The Rocky Mountain Collegian

Issue date: 11/19/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Rachel Dembrun Dave "DK" Kemp, speaks to the Fort Collins community about the development of the Bicycle Advisory Committee and bicycling concerns within the community. Tuesday's meeting was held at the south Lee's Cyclery and the next meeting will be held at the Community Room at 215 N. Mason St on Nov. 24 at 6 p.m.

While officials said the Fort Collins Bicycle Advisory Committee meeting was held to inform the community about its plans before going to the city council with new recommendations, community members were angered because they wanted to be involved with the plan from the start.

Angered community attendants of the meeting at Lee's Cyclery Tuesday night said they felt as if the city made decisions without first gathering adequate community opinions. In this case, they wanted to be consulted about the bike problems the committee identified and planned to change in the future.

The 2008 Bike Plan was designed by organizations within the community to improve biking conditions in Fort Collins, from increased biker education, to the promotion of bicycling as a main form of transportation.

"This concerns me terribly. No one ever asked the cyclists," said Sandy Newlin, a Fort Collins community member and cyclist. "We are supposed to be a bike friendly city, but being a cyclist for over 40 years, I can tell you we are not."

Other community members agreed they did not feel the committee did not have a diverse enough representation.

Many attendees expressed a desire to get the community more involved in the culture of biking and making the city a more bike-friendly town with bigger and more accessible bike lanes, street improvements and increased bike parking.

However, some community members were in full support of the committee and what it is doing.

"This will give us a platform to take ideas to the council. We the people can now go right to the council," said Rick Price, former Transportation Board member. "Having experienced citizens on the committee who have already sat on boards and committees will be very helpful."

Continued...

Page 1 of 2 next >

Article Tools