Indianapolis’ rush to sharply increase the number of dedicated bike lanes on major city streets was blasted by listeners to Afternoons with Amos. Listeners peppered Jamison Hutchins, the City’s Bicycle & Pedestrian Coordinator in Indianapolis’ Office of Sustainability with a myriad of questions and comments condemning the city’s bike lane system. especial on major streets in Black-majority neighborhoods like Illinois, Capitol, 46th and Lafayette Road. Listeners complained of the narrowness of the bike lanes and traffic lanes, the lack of education of residents, the poor design of the streets with bike lanes. When asked what data the city had about bike riding in Indy, inexplicably Hutchins said they had “none”. One of the nation’s leading consumer research firms, Scarborough reports only 14% of the 24,000 who ride a bike in Indy weekly are Black. Far below the 28% of the city that’s African-American. In defending the city’s bike lane policy, Hutchins claimed that the adding bike lanes to the major streets and narrowing driving lanes to ten feet helps to “calm” traffic in the area and improve the neighborhood.
Click the arrow to hear the full intense discussion between Jamison Hutchins defending the city’s bike lane policy and listeners intensely opposed. Runs 42 Minutes ©2012 WTLC/Radio One.
