No, Cheyenne drivers, you don't own the streets

BY D. REED ECKHARDT

The streets of Cheyenne are not safe.

No, I’m not talking about the potholes or the rotted-out portions of the cheap chip seal.

And no, I’m not talking about the propensities of this city’s drivers to speed and run through every red light at every opportunity. 

That is not the kind of danger that I am talking about.

Rather, try walking a dog on downtown streets on a busy Friday afternoon. 

Or try biking to work.

It truly can be about taking your life into your own hands.

Consider. I was walking my two dachshunds this morning, crossing Carey Avenue near Pershing. One was dragging behind, taking his sweet time. Approaching was the typical

Bicyclists and pedestrians are in danger on Cheyenne's streets.

Cheyenne pickup truck, and the driver, who clearly saw us, refused to either brake or slow down. Instead, he barreled toward us, and I was forced to drag the slower dog up the curb.

And when a friend and I considered biking to work earlier this year, we had to plot a course that would take us, as much as possible, out of the way of the city’s drivers. That included long stretches of sidewalk for fearing of being in the streets.

This ought not to be. 

The mindset here continues to be that motorized vehicles own the streets and that everyone – and everything – had better get out of the way.

This has to end if Cheyenne ever hopes to become a magnet for young professionals. These people simply do not get around like the old-school residents of the Capital City.   Consider just a few findings from the study “Transportation and the New Generation: Why Young People Are Driving Less and What It Means for Transportation Policy.” (https://uspirg.org/sites/pirg/files/reports/Transportation%20&%20the%20New%20Generation%20vUS_0.pdf). In 2009:

·     16 to 34-year-olds as a whole took 24 percent more bike trips than they took in 2001, despite the age group actually shrinking in size by 2 percent. 

·     16 to 34-year-olds walked to destinations 16 percent more frequently than did 16 to 34-year-olds living in 2001. 

·     Many of America’s youth said they prefer to live places where they can easily walk, bike and take public transportation. 

Among the report’s conclusions: The trend toward reduced driving among young people is likely to persist as a result of technological changes and increased legal and financial barriers to driving.

If you talk to any of the young people you work with – even those who were born and have lived their lives here – you will find this to be true. Certainly there are exceptions to the rule; that was no oldster bearing down on me on Carey Avenue this morning. But the trend clearly is away from that, and it is up this city’s leaders to work on changing the culture here.

It can be done. Consider how bicycle friendly Fort Collins, Colo., has become. Or try failing to stop for a pedestrian in Boulder, Colo. He or she will tell you in no uncertain terms that they have a right to the street too.

All of this is not to say that the rights of Cheyenne’s pedestrians or bicyclists should be given precedence over the rights of motorists. But there seems to be a belief by too many motorists that pedestrians and bicyclists do not have any rights at all when they are in the roadway. 

The argument is that vehicle drivers pay taxes for the streets while bicyclists and pedestrians do not. But nothing could be further from the truth. The fact of that the matter is that most roadwork in Cheyenne is funded by the fifth- and sixth-penny salestaxes. Everyone pays those, not just those at the helms of pickup trucks the size of boats.

It is time that city officials begin to address these issues. Not only should this be done to avoid injuries and even deaths, but also to begin altering this driver-centric culture. If you expect young professionals to feel welcome here, allowing drivers to run their bikes off the roads or blow black exhaust smoke on them – yes, coal rolling still persists here – is not going to get that done.

Some possible actions:

·     A safety campaign that explains pedestrian rights and drivers’ responsibilities. This would not have to be costly, but it should be high profile and long term. It should emphasize pedestrian safety over drivers’ rights. It could include “Pedestrian Safety Month” with targeted events and other marketing efforts.

·     A similar bicycling safety effort could be instituted. Brochures could be printed and handed out by police when they see drivers violating the law. Tickets should be issued in particularly unsafe incidents.

·     Moments of emphasis by the police department. Set a week or month aside during which officers are especially mindful of pedestrian and/or bicyclist safety. It would be no different than those times when police focus on drunken driving.

              It must be said that these programs should cut both ways. Bicyclists or pedestrians who violate the law set bad examples for the rest and only emphasize the misbeliefs of those who think they own the streets.

But regardless, the driver-centric culture has to change if Cheyenne ever expects to move forward. I should not have to fear for my life every time I step off the curb or try to bicycle my way to Lions Park.

D. Reed Eckhardt is the former executive editor of the Wyoming Tribune Eagle.