This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The Salt Lake City Council should approve the well-conceived active transportation requests in the 2013-14 capital improvement plan budget.
Although I do not live in Salt Lake City, I commute by bike from the county to downtown or the University of Utah almost every day. If it wasn't for Salt Lake City's leadership in developing infrastructure that encourages active transportation, I might still be driving a car for my trips.
Salt Lake City's excellent team of experienced active transportation planners and engineers is developing a safe, well-engineered, friendly urban biking environment which is the role model for the Wasatch Front and the state of Utah. Studies have shown cycle tracks and biking infrastructure are safer for cyclists and make less experienced bicyclists more comfortable and willing to bike on the streets.
There is an indisputable correlation between increasing the numbers of cyclists and statistically safer streets. This has been demonstrated over and over again in cities that make bicycling infrastructure a priority.
The benefits of active transportation to personal health, cleaner air, calmer, safer streets, street vitality and the quality of urban living (less traffic congestion, less parking demands, etc.) cannot be overstated.
Chad Mullins
Holladay