Letters to the editor

Bicyclists, pedestrians have the same rights
As the Washington Avenue Bridge is part of my running route, I am familiar with the problems caused by the new regulations. It seemed that for one weekend at least, bikes were allowed in two lanes adjacent to the enclosure. That seemed reasonable until stopped by some authority. It seems to me that an institution with one of the best engineering schools in the country could have someone figure out the added stress on the bridge with that traffic pattern.
State law gives bicyclists the same rights as pedestrians on sidewalks (MS 169.22 Subd. 1 and 4) unless prohibited by a local authority. It would seem that Hennepin County, not University of Minnesota officials, must exercise that right. State law also requires a cyclist to yield to pedestrians so it would seem that it would be impossible to ride at crowded times and quite safe to do so when there are few or no pedestrians present. Issuing tickets at this time seems extreme.
Of course, bikes can clearly use the lower roadway. In that case the applicable state law (MS169.18 Subd. 3 (3)) requires that cars leave a safe distance (not less than 3 feet) when passing. I would hope that the police will enforce this reasonable safety law with equal vigor.
Phyllis Kahn
State congressional representative (D-59B)

Let’s all get along on the bridge
In regards to the all the recent letters about the bridge crossing, I’ve noticed two trends. Bikers are upset that they must walk their bikes across the bridge, and pedestrians just want to get across the river without getting run over. Both groups have a right to feel as they do, but there are ways to make this situation better for everyone.
First let me say that I am a biker. I bike because it gets me to class faster and I just prefer to bike around campus. I don’t bike because it’s better for the environment, or because “cars are evil,” or any of the other reasons that many non-bikers like to spout as though biking is evil. Have you ever considered that most of us probably just like biking? We don’t bike to make your lives harder. We’re not actively trying to hit you.
On that topic, bikers: STOP biking across the Washington Avenue Bridge. The rules are there for a reason, and if you don’t like them, tough. Those of you that continue to break the rules are giving all campus bikers a bad reputation. Either start walking your bikes across the bridge, or take 10th Avenue or the railroad bridge across the river on your bike. Taking either of those two bridges probably takes the same amount of time as it does to walk across the Washington Avenue Bridge.
I am perfectly willing to follow any and all rules about bikers on the Washington Avenue Bridge, and all other bikers should be as well. Are the four minutes you will save by biking across the bridge really worth an $80 ticket? Let’s stop debating about whether the bridge restrictions have bad timing, and just learn to deal with it. Complaining is not going to cause Hennepin County to reopen the bridge completely.
One last request: Pedestrians, please stop walking in our bike lanes. Those exist for bikers and bikers only. If you need to cross a bike lane, look both ways to make sure it’s clear. It’s just like crossing a road. Extend to me the same respect that I extend to you.
Robin Spoehr
University student

Safety on the lower deck
I certainly hope that the UMPD will be as diligent in enforcing the safety of bicyclists on the lower deck of the Washington Avenue Bridge as they are in protecting pedestrians on the upper deck. Now that the Interstate 35W Bridge is opening again, cars and trucks have alternative routes.

Les Everett
Program Coordinator
University of Minnesota Water
Resources Center

Policemen or bogeymen?
I think the bikers who are so offended by the tickets being handed out need to calm down a little. This is the normal response to situations like these, and the UMPD officers writing these tickets are the same ones, presumably, who will be hiding behind the poles in Morrill Hall this year, leaping out to write $80 tickets for incompetence, $125 fines for inept responses to foreseeable and preventable infrastructure problems, and $65 slips for trying to cover unworkable policies, not with alternative well thought-out plans that would ease their compounding failure, but by putting UMPD officers behind poles like bogeymen.
Grant Leuning
University student