I doubt that it
will come as a surprise to you but Austin has a traffic problem. Given how fast
this area is growing (I’ve heard figures as high as 150 people a day are moving
into the area), there is no way to build roads fast enough to keep up with the
growth of traffic.
This gives us
all lots of opportunities to work on our patience. Mine needs a lot of work. The
solutions to this congestion are mostly not very good. The quickest solution
would be a major economic depression. People out of work don’t need to drive to
work, and probably couldn’t afford the gas anyway. But that is a pretty drastic
approach that none of us want to see!
A much better
approach is to foster mass transit and alternate transit opportunities. The
city has installed new bus routes and exclusive bus lanes. I hope that works
and more people start using the bus for their commute. It is perfectly
acceptable to come to church by bus. There is also a plan to bring rail into
Austin, with all the debate over the route, the cost, the impact of building
rail in the heart of the city, etc. And finally the city has encouraged people
to bike rather than drive in order to help alleviate traffic.
I mention all
this because several months ago the city installed a dedicated bike lane down
Guadalupe Street, right in front of the church. In theory I am in favor of promoting
bike travel in the city, but in practice there are sometimes other
complications.
For us here at
St Austin the problem is the interaction of pedestrians and bicycles. While
bicyclists sometimes complain that automobile drivers do not watch for bicycles
and respect them, in much the same way sometimes bicyclists do not watch for
nor respect pedestrians. Specifically here at St. Austin, we have had a few
instances where drivers parking in front of the church were nearly run over by
a bicycle flying down the bike lane between the parking lane and the sidewalk. I
also notice that pedestrians crossing Guadalupe at 21st street
congregate in the bike lane, and occasionally there are near misses between
bikes and pedestrians there as well.
So I am asking
all of you to PLEASE BE VERY CAREFUL when crossing the green bike lane in front
of the church. Think of it as a danger zone, like a minefield, and be very
careful. Bike ridership is predicted to increase, and I think we will see more
and more bike traffic going by in front of our church. Please look both ways
and watch out for the bikes. Stay safe. Thank you.
God bless,
No comments:
Post a Comment