Letter: Peddling plaudits for Orem’s bike lanes | Letters to the Editor

I was riding my bicycle to the supermarket in the gorgeous sunlight, canvas bag in hand. Following all traffic rules, I was waiting patiently at a red light in a clearly designated bike lane.

Who exactly was the idiot here?

As a local, I have biked around town for years — even before there were designated bike lanes — in a deliberate effort to keep the air clean and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Sadly, these verbal attacks were nothing new.

However, as someone who has also lived around the world in cities with some of the best public transport transportation systems available, and as someone who cares passionately about the environment, I applaud the efforts of Orem City in establishing bike lanes and in bettering the public transportation system, bit by little bit. I encourage the city to continue its efforts in making Orem and the surrounding community more sustainable.

Environmental issues are complex, and solutions must be taken with care and consideration of a variety of factors. But as efforts to establish truly viable environmentally sound options are made, just as a river follows the path of least resistance, perhaps the aggression hurled toward me that day may one day diminish.

To tweak a well-known saying, if you build it well, they will change.