Readers’ comments: September 1, 2023

Not all bicyclists agree on Mountain Avenue redesign
Dear editor:
In response to Steve Felschundneff’s article on the redesign of Mountain Avenue, published in last week’s Courier [“Residents speak up on Mountain Avenue redesign,” August 25], I offer a comment: not all cyclists favor the creation of a class IV bike lane, one separated from vehicular traffic by a physical barrier. Many members of the Claremont Senior Bike Group oppose a class IV bike lane because it would require that cyclists turning left from Mountain Avenue onto the east/west streets between Harrison Avenue and Foothill Boulevard stand in the traffic lanes until the north/southbound vehicular traffic has passed before making their turn. In short, the elimination of the center left turn lane on Mountain between Harrison and Foothill required to construct a class IV bike lane there would make Mountain Avenue more dangerous.
In truth, cycling on Mountain Avenue is only sketchy during the drop-off and pick-up times at the schools, that means for approximately 30 minutes in the mornings and afternoons, and only during the school year. However, we members of the Senior Bike Group ride Mountain Avenue Mondays-Thursdays and Saturdays for our weekly rides, and some of us who live in the neighborhoods around Mountain Avenue cycle the street in order to visit friends and do business in town all year long. Thus, we believe the safety of those who ride on Mountain Avenue as frequently as we do should be prioritized since we spend far more time on it than do the schoolchildren.
It is Claremont Streets for People — a fine organization with terrific intentions — which has come out most strongly in favor of the class IV bike lane on Mountain Avenue; however, they do not speak for all cyclists who live and ride in Claremont.
Denise Spooner
Claremont

Story did not represent entire community
Dear editor:
Why are all the faces in the article by Andrew Alonzo white? [“Good and bad: residents react to recent changes in the City of Trees,” Courier Almanac, August 25].
Where are the Tongva leaders who live in our midst? Why are Black residents not asked their opinion? Richard Rose Ph.D. is a longtime Claremont resident working at the University of La Verne. LatinX Elaine Padilla Ph.D. also teaches at University of La Verne.
Claremont has always been multiethnic in spite of efforts to reduce the Mexican American population in the 1960s when CMC re-routed the county lines with the assistance of many, including the priest of Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Church in Claremont.
The Courier is no longer privately owned. Let’s make sure we make it truly our paper.
Ignacio Castuera
Claremont