Rumble madness

I've heard complaints about bicycles on Route W for a long time. So I was happy the city widened it since it's a feeder route to the bike path. However, I was not happy that MoDOT cut the rumble strips -- a major problem when trying to control a bicycle. Worse yet, the remaining shoulder is now off limits. It's too narrow to fight gusting crosswinds, make a one-handed turn signal and deal with the windblast from passing vehicles. To survive this danger, a bicyclist has to ride a foot to the left so they don't fall in.

Why does MoDOT discriminate against American-made, street legal, human-powered modes of transportation when some of us are just trying to get to work? It's the same on U.S. 61, which is a nationally designated bike route -- the Mississippi River Trail. Other states do a better job at construction of bicycle-friendly roads. Ohio has six inch rumbles separated by six foot gaps. It would be better to have no rumbles at all, or else have a minimum shoulder width that bikes can operate in legally.

Let's all write the new director of MoDOT and change this rumble madness.

ANDY WALKER, Cape Girardeau