Dear Porch Press,
I’m excited to see how bicycles have really integrated to become part of the transportation make-up of our neighborhoods. East Atlanta has begun hosting bike races, and here in Grant Park we have two bike shops and a non-profit to teach bike repair. Loose Nuts is the oldest shop in the area and located on Cherokee Ave. The newest, Sopo, a bike cooperative, is open to teach bike repair.
It is a very positive change to see so many cyclists on our streets. Atlanta may never have the bicycle traffic as in Queens or Brooklyn, but a real up take is a positive. Most bike riders I see seem in good shape, the active exercise is great to build cardiac reserve. Let it be noted that there are more cyclists now in our city than has ever been and that number will rise annually.
With all the increased usage by bikes on our streets, the sad corollary of increased accidents has followed. As gas prices rise, so too do pedestrian and bicycle accidents. Tragically, 82 people either walking or cycling were killed on Georgia roads just last year.
We need to look towards the very successful Silver Comet trail and the great bike paths in Denmark as models to help build safer bike options in our city. Building a new bike network on the flood plains of Intrenchment Creek and Proctor Creek, for starters, would be a very inexpensive way to build better and safer communities in those areas. Imagine a Proctor Creek trail from west of Georgia Tech to Cobb County near Nickajack Creek, with connections to the Silver Comet. Intrenchment Creek would tie into The South River Trail via the old prison farm, creating miles and miles of safe bicycle paths.
Atlanta is poised to connect miles and miles of non-automobile thoroughfares. Projects like the Beltline and these proposed trails would shorten the gap between where we are as an alternative transportation city and where the future will inevitably force us. We don’t need to burn gasoline every time we move from A to B if there are safe paved areas between A and B.
Scott Peterson
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