While the proposed road improvements on North Madison put forward at the recent meeting at the Grange (July 15) are by no means a perfect solution to address all the safety issues on North Madison, they are a great start.

The proposed five-foot shoulder on the east side of the road will provide a safer refuge for slow-moving cyclists climbing northbound.

Squeaky Wheels would still like to see addressed a way to accommodate pedestrians and inexperienced cyclists heading southbound, as well as see the proposed shoulder extended to Wilkes Elementary School, consistent with the goals adopted under the City of Bainbridge Island’s Non-Motorized Transportation Plan.

But for now, the northbound shoulder, as well as the lowering of the speed limit and installation of a stop sign at Valley Road are all welcome steps to make North Madison a safer place for all road users.

There are of course at least six other roadways around the island commonly used by the growing number of commuting and recreational cyclists that are equally uninviting and potentially dangerous to bicyclists.

Notably they are: Eagle Harbor Drive, Miller Road, Fletcher Bay Road, Blakely Avenue and the western portion of High School Road – that the city council should make a priority to fix.

Potentially, some of these roads could be made safer for all road users through dedicated funding the city could access via a bond issue specifically for road safety improvements. The city’s capital improvement plan for 2010-2011 includes improvements for which currently there is no money.

City staff members Lance Newkirk, Chris Hammer and Chris Wierzbicki have shown persistence and creativity (in design and finding funding) in moving forward with the North Madison and the proposed Wing Point projects and should be congratulated for their efforts.

We should use these two projects as the yardstick to show what is possible by the city in difficult financial times.

Gordon Black,

On behalf of the

Squeaky Wheels board