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LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Hold off on building more bike lanes

We need city councillors willing to be penny-pinchers, says letter writer
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A section of Metral Drive that has received a ‘complete street’ road redesign. (News Bulletin photo)

To the editor,

Re: Re-aligned intersections meant to change ‘character’ of Metral, April 6.

There are a few cyclists on Nanaimo council. As they push through an official community plan called ReImagine Nanaimo, they are choking our city. Right-turn and left-turn lanes for vehicles are being literally torn up at taxpayer expense. Two lanes in lots of places are being made into one. Get ready for even more gridlock. Some of these government types want us out of our cars but Nanaimo is a linear swath of a city that takes half an hour by car to get from north to south. Take your bike? Think not. Nanaimo has lots of hills and it rains a lot. Take transit to drag your groceries back home in a paper bag in the rain? Think not.

The mindset seems all warm and fuzzy but it is not practical. It is not cost-efficient. It’s like the few on council think that since they ride their bikes now and again we should too. Well, we are the taxpayers and we pay the bill. So, in these hard times where recession is either here or knocking, where food prices are hitting the roof, where we cannot afford to heat our homes – those few on council want us to be at the food bank because we cannot afford to live.

Having a bike is a luxury. It’s good exercise. Ride it in the nice couple of summer months we have and stick it back in your closet.

We need some penny-pinching financial watchdogs on council, not easy spenders. The October municipal election is coming. Shakeup time.

Ursula C. Knight, Nanaimo


The views and opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are those of the writer and do not reflect the views of Black Press or the Nanaimo News Bulletin.

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