Glendale Should Encourage Bicycle Use

As I ride my bicycle through Glendale running errands to the grocery store, library and other places, I find no evidence that city government knows of the existence of bicycles. I have no knowledge of a single bike path, much less a bike lane or even a street designated as suitable for a bicycle.

Recreation and fitness cycling is showing explosive growth. The city fathers may not have noticed, but bicycles are no longer only used by children until of age to drive an automobile. They are becoming recognized by a growing population as the key to fitness. We are beginning to see tentative steps toward their use as a serious means of transportation whose obvious advantages of reduced traffic congestion and air pollution cannot be denied.

What is needed is to accommodate bicycles on city streets so that their use will be encouraged. Other cities have done so. Among them are neighboring Pasadena and Los Angeles, which have included the bicycle in their plans. Why has the bicycle been ignored during Glendale’s urban renewal plans? Why not include it?

BILL KRAUSE, Glendale