes.

To its credit, the City Council agreed to consider the change, despite complaints from some business owners.

The council's Public Works Committee - Chairman Russ Stephenson, John Odom, and Bonner Gaylord - studied the issue in detail. The trio agreed unanimously Feb. 2 to recommend that the full council ask the N.C. Department of Transportation for permission to add bike lanes to Hillsborough Street, a state route.

Afterward, they kept meeting and talking with business owners along the route, as well as cycling advocates. A month and a half passed before the full council took up the subject last week.

Whereupon it punted.

Hillsborough Street business interests showed up to announce that they're divided: Some think adding bike lanes would be fine, but others worry that it would conflict with the taxpayer-provided parking they plan to rely on.

Many of them prefer the city's original plan to provide shared space for bikes, delivery trucks, city buses, emergency vehicles, and parkers.

It's easy to see why cyclists consider the "sharing" a raw deal. They'd rather have clear lanes for their safe use - just like car drivers expect.

It's amazing that the city's widening plan got as far as it did before cyclists requested bike lanes in front of the state's biggest university.

It's even more amazing that the city didn't see it coming.

It's not amazing that business owners want maximum convenient public parking for their customers. But they risk coming across as selfish.

At last week's council meeting, the cyclists had no chance to speak, which wasn't right.

It's the council's duty to give them an ear, if not a lane.