The newly minted Lincoln County Commissioner Dan King let his
voice ring out today by writing an Argus Leader My Voices column. Sounds like
he recently learned during the Urbanized Development Commission Meetings The
City has a bike plan, approved by the City Council, signed by The Mayor and The City is actually implementing
the plan.
He finds this alarming and wants everyone to know. I find this encouraging because no plan I've worked on has ever been implemented in such a way that anybody would notice the work as being part of a plan.
For reference:
For reference:
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Here’s his My Voice Column
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Here’s the Sioux Falls Bike Plan
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Here’s the Resolution Adopting the Sioux Falls Bike Plan - this one is so pretty I'm including it at the bottom of this post.
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Here’s the MPO Bike Plan
Lincoln County Commissioner Dan King: “Just as large a worry
is the stealthy manner, fully intended or not, with which they’re being planned
and built.”
Lincoln County Commissioner Dan King: “As presented in our
Urbanized Development Commission meetings, I can say for a fact there are plans
to construct bike lanes all over town in the next few years, working them into
reconstruction and expansion projects.”
Lincoln County Commissioner Dan King isn’t sure if bike lanes
are created stealthy or in public meetings.
Lincoln County Commissioner Dan King: “Unfortunately,
bicycle lanes are planned by a tiny group of elected officials and paid
planners/consultants.”
Lincoln County Commissioner Dan King: “The City Council and
a host of city and state planning staffers have signed off on bringing these to
our streets…”
Lincoln County Commissioner Dan King isn’t sure if bike
lanes are planned by a tiny group of people or a host of city and state staffers.
Lincoln County Commissioner Dan King: “I’ve raised my
concerns, and probably a couple tempers voicing these thoughts in board
meetings. I’ve hit a brick wall in doing anything about it myself.”
Lincoln County Commissioner Dan King doesn’t recognize he
keeps running into a brick wall because he can’t find the exit after losing in
the marketplace of ideas. In a democracy the majority wins. When you turn
around and your colleagues aren’t following it means something.
November 19th is the next UDC meeting. I can’t wait to come
and see Dan King make transportation policy sausage. I hear at the beginning of the meetings there
are 3 minutes available for any member of the public to speak…
2 comments:
Car culture's seductive appeal is not easy to set aside when it has become central to a person's identity and lifestyle. If Commissioner King is "comfortable" believing the earth is flat (bikes and pedestrian transportation is a waste of time/resources), changing a belief can be traumatic.
Luckily, community and future oriented thinkers/planners can see the benefits of opening transportation options to allow people to become less invested in car culture-dependence.
Thanks for all the links. Wrote a strongly worded email to Mr. King on how much our family has to use the bike lanes to get to and from school, work and sport. There is no alternative, unless we owned six cars and let my kids drive themselves everywhere. Write to him people.
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