Bike Utah Valley

Today I went for a walk to pick up my bike.  I left it at work last night for various reasons, and I had to go get it.  I only live a mile from work, so I decide to use my two feet to get there.  Besides, I didn’t have a bike that would carry another bike(they do exist), and my wife had the car.  So, I walked.  Why am I writing about my walk?  Well, because it was notable.  It was short, and it was utterly dull, lifeless, and it is no wonder more people don’t walk around here.  It only took me 20 minutes to walk to work.  I could do that every day if I chose too. I discovered that we need to do a much better job with our sidewalks.  The street I walked along was boring, and lifeless, and full of traffic.  There were no trees,(I know, it is February in Utah) no grass, no flower beds, no street furniture, no art.  There weren’t even any porches, and if there were, they would have been 30 feet from the sidewalk.  I was walking down what is classified as a collector street by our city and there is not a business on it for the majority of its length.  We need to fix this.  We need to make it better for pedestrians.  We need to make it more comfortable to walk.  We need to slow down traffic.  Why don’t we?  I think our Mayor and City Council and City Manager need to go for a walk a bit more often.  Maybe their eyes would be opened.  Maybe.  Mine sure were.  Along the same lines, I’ve been looking at handicap access and facilities a bit more lately.  A blind man came past the store the other day, and we work with people in wheelchairs a lot.  I’ve been noticing that sidewalks don’t get shoveled, and handicap parking areas are full of snow.  How do people with disabilities get around in the winter time?  I’m surprised that more businesses and cities aren’t sued for violation of  Federal law.  We have a lot to improve on, for all users of our transportation system.