UDOT Meeting - A Public Service Announcement

On the way home from snowshoeing yesterday, my friend, Karen, and I got to talking about some of the road construction going on around Utah Valley. She's on the city counsel and knows a lot about stuff going on. I got the idea from her that the Utah Department Of Transportation (UDOT) seems to have the opinion that if they ever need to widen a road, they will just use the road shoulder as a car lane and leave the road shoulderless. Um, isn't this where the cyclists ride? UDOT doesn't seem to care.

Today, I got an email from Karen telling me about a UDOT meeting coming up:
On Wednesday, February 13, from 5 - 7:30 p.m. UDOT is hosting a public open house for city representatives, business owners, residents, commuters and anyone else who would like to be involved. At the meeting, the study team will gather any input on potential issues and alignments that should be evaluated. The meeting will be held at 5050 W. 6400 N. in American Fork.
Your input is critical to the study team in order to develop a roadway corridor that best meets the needs of the study-area communities. In addition to attending the open house, you may also comment via e-mail at vineyard@ppbh.com, by phone at 801-753-7343, or by visiting our Web site at udot.utah.gov/vineyard.

"This is an important event local cyclists need to be aware of. It is an opportunity to ask UDOT to include cycling in the road cross-section for the Vineyard Connector Road. I think it is important for UDOT to plan for cyclists rather than put them on a road shoulder that could potentially become a travel lane in the future," says Karen.

It would be awesome if a whole bunch of us cyclists could come to the meeting and let UDOT know that we do exist, and we do care about the future of our roads.