Saturday letters: Bikes, cars and the Washington Bridge gridlock
Roads were built for cars
The recent hullabaloo over the attempted removal of the South Water Street bike lanes makes me wonder why they were put there in the first place. Weren’t roads built to accommodate automobiles? Didn’t the federal government spend millions to accommodate bikers and walkers with paths not available to autos?
While the concept is admirable, the pluses are many, the negatives may outweigh the positives. The present congestion needs to be addressed. While there are drivers who probably shouldn’t be on the road, the same holds true for bike operators, and a bike-car collision doesn’t usually end up well for the biker.
I find it curious when local news stations play file footage of times when the bike lanes are very busy, when, in fact, this is not usually the case. It’s always nice when government can meet everyone’s needs, but there comes a time when priorities have to prevail.
Gerry Griffin, Rumford
Relief from the daily gridlock
As one who deals daily with the Washington Bridge debacle, I wholly support the closing of the bike lanes on South Water Street. I live in the morning-gridlocked East Providence and work in Smithfield.
My evening commute home is greatly slowed by the one lane only on the street, and the backup extends to Davol, Eddy, and the light on Crary Street as well. The city must do everything it can to help move commuters along. This is currently untenable. Please help!
Rick Deblois, Riverside
US politicians doing Israel's bidding
Our foreign policy relating to the Palestinian situation is a shameful laissez faire policy largely due to Israel's influence over American politicians who give lip service to what is happening. As a result, Tel Aviv is making the decisions and not Washington.
With few exceptions, politicians supposedly in charge of running our government in Washington are nothing more that a group of gutless lackeys doing Israel's bidding.
Richard Chretien, Pawtucket
Housing and rent control
I have enjoyed The Journal's articles on the housing problem in Rhode Island. Instead of building more giant housing complexes, shouldn’t we consider passing some rent control legislation?
Helen Duffy, Providence
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Saturday letters: Bikes, cars and the Washington Bridge gridlock
