Dear Editor:
I don’t know which number is more disturbing: 0 km or 1/10 of a kilometre. 1/10 is larger, but it also represents the ambition the Centre Wellington council has in regards to our health, climate and equity of movement for the next five years.
We have zero bike lanes now, according to the Vital Signs report just released by the Centre Wellington Community Foundation, and by 2024 we will have 0.1km of bike lanes. From what I have read, dollar for dollar bike lanes are the best recreational investment a municipality can make. To call them bike lanes then is myopic. We should call them recreation lanes, but that doesn’t highlight wheelchair accessibility issues that these lanes provide. The original intent of bike lanes was to serve cyclists, but we now know they offer so much more.
These lanes can have many names based on what they give us. Put the word “lane” at the end of each word or phrase: accessibility, carbon sink, obesity reduction, happiness, mental health, low impact transport, no need for a car, affordability, meet your neighbour, reduce stress, get kids to school safe, make the world better, and let’s do something more than building bridges.
My favourite, however, is to call them green lanes. This beautiful colour embraces all the lanes mentioned above. Knock yourself out Centre Wellington council: go ahead and create 0.1km bike lanes, but at least create one green lane that connects downtown Elora to the Fergus downtown.
That, by the way, would address another issue identified in the Vital Signs report: connecting Elora and Fergus. Two for one. You can’t afford not to do this!
John Scott,
Elora