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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Homeless have their say about new ordinances ... Candidate praises SOU model ... SOU keyboard student offers free community recital ... Homeless have their say about new ordinances ... Candidate praises SOU model ... SOU keyboard student offers free community recital ... GUEST OPINION Guest Opinion: Make Ashland more bike-friendly Comment By John Fisher-Smith DailyTidings.com By John Fisher-Smith Posted Jun. 1, 2016 at 12:01 AM By John Fisher-Smith Posted Jun. 1, 2016 at 12:01 AM » Social News What would it take for Ashland to rank among the top five bike-friendly small towns: Davis, Calif., Boulder, Colo., Corvallis, Ore., Bellingham, Wash. and Missoula, Mont.? First: To connect the existing bike lane entering from North Main through the four-block downtown to join the bike lane on Siskiyou. If you agree please attend the monthly meeting of the Ad-hoc Downtown Parking and Circulation Committee today, June 1, from 3:30-5:30 p.m. at the Council Chambers on East Main Street next to the police station, and urge adoption of the downtown portion of the Transportation System Plan Update with southbound bike lane. The ad hoc committee has been charged with completing the downtown portion of the 2012 Transportation System Plan Update since its appointment by Mayor John Stromberg in 2013. The new plan for downtown incorporates two traffic lanes with restricted truck loading bays (available for automobile parking after 4 p.m.); widens pedestrian sidewalks and adds a southbound bike lane connecting existing bike lanes from north to south of the downtown. Statistics prove that protected bike lanes increase safety and benefit businesses along the route, and the city has assured merchants that parking spaces displaced by truck bays will be replaced. What is best for Ashland, in my opinion, includes a wide range of concerns for the common good, including: a green and sustainable lifestyle, population demographics, public well-being, climate change, education, public health and welfare. The committee appears to represent mainly the concerns of the Chamber and downtown. For years my wife Dot and I have ridden our bicycles daily for shopping or to visit OSF, SOU and other activities. Cycling meets our need to reduce our carbon footprint by leaving our hybrid cars in the garage — plus the added convenience of not hunting for parking. Cycling helps keep us fit and lively, gives us energy, pumps oxygen into our lungs — maybe promotes long life, who knows, we’re both in our late eighties. We may be justifiably proud of our city’s ongoing efforts to keep up with changing times. In my grandparents' day, 19th-century Ashland was a "horse and buggy" spa town on a passenger railroad; later, Ashland morphed into a 20th-century automobile city on a freeway. Today, Ashland is becoming a 21st-century multi-modal city with unbiased emphasis on auto, pedestrian and bicycle. The city has already reaped the benefits of bike lanes on Siskiyou Boulevard and on Ashland Avenue; already overcome the hazardous conditions of a four-lane North Main by incorporating the traffic calming “Road Diet,” What remains is to introduce traffic calming and a southbound bike lane through downtown, connecting the already-existing bike lane entering from North Main with the existing southbound bike lane on Siskiyou. I think a groundswell of public support is needed so I’m asking concerned persons to show up at the Ad-hoc Downtown Parking and Circulation Committee today and urge rapid implementation of the downtown portion of the Transportation Plan Update with southbound bike lane by the committee, Public Works Director Mike Faught, the mayor and City Council. John Fisher-Smith lives in Ashland. By John Fisher-Smith DailyTidings.com By John Fisher-Smith Posted Jun. 1, 2016 at 12:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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