The dynamic duo is back from holiday break and they don’t miss a beat. Colorado Springs City Councilors Bill Murray and Tom Strand discuss the closing of the belching behemoth known as Martin Drake. Then they switch gears to converse about the blue frame, Colorado Municipal League, gas taxes, the strong mayor and – in Bill’s own words, “The lack of new businesses. I’m still looking for those 2100 jobs that were promised me.” The cybersecurity center, Panasonic, Broadband, and the Consumer Electronics Show come in for honorable mention. (Episode 59, Recorded 2018 01 05)
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
You say that you had no say about the Research Parkway bike lanes. Most people understand that. The problem is that what we didn’t see initially during that “experiment” was city council members being a voice for us. We saw city council members showing up for the first Ride On Research event and having their pictures taken, promoting what a wonderful thing the city had done in giving us bicycle lanes we didn’t want. You have the opportunity, moving forward, to correct your mistake. Continuing to allow small, special groups to impose their will on the majority is not looking out for the citizens. The majority of people in Colorado Springs are against “road dieting” or “right sizing” of more traffic lanes in Colorado Springs. We aren’t against bike lanes, but are against sacrificing traffic lanes in favor of bicycle lanes that most often go unused. Our traffic and planning dept has a list of roads that will see traffic lanes reduced in favor of bicycle lane installations. The Old North End road changes WILL require a vote of the city council. That’s next on the agenda. Are you going to stand up for us then or try to pass blame to the mayor? You will hear arguments from the other side about it being a safety need, as was stated on Research Parkway (we proved that was not the case, btw). Stop blaming Suthers and start standing up for the people you are supposed to represent.