Bike lanes gaining speed

Although the RTC 4th Street/Prater Way Corridor Study was a step in the right direction for bicycle activists in Reno, the fight isn’t over for other areas in the city (“Changing lanes,” June 21). The Committee for Bicyclists on 4th Street sent out an email last week encouraging bicycle lane advocates to show up for an upcoming meeting, tentatively scheduled for July 10 at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, which will address a road diet on Plumas Street. According to the email, sent by committee chairman Scott Hall, “We need to have all bike advocates attend and speak about the safety and community benefits of having a complete road diet, down to two lanes of traffic, for the mile stretch between Moana and Plumb Lane. RTC will present a step-by-step description of their analysis, timeline and results that show overwhelming evidence that the corridor is excessively dangerous due to traffic speeds, and a road diet will solve all these problems without causing gridlock or increasing commute times.”

RTC’s application for the TIGER 2012 federal grant was denied, which means that “they have to work harder during the next year to find the initial $10-15 million to start construction” on the Fourth Street bike lane project, the email went on to state.

As of press time, no time or date has been confirmed for the Plumas Street RTC meeting. Check the RN&R Green Facebook page, www.facebook.com/RNRGreen for an update.