Why didn’t Columbia ask us before it built that bike lane?

I am totally in favor of the idea of bike lanes, but the city needs to assure that neighborhood leaders are aware of its pedestrian and bicycle master plan and involved in the plan (“City of Columbia removing bike lanes from Farrow Road shortly after putting them in”).

How was the decision made to put them in low-income areas first?

Related: Sometimes a bike lane is more than just a bike lane

I know these bike lanes symbolize progress and will attract business to stir economic development, but the city needs to tell folk what is going on and make sure we are involved. We citizens are not children. It is inappropriate for members of the City Council to have the mindset that council does not have to share with communities everything that is being planned for the community.

Those of us in “low-income” areas need to continuously show up at committee meetings — not just council meetings — and be a part of the decision-making team. One Columbia works when we all work together.

The State publishes a cross section of the letters we receive from South Carolinians in order to provide a forum for our community and also to allow our community to get a good look at itself, for good or bad. The letters represent the views of the letter writers, not necessarily of The State.