Ugh. We get the same thing here in suburban DC (not the earthquakes but the outright hostility towards any changes in road infrastructure that don't involve adding lanes).
The main street in front of my neighborhood was recently repaved end-to-end (3 miles or so). Prior to that, it was 2 lanes in each direction, with a few left turn lanes. As part of the repave, they wanted to add a semi-protected bike lane (by removing one car lane in each direction). The outcry was ridiculous. This isn't a major thoroughfare, it's a moderately travelled neighborhood road. There's a small shopping center at one end and a school complex in the middle.
Long-story-short, the government add the bike lanes. EXCEPT for in front of the schools and shopping center. So, it's half mile of 4-lane cars, then 1 mile 2 cars/2 bike, then at the school it's back to 4-car for half mile, then back to 2 car/2 bike for the remainder.
And now all the non-cyclists cry "Look! Nobody uses the bike lanes!" Well, of course not. They're completely fucking useless because they come and go almost at random and don't lead anywhere.
It's infuriating.
The main street in front of my neighborhood was recently repaved end-to-end (3 miles or so). Prior to that, it was 2 lanes in each direction, with a few left turn lanes. As part of the repave, they wanted to add a semi-protected bike lane (by removing one car lane in each direction). The outcry was ridiculous. This isn't a major thoroughfare, it's a moderately travelled neighborhood road. There's a small shopping center at one end and a school complex in the middle.
Long-story-short, the government add the bike lanes. EXCEPT for in front of the schools and shopping center. So, it's half mile of 4-lane cars, then 1 mile 2 cars/2 bike, then at the school it's back to 4-car for half mile, then back to 2 car/2 bike for the remainder.
And now all the non-cyclists cry "Look! Nobody uses the bike lanes!" Well, of course not. They're completely fucking useless because they come and go almost at random and don't lead anywhere.
It's infuriating.