Dear Editor:
An open letter to Centre Wellington councillor Bob Foster.
I just have to write you to express my extreme displeasure (and total consternation) at council’s decision to put bike lanes on St. David Street.
That street is horrendously busy as is (it’s a provincial highway). Cycling there could only be truly dangerous! Depriving those of us who try to shop downtown of even more parking spaces is a seriously bad move, too.
We lost St. Andrew St. parking in the 1990s when they added the trees. While they’re charming, fewer people see them, as parking at either end of Fergus is much more plentiful. I know people who live near me (James and Garafraxa area) who have never been downtown since moving to Fergus three years ago. They shop at Canadian Tire, Giant Tiger, Zehrs and Mark’s. They go to Walmart, LCBO, Dixon’s and FreshCo.
Why? Lots of parking! Lots of handicapped spaces (now known as “accessible parking” for which we need permits), too! St. Andrew St. has only about four of those, by the way, and more are desperately needed by those of us who want to support our BIA businesses.
There are eight streets – Breadalbane to Gartshore – that parallel St. David. Any one of those would be a far safer place to create bicycle lanes. And as one fellow citizen has pointed out, we get fairly long winters here and cyclists seldom use their bikes in winter. But even more people want to park downtown as they shop in the colder weather. Removing parking spaces to add bicycle lanes is just plain ludicrous.
I ask you seriously to please re-consider the proposal. Please try to do something that makes more sense to we folks who want to shop and dine downtown.
Helen Marucci,
Fergus