I'm watching KUSI news right now. Dan Plante just said they haven't seen a single bike on the street!

"During the pandemic they got so used to doing what they wanted, now they're continuing it. Democracy dies in the dark!"

Our local metro and also Galveston has roads with large bike lanes in them, almost never see any. The cell phonization of society has put a huge dent in bicycling locally. Most stick to converted rail beds - there is one behind the house which required a $45,000 bridge over an intermittent stream, and another three times bigger over a local creek bed. Fortunately the original railway pier was still standing. All that got put in with funding to support emergency vehicle load ratings . . . Which I'm glad for as it means I can access my property down in the the stream bed. It's a bit too steep to climb out of, even in 4WD.

I used to ride a bike to work, requiring one of two routes, none had bike lanes, and the worst was the E-W access on a two lane country road, no curbing or shoulders. Even at 8:10 in the morning traffic was potentially lethal. Now it's been expanded to five - 5 lanes with a bike lane, too, and I never see any bikes. Not even kids.

Bike lanes are a vestige of times before cell phones and tablets when people could take a moment AWAY from being leashed to their supervisor - it was feel good politics and their current supporters haven't given up draining tax dollars into complicating our road systems and preventing landowners restoring their property lines. Nope, it's all about public access and in our area that means teens tagging pedestrian bridges and having drug fests away from view. They even burned one rail overpass completely - it took years for the bike/trail community to scrounge funds to replace it. When I worked at a plant next to one it was a covert corridor for theft of plant property time after time.

Now I live next to one and find wandering explorers cutting thru the yard to get to home. Mostly kids - normal - until the gas cans and bikes come up missing. And don't even leave a snow sled outdoors in the winter. Nope, it takes a village to learn it's community property.

Our bike lanes get used all the time when the E-bikes, E-scooter, regular scooter, motorcycle rider finds it convenient in any direction. Sidewalks the same. Heck, even the cars use the sidewalks when convenient. I was in the right turn lane and had a Mercedes pass me on right, on the sidewalk. It had to drive over a curb 4” taller than the sidewalls on its tires to do so. I don’t think what is painted on the roads really matters anymore.

Ok, some of you sound like angry boomers. Bike lanes are great. Making a road with 2 bike lanes and 1 lane that cars share is not great.

Converting rails to trails is also great. Even accounting for building/rebuilding bridges. Everyone in that community benefits from easy access to trails that are used by bikers, hikers, etc. There are no losers there. It even increases property values of shut ins. Lol

This article highlights stupidity without any coherent thought process. Nothing more.