As founder and executive director of Bike Westport, Markus Marty wants safer roads in town for bicyclists. (Pedestrians and drivers too!)
He’s not the only one. Kings Highway Elementary School 5th graders also do.
Recently, Workshop students there began studying the town. They came up with many ideas about biking.
After meeting with Markus, and getting a map of Westport from the Planning & Zoning Department, they went to work on a plan.
Then they wrote to “06880.” They said:
We were learning about how Westport’s government operates, and discussing our great town and thinking of ways to improve it.
One of our classmates brought up the lack of bike lanes. We decided to make it our focus. We were thinking of places we could put bike lanes, the benefits, and the challenges.
Markus Marty meets with Kings Highway students.
We think bike lanes would improve our town in many ways. They would make people more healthy, especially children, they would help reduce traffic, they would help the environment, and they would bring our community together.
When it’s warm, we all enjoy biking. But many of us live off or near busy roads such as Woodside Avenue, Newtown Turnpike, and Saugatuck Avenue. Our parents don’t like us going on long bike rides by ourselves. But if Westport had bike lanes, this wouldn’t be a problem.
Bike paths and loops, suggested by KHS students …
We think bike lanes would be a big hit with all Westporters, from children to adults. They would benefit people for many reasons, including health reasons.
Bike lanes would benefit children especially, because it would be a way for kids to go meet up with friends without their parents having to drive them. This would help kids develop a sense of independence, which is a challenge for parents today because of safety.
Kids in town don’t have the same independence as they did when our parents were growing up. With the bike lanes, kids would have more freedom. All kids would benefit from the bike lanes.
… and a close-up of some suggestions.
Bike lanes wouldn’t just help bikers though. It can be infuriating to be stuck behind a biker, but with designated bike paths and routes, the frustration would be less.
Another reason is that many people use their car because biking is dangerous. If more people bike, less cars could cause less traffic.
Sure, it might not stop a whole lot of big traffic, but it could fix traffic building up at red lights. It could also help you make the light, with less cars on the road.
Drivers also don’t have to worry about hitting any bikers that are on the road when there is a specified bike lane.
Multiple other reasons are environmentally focused. One of these is that there are way, WAY less gas emissions than when people are riding in automobiles.
Also, if you are holding onto a bike’s handlebars, it is hard to throw your trash on the ground, so cycling also decreases littering!
Two questions, from Kings Highway students.
Bikes can also go on off road paths, which can be very scenic and enjoyable. These paths are more friendly to the environment, and are also smaller and more natural, leading to less resources expended, more enjoyment, and much less damage to the earth. People would also appreciate nature more, leading to less actions without thinking of outcomes, like littering.
Because of this, bikes are wholly better than cars in terms of keeping our world healthy, and are also enjoyable for parents and kids alike. So, bicycle lanes are important to create for many reasons.
The bike lanes would also impact the whole community. The lanes would bring people together, and neighbors could meet up and ride to schools and other locations together.
One possible way to make this happen is we could create bike buses. They are a type of bike train led by an adult, this would make it possible for lots of students to ride together and it would minimize the danger for the bikers.
A May, 2024 bike event at Kings Highway Elementary School.
The bike lanes would also make it possible for more people, especially families with children, to bike. If more bikers were on the road it would make drivers more aware that it is not only them on the road. This would make the number of accidents for both bikers and drivers decrease, therefore benefiting a large group of Westporters.
We have read a great deal of your past posts and writings on the subject of biking in Westport. We realize that students are an important part of Westport’s future.
We all agree that bike lanes are an important part of many successful communities. Westport does not have access to this luxury. If we had bike lanes all of Westport would benefit.
Sincerely, the KHS 5th Grade Workshop