Here we go again. The Dog has had enough from the flat-earthers pushing this ridiculous proposal to put traffic-clogging bike lanes on a number of main, east-west arteries in Historic Northeast. The primary target of these bike-happy goons is Lexington Avenue through Pendleton Heights all the way over to Belmont and St. John via Gladstone Boulevard. The Bike KC draft plan calls for “major separation” along this route which means that a dedicated bike lane will be added to the street against the curb, causing vehicles to be parked in what is now the middle of the street.

Sound safe to you? Certainly doesn’t to this motorized news-pooch. If you’d like an example of how this works, take a quick look at what this has done to Armour Boulevard between Broadway and Gillham Road. It’s impossible to enter Armour from a side street without putting your life and vehicle at risk in a big way. Are you ready for that along Gladstone Boulevard or Lexington Avenue?

Cyclists say they don’t feel safe when they ride. Well that pity train gets stopped right here mister. The Dog doesn’t feel safe either when we throw a leg over the motorized chrome pony and head out for a ride. We’ve had our share of run-ins with inattentive “cagers,” even 18-wheelers who are more interested in what’s on their phone screen versus what’s in their windshield. But there’s a big difference between the motorized and the non-motorized given we motorized types pay road taxes when we register our vehicles.

Bicycles however require no registration which means you pay no road taxes. The Dog won’t go so far as to say that bicyclists don’t have a right to the road, we’re just sick of those that pay no taxes being the ones driving the argument. We just saw that with the Paseo name change issue where a small cadre of churches got to drive the process. Churches for the record pay no property taxes. Now we see the same thing with the bicycle storm troopers demanding special treatment and protected status.

If it seems like this issue is familiar, you’re right. In December of 2017, we published an expertly penned letter to the Editor from Northeast resident Jeff Linville noting the tactics and the potential negative impacts the bicycle crowd would have if this plan was implemented. The Dog also penned two editorials on the matter, one in May of 2018 entitled Transit Talk and another in September of 2018 entitled Bike lanes at what cost? This week we’re publishing two letters from the area residents about the bike lane hot mess and the complete lack of public input in a process that seems quite backwards to this publicly oriented Newsdog.

This whole issue is being driven by some federal funding the city stumbled on that offers the city an elevated “green” status if more bike lanes are added to the city’s pot-hole riddled streets. Enough already! The Dog thinks it’s time for some common sense to enter the picture instead of the bus being driven by the vocal minority that doesn’t pay road taxes. Page 62 of the Missouri Drivers Guide spells out in detail how this works. “Bicycles are to be considered a part of traffic and they should ride as close to the right side of the road as possible, being careful not to impede the flow of traffic.” Maybe instead of foisting new parking and traffic snarling restrictions on the motorized class, maybe go back and learn to ride with the flow of traffic instead of blocking it.