Downtown CR streets difficult to navigate

To the editor:

Is the City of Cedar Rapids out to confuse the driving public?

First, we have the change of some downtown one-way streets to two-way, but only in certain blocks. And with the striping and markings unclear at times during this time of year, drivers can get confused, even those familiar with Cedar Rapids. Add to this the bicycle lane designations and it's a mess.

I may be wrong, but Third Avenue SE is a perfect example of this. It has three to four different combinations of bicycle lane and car parking. Sometimes the bicycle lane is next to the curb, sometimes it's by the driving lane, sometimes it's in front of or behind angle parking.

If bicycle lanes are important to our citizenry, then let's come up with a plan to standardize their location with clear markings and provide this information to the public in the form of online and printed maps.

One serious accident as a result of a bicyclist's or driver's confusion is worth the effort to provide consistency on our city streets.

Don Sturgeon

Cedar Rapids