Lexington’s City Council goes back into session this week after about a month-long summer recess. The City’s Vice Mayor has ideas about transportation goals.
Dan Wu is in his first year on the Urban County Council. He said he’s been told the fall should be a bit less hectic than when new members came on in January. Wu said the city budget and comprehensive plan decisions were substantial in the first half of 2023.
One area Wu is interested in is an ongoing effort to modify transportation strategies.
“I would love Lexington to become a less car-centric car-dependent city. But, what that means is more multi-modal transportation. We have to have better infrastructure for walking, for biking, for public transit,” said Wu.
Wu said that includes being intentional about new developments. The vice mayor would like to see additional infrastructure to better protect cyclists commuting or taking a leisure ride through town.
Wu believes in designated bike paths, but he noted the paths need to go beyond lane striping.
“A protected bike lane is something that has either those kind of tall stanchions you might see that prevents the car from kind of veering into it or even just raised bumps between the driving lane and the biking lane, so that if a car does veer into it, a car feels it and you correct,” said Wu.
Wu said a visit to Toronto revealed how the design there included the sidewalk, then a bike lane, then dividers with parking spots all before vehicle travel lanes. The vice mayor added one of the upcoming considerations this fall will be on how to spend any surplus monies. That’s expected in October.
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