Bike meeting in Belmont THURSDAY

The City of Belmont, California recently eliminated a full width lane on Alameda de las Pulgas to calm traffic on this road to a school and make room for bike lanes. The school rush hour traffic jam for Tierra Linda Elementary and Carlmont High School along Alameda de las Pulgas resulted in howls for protests from residents in Belmont and neighboring San Carlos, who place more value on the convenience of motoring quickly to the freeway than they do on the lives and well being of the children traveling under human power to their schools. The wait time getting past the school drop off zones from eight minutes to a whopping 11 minutes after the bike lanes were added. Click here for Google Map of this location.

The City of Belmont will have a special meeting Thursday night to discuss the bike lanes on the Alameda. The meeting begins 7:30 PM in the Belmont City Council Chambers. Motorists screaming about delays and inconvenience are expected to show up in large numbers demanding a change back to multiple, fast lanes. To avoid looking like the selfish pinheads that they are, the motorists will disingenuously claim their slower speeds actually increase the danger for pedestrians and cyclists traveling along Alameda while increasing congestion and greenhouse gas emissions as they sit idling in traffic.

If bike users don't speak up, the City of Belmont could well remove the bike lanes and go back to the bad old days. Please show up and speak up if you can to support cycling facilities in Belmont.

For more talking points, read these letters to the Editor by Pat Giorini and Steve Vanderlip.