Our roads are barely suitable for bikes, let alone bike lanes

Re Jeff Jacoby’s “Is the bike-lane fever breaking?” (Opinion, Jan. 9): I have a different angle on why bike lanes are not ready for prime time.

I am an avid recreational cyclist, but I also bring the perspective of having been a five-term selectman in Plainville.

When I’m cycling in Norfolk, trying to circumnavigate rutted roads, or swerving to avoid potholes on Route 1A in Wrentham, I’m not thinking bike lanes. I’m thinking how dangerous it is to be riding.

Then the selectman in me kicks in, and I realize that Chapter 90 state highway funding has always been inadequate to keep our roads in the condition to allow safe transit, especially for cyclists.

Bike lanes would be great, but until we can fund the basics of safe roads, they are a luxury. Jacoby nailed it when he called them a utopian concept. Let’s fix the roads first.

Rob Rose

Plainville