Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
Atlanta

Popular Support for Bike Lanes Is Precisely the Problem for Atlanta Columnist Bill Torpy

If he can’t drive his car on it, it’s of little use to Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Bill Torpy. Image: City of Decatur

A plan to put an extra-wide suburban Atlanta thoroughfare on a road diet, adding protected bike lanes in the process, has come under fire from a local columnist with an unhealthy vendetta against people who ride bikes.

Every big city newspaper in America seems to have one columnist whose stock in trade is ginning up resentment toward people on bikes. In the Atlanta region, Bill Torpy is that columnist. His latest column continues in that tradition.

Torpy calls Commerce Drive "sort of a mini-I-285 around downtown Decatur." Upset that he and other drivers will no longer be as free to speed around Decatur on what he describes as a miniature interstate, Torpy attempts to set off a populist bikelash.

Trouble is, the people of Decatur aren't with him. A survey of more than 1,000 Decatur residents for the city's comprehensive plan update found 77 percent support "improving pedestrian and bicycle service" even if it "can result in increased automobile congestion and slower vehicular movement."

But that won't deter Torpy, who casts the Commerce Drive change as a battle between ordinary "folks just cruising through, trying to get somewhere in a timely manner" and snobby "People’s Republic of Decatur" residents trying "keep other people from driving through their city."

Atlanta-area bicycle advocates say Torpy needs to get a grip.

"Every city has those who tap into the frustration of car commuting in traffic. And far from the stereotype summoned in the article, people biking in Decatur today come from all walks of life -- working class, middle class, older adults, and above all, kids," said Bennett Foster, membership and campaigns manager at the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition. "While it's great for clickbait, scapegoating safety improvements and people who bike rarely produces accurate reporting."

The Commerce Drive protected bike lanes, developed as part of a 10-year master plan with the PATH Foundation, will be part of a network connecting people with Emory University, downtown Decatur, and the Atlanta BeltLine. To Torpy, it's "part of an ongoing counterinsurgency against autos, a plan that hopes to nudge motorists into leaving their vehicles at home and pedaling to work."

The horror! Maybe Torpy should get out from behind the wheel once in a while and try using the new bike lanes. He might discover that he likes it.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Friday’s Headlines Are on the Ballot

There's a decent chance you live in a jurisdiction where transit funding is on the ballot this November.

October 11, 2024

The 1,000-Page Document That Decides Your Street Designs Just Got a Refresh

For better — or more often, for worse — a single federal document dictates what nearly every American street looks like. Meet the MUTCD.

October 11, 2024

Opinion: Our Loneliness Epidemic Reveals America’s Failed Urban Planning

"As we consider the multitude of ways to address our nation’s loneliness crisis, we must have serious conversations about how we can better shape our built environment to enable extended networks of care."

October 11, 2024

Talking Headways Podcast: The Architecture of Urbanity

Vishaan Chakrabarti on goldilocks density, defining urbanity, the ennui of young architects and much, much more.

October 10, 2024

Thursday’s Headlines Are Nonbiased

Human cops disproportionately stop Black drivers, while automated cameras don't show the same bias, according to one recent study.

October 10, 2024
See all posts