Counterpoint: Curb your lack of enthusiasm for traffic calming, bike infrastructure

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I was surprised at the reasoning employed in a recent commentary regarding road safety in Minneapolis ("Minneapolis streets are becoming unsafe, undriveable," Aug. 4). The author, Tim Keane, correctly points out that Minneapolis streets are unsafe for everyone. Recent high-profile stories are reminders that traffic violence is pervasive in our city ("5 killed when speeding driver runs red light," June 18). Reading through these headlines makes one wonder if their name will be the next to appear on the six o'clock news. However, instead of blaming this carnage on reckless/inattentive/inebriated drivers and the infrastructure that invites them to drive as fast as they want, Mr. Keane nonsensically claims that traffic calming and bike infrastructure are the culprits.

We have learned that you can't simply ask drivers to slow down; you have to force them to slow down. City planners now understand that features like narrower lanes, traffic islands and raised crosswalks subconsciously force drivers to decrease their speed. Eliminating parking near intersections improves visibility for everyone, and providing protected bike infrastructure makes it less likely for drivers to kill cyclists, as happens far too often with painted bike lanes. Being forced to drive marginally slower on residential streets, navigate around traffic islands and make turns more carefully will not inhibit your morning commute, but it may be the difference in life or death for someone who is not surrounded by a 2-ton metal cage.

We have spent the better part of the last 60 years designing our built environment with the assumption that people will drive everywhere, and those who can't or won't drive are nothing more than an afterthought. I encourage people to try biking or walking around Minneapolis and tell me if the city is truly making it harder to drive.

And a quick note on parking: You do not have the right to store private property on a public right-of-way. In the original article to which Keane refers ("Parking dismay at 42nd and Cedar," July 3), a resident lamented that "nobody is going to walk three-fourths of a block to get a beer." I had to read this a couple times to confirm that the person wasn't being sarcastic. That's easily the distance one would walk from the parking lot to Rosedale Center or Mall of America. I would offer that, in the middle of a major city, if no one is willing to walk a block to patronize your establishment, perhaps you shouldn't be in business.

Liam Mullen, of Minneapolis, is a structural engineer.