To the editor:

I was disheartened to read that the Lawrence City Commission voted 4 to 1 to reduce the capacity of Ninth Street west of downtown. The plan is to make Ninth have just a single lane in each direction (with a turn lane in the middle).

This is a terrible idea. Think about it. First, the capacity of the street will be cut in half, doubling the density of cars. Second, the traffic lines at each stop light will be twice as long, backing up traffic. Third, all cars in one lane means there would be much less frequent gaps in traffic for cars to turn onto Ninth, especially when trying to turn left from side streets. Moving ahead with single lanes in each direction will be like having a permanent construction zone on Ninth. Crazy!

I am an avid bike rider and have no problem riding my bike safely in that area. The City Commission should not be making decisions to impede traffic flow on Ninth Street, a critical transportation corridor, especially in light of increasing downtown population density. We want to encourage people to visit downtown and not make it harder.

Commissioners, please reconsider and reverse your vote.

Craig Adams,

Lawrence