Extra

A couple of recent reader commentaries assume that all the recent changes in Berkeley’s streets were done for the sake of bicycles, but they are sadly misinformed. 

One says, “Now MLK is being turned into an obstacle course” and seems to think this is being done for bicycles. But the city is actually adding median refuges on MLK to make it safer for pedestrians to cross - and it is hard to imagine how bicyclists could possibly make use of refuges in the middle of the street at intersections. 

Another says that bicycle safety is the reason for “restaurant seating in parking spaces (parklets),” but everyone should know that restaurants pay to build parklets in front of their businesses so their customers can sit outside to eat.” 

This commentary also gives dubious figures about bicycle volumes, and as its reference gives www.freestreets.org. But looking at that site, I find it is a mash-up of right-wing conspiracy theories.  

Here are a few quotations from www.freestreets.org: Global warming is … a cover story used by governments to assume control of all property, resources, and every aspect of our daily lives. 'Complete Streets' . . . is not an end goal. It is the beginning of large-scale societal change that culminates in 'smart cities', AKA '15 minute cities'. Confinement and surveillance is the end goal of the 'Complete Streets' program. Smart Growth is not just the preferred building style for UN Agenda 21/Sustainable Development; it is the ideology. Moving people into centralized urban areas in high density housing creates the perfect opportunity for domestic surveillance. I will let Daily Planet readers judge for themselves how reliable this site is as a source of data.