I gave a talk at the monthly climate cafe last night about my petition for a bike path on Union St. It started badly. The microphone was too short and in my attempt to adjust it I dropped the clicker to advance my slides. When it hit the floor the back came off and the batteries went flying in every direction. Normally those batteries are a pain to remove. They get stuck on the coiled wiring and refuse to budge.
After that everything was fine and someone even took a pic.
People are excited about the possibility of a bike path on Union St. I get this vibe whenever I talk about it. Our central city street is congested, noisy, polluted and the businesses on it are struggling and have been for a long time. There’s no parking on Union St so the private motor vehicles using it are not stopping there to shop. They’re using it as a through-road to somewhere else and this is having a negative impact on local businesses as well as making it unpleasant for pedestrians and cyclists.
If we start in the centre with a segregated path we can work outwards to build a network of connected paths to and from the city. The next road could be King St which would connect directly to the University of Aberdeen. The University is a huge employer in Aberdeen and makes a significant contribution to the region however they need to attract students. When students decide where they’re going to go to study one factor in the decision will be transport options in the city.
A segregated path will also enhance the architecture on Union St which I think is beautiful. The right infrastructure can make a huge difference. Here’s how it looks now:
Here’s how it could look:
Right now the petition is sitting with the council and I have to be patient. I will give them 6 months and if I haven’t heard anything I’ll followup. In the meantime I urge all Aberdonians to contact their local councillor to let them know you support it. Contact details for councillors can be found here. This issue is being investigated and discussed right now which makes it the perfect time to let the them that this is something we, the voters, want.
rachel.blog 
Good for you for standing up and doing something about what you want, instead of just moaning about it as most if us do. I hope you get some good results. Seems to me it is the way forward for all busy cities.
Thanks, Scifihammy! I hope we get some good results too. I agree that this is the way forward for busy cities. I just we weren’t so far behind.