I agree bicycles are great; great exercise, great for transportation, and great fun! I disagree; bicycle lanes should not be added to Main Street. In fact, if I had the say, bicycle lanes throughout Danville would be erased.

Paved roads were started in the United States in the 1800s. I have read they were started for bicycles before the automobile was invented. However, over the last 100 years, automobiles, and trucks have taken over and rule the road.  I am not sure bicycles were ever outlawed from the roads. I remember earlier this decade or last a group of bicyclers got together, went to Frankfort, and had the legislature give them the “right” to be on the roads in Boyle County.

I remember the massive little groups of bicyclers on the roads during the spring of that year blocking Lebanon Road to Parksville. And I cannot forget the sight of the guy riding down the short hill and running across the deadend and falling over in the ditch right in front of us on the Parksville Crosspike.

What did these bicyclers to Frankfort really want? I never see them on the roads any more, and instead of using existing lanes in Danville, they like to ride on the sidewalks. We have read about one or two bicyclers who have been riding down Fourth Street, just not in the bike lane. 

Cars rule the road! There is not one thing stopping bicyclers from riding in the streets or on the sidewalks, it seems. The existing bike lanes have narrowed the broadened lanes. The narrowing of the lanes likens them to narrowing of the arteries. As traffic congestion has increased over the years the streets have become more deadly. 

In conclusion, wipe the bike lanes out, entirely. If you want to ride a bicycle to work, for pleasure, or just to have fun, there is nothing stopping you, never has been.  I suggest that you stay off the sidewalks. As was in our culture last century, riding on city sidewalks is rude and dangerous for pedestrians.

Jeffrey L. King

Danville