Thanks to Em for allowing us to reprint this letter she sent to the Lethbridge Herald
Re: City decides on third bridge location
Dear Editor
As someone who participated in the River Crossing Advisory Committee I was pleased to see that common sense has prevailed to some degree in the matter of the third river crossing (The Lethbridge Herald, City decides on third bridge location, December 1, 2009). The Lethbridge Herald also reported that the need for a third crossing could be delayed or avoided “if there was a significant change in the way residents choose to travel within the city.” I suspect the original wording in the recommendations from the Committee represents not so much an exhortation to residents to hop on their bicycles as it is an appeal to the City to change the way it develops: halting urban sprawl so that exclusive reliance on the automobile is not required, and preferring medium density housing and mixed use developments so that people live closer to amenities and services. Without these critical components, a change in transportation patterns is highly unrealistic and a costly third crossing is inevitable. The change that is required to avoid a third river crossing, or to avoid traffic snarls, for that matter, cannot be pinned solely on the residents of Lethbridge. This city has been developed around the automobile and that is what fundamentally needs to change.
Em Pijl-Zieber
Tags: bike unfriendly community, Cycling, Letbhridge, WOW Tours