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Dallas Council Member Suggests Tweaks For City Bike Plan

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Dallas wants to create more than a thousand miles of bike lanes citywide in the next 10 years.

Dallas Council member Angela Hunt says she wants to make the most of scarce resources to get more dedicated bike lanes.   

Hunt would like to start by extending the new Jefferson viaduct cycle track through downtown to the West End.

“We can connect from Jefferson Street down Market Street and get all the way to the West End," Hunt told her council colleagues at an update on the city's bike plan. "It would take out 13 metered parking spaces, that’s it.  And I’ve looked at them at various times of the day.  They aren’t well used.”

Hunt would also like to eliminate the bike helmet law for adults. She says it makes bicycling appear dangerous and discourages the bike as a form of transportation.

Currently there are 136 miles of bike lanes and trails, about 10% of the goal.

Former KERA reporter BJ Austin spent more than 25 years in broadcast journalism, anchoring and reporting in Atlanta, New York, New Orleans and Dallas. Along the way, she covered Atlanta City Hall, the Georgia Legislature and the corruption trials of Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards.