Even the Economist is taking note of the “Cycling Renaissance” taking place in the US.  The article highlights cities that are making bike infrastructure a priority including Chicago, Washington DC and Portland.  Not surprisingly, Dallas is not mentioned.

While we’re finally seeing some change it does not seem that the City has truly embraced the importance of bike infrastructure.  Yes, Sharrows, the Jordan Catalano of bike infrastructure, are popping around town.  We’re even seeing a few short blocks of beautiful buffered bike lanes. Unfortunately, overall the City is doing a poor job of making the streets safer for cycling.  No bridges have been altered to benefit cycling even after Dallas Torres’ near death incident earlier this year.  Crossing the Trinity by bike is still an roll of the dice.   While the Hunt Hill Bridge looks great from a distance its a pure travesty that it can only be crossed in a car. Santiago, what’s up with that?  To add insult to injury, the Continental Bridge stands in the White Elephant’s shadow still open to traffic.  While there are big plans sitting on a shelf to convert the bridge into our very own Highline, it sits unchanged. Come on Dallas, lets get some of this renaissance energy flowing! Close the Continental Bridge to cars and make it our first safe crossing for bikes.  This low hanging fruit needs to be picked!