To the Editor:

Much has been spoken and written about the King Street Traffic Calming project with bike lanes, since city staff proposed an early concept at a June 12, 2013 meeting of the Taylor Run Civic Association Executive Board. Let's assume that our goal is to provide the safest, most convenient, and most attractive solution we can find, and generally in that order. I would love for there to be parking, bike lanes, medians between lanes with turn lanes and trees, wide sidewalks with utility zones, and four driving lanes for that matter.

Given 30 feet of roadway, not all of those things are going to be achievable. Two driving lanes leave 9 feet of space for anything else on the existing road. The choices on the table for that space are parking and bike lanes. Bike lanes are clearly the safer option, based on a great deal of data that has been presented by the city engineer, importantly, providing an essential buffer for pedestrians on both sides of this arterial roadway.Given that, City staff initially recommended putting bike lanes on this section of King Street. However, after some dialog with the residents and data gathering about parking usage that showed a maximum of six parked cars, the city has chosen to recommend leaving about 13 parking spaces.Although I prefer the safer approach that was initially recommended with full bike lanes, I support the City's compromise plan with some bike lanes and parking that meets residential needs.

Angus Hendrick

Alexandria