Bike Lane Proposal

I wasn’t sure if this would fit well in my blog, but I decided that since some of my audience must be cyclists this would be a good example of political action you can take at the town level to improve your sport. I ride my bike to work most days and I received a notice of a public hearing for a proposal to improve one of the roads I ride on all the time. This notice included information on where you can send proposals that they will then consider. Truthfully I don’t think the odds of them adding a bike lane are very high, but I though it’s worth the half an hour I spent searching the internet and then writing this proposal. I was a little disappointed that I couldn’t find any good pre-written proposals on the internet that I could use as a template. In the end I just ended up writing what you see below from scratch. It’s certainly not best proposal I could write, but I decided taking the time to write a really good one just wasn’t worth it. They will be responding to this proposal eventually and I’ll post that in my blog when I get it.

Feel free to copy and/or modify the letter below if you ever have a need.

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August 19, 2005

John Blundo, P.E.
Massachusetts Highway Department
**Address Omitted in Blog**
Boston, MA 02116

Subject: Bike Lane Proposal for Proposed Route 140 Improvement Project in Shrewsbury, MA.

Dear P.E. Blundo:

I request that bike lanes be added to the currently proposed Shrewsbury Route 140 improvement project. Bike lanes have been shown to improve land values and dramatically increase cyclist safety. While I have no firm evidence that this stretch of road is the most dangerous to cyclists in the Shrewsbury area, as an avid cyclist my opinion is that it is. This is a popular trucking route and is fairly narrow making for stressful passing situations both for cyclists and the auto drivers doing the passing. Bike lanes would alleviate this stress for both parties, increase property value, and improve safety. I believe these benefits outweigh the added monetary expense of adding the bike lanes.

I ask that this proposal be made part of the public record, and be reviewed and considered for inclusion to the current proposal. I regret not being able to make the public hearing on August 24th due to prior engagements I have. Feel free to contact me with any questions or amendments you would like to see to this proposal.

Maurice Ribble
**Address Omitted in Blog**
Shrewsbury, MA 01545