Readers’ comments: September 22, 2023

Not all residents behind third Mountain Avenue alternative
Dear editor:
A letter to the Courier in the September 15th edition suggests a “A third alternative for Mountain Avenue redesign.” This is something that the Claremont Streets for People has been aggressively pushing this year in spite of very little interaction with the actual residents of Mountain Avenue. While the group calls Mountain Avenue “a quintessential multi-use neighborhood street,” some of us (especially those north of Foothill) call it home. From Foothill to Baseline, there are 78 driveways, leading to and from residences, one elementary school, one church, and no community centers. It is an incredibly busy street with four traffic lanes; I cannot imagine what traffic would be like if cut down to two lanes!
The Street People consistently tell us that class IV bike lanes are the safest, but they ignore the fact that most vehicle-bike accidents occur when a vehicle turns left or right across a bike lane into (or out of) a driveway or cross street. With 78 driveways and four cross streets, there would seem to be minimal protection here. Furthermore, the class IV lane design successfully hides bike riders behind parked cars (trucks and SUVs) so it is even more difficult for drivers to see them when turning.
While the Street People like to maintain that this aggressive push is dedicated to child safety, I would suggest that it has more to do with the grandiose hope of making Claremont a model town for bicycle transportation. I have no problem with safe bicycle transportation, though I would like to see a lot more consideration of safe pedestrian transportation. However, I do not think that Mountain Avenue is a good match to the already existing redesign of Foothill Boulevard.
Tad Beckman
Claremont

‘Baseline Road’ author coming to Claremont
Dear editor:
Orlando Davidson, former Claremont resident and Claremont McKenna College alum is coming to the Claremont Helen Renwick Library to talk about his book, “Baseline Road,” which is set in Claremont circa 1972.
The narrator is a police detective (as well as a fiddle and dulcimer player in a local band), who has been tipped off  that a murder, committed two years before, has actually not yet been solved.  He sets off with his cop buddy, Carol, to run down the leads until they get to the bottom of it.  Claremont plays front and center in this book. The longer you’ve lived here the more you will recognize our fair city all those many years ago.
Davidson will speak at the Claremont Library Meeting Room at 1 p.m. Saturday, October 14, and will stay to sign books, which will be available for purchase for $15. The event is sponsored by the Friends of the Claremont Library.
Lanore Pearlman
President, Friends of the Claremont Library