Columnist Susan Snyder: A simple remedy for congestion

Friday, Sept. 12, 2003 | 5:25 a.m.

Gale Husney doesn't consider herself a bike rider.

She doesn't belong to a club or pull on tight, funny-looking pants every Saturday and tear it up for over 60 miles.

Actually, there isn't a "serious" bicyclist among the group of Henderson residents Husney has rallied to oppose removal of a bike lane on Warm Springs Road.

Admittedly, I am a known bicycle commuter, bike safety educator and among those Husney pulled into her camp. She called in August, the day a Valley Views column encouraged residents who wanted transportation options to bug public agencies for room on the road.

Husney said she had just learned that Henderson City engineers planned to remove a bicycle lane on Warm Springs from Pecos Road to Arroyo Grande Boulevard. And she was ticked.

"This is a residential area," she said.

In two days the middle-school librarian had neighbors writing letters to Henderson officials and was circulating petitions. The segment of road in question traverses travel zones for three schools, she said, and it seemed insane to take away bike lanes for a third motorized lane on each side.

Public officials have said they had no idea anyone would oppose the move, and consequently they seem to be backpedaling on the whole idea. Community meetings on the issue are set Wednesday and Sept. 24.

It is always good to see that public officials listen and react to residents' concerns. But it is too bad that those making such decisions don't seem to recognize that bike lanes aren't the problem child of traffic congestion, or merely a luxury for fast cyclists in funny pants.

Michael Ronkin, a traffic engineering consultant from Oregon, gave seminars in the Las Vegas Valley two years ago to help traffic engineers improve our traffic flow.

He offered a list from the American Association of State Highway Officials, which sets road engineering guidelines. The 43-item tally enumerates the benefits of paved shoulders and on-street urban bicycle lanes.

Only three of the items directly benefit bicyclists. The bulk are benefits to motorists:

Bike lanes provide space for evasive maneuvers, disabled vehicles, delivery trucks and bus stops, and provide a greater turning radius for trucks.

Bike lanes allow storm-water drainage farther from travel lanes, reducing hydroplaning and spraying. They improve sight distance for travelers entering from side roads, driveways or subdivisions -- a description that fits this section of Warm Springs.

Bike lanes provide a buffer between motorized traffic and people who walk, such as children going to school. They provide travel space for wheelchairs in places where sidewalks are absent or obstructed.

Basically, they make a city a better, safer place to live, Husney said. And that's the only reason that matters to her and her neighbors.

"Our biggest concern is the safety of the kids. It provides that buffer," Husney said Friday morning. "Regardless of the fact that we're not bike riders, we like the idea of having a bike lane."