Cincinnati

Regarding: “Report: Cincinnati’s air isn’t great for breathing” (April 21): It was interesting to see the “Idle Free Zone” photo in Thursday’s edition.

It was especially interesting since the City of Cincinnati has created its own “idle zone” where cars are forced to sit emitting pollution… unnecessarily.

That zone is the section of Dana Avenue, between the northbound exit from I-71 and Madison Road where there used to be three vehicle lanes.

In order to create a bike lane there, the city reduced the vehicle lanes to two, frequently causing major late-afternoon backups, with hundreds of cars required to sit idling, spewing pollution into the air… again, unnecessarily.

These backups would not occur with the three vehicle lanes we had before.

Bike lanes are great where they serve their purpose. But this lane extends only from the I-71 exit to Madison Road.

There are almost no riders. In fact, it runs parallel to a sidewalk which also is, and for years has been, usually empty of pedestrians or bikes. For this we have our man-made idle zone.

Please, Cincinnati, eliminate this pollution-producing zone by returning it to three vehicle lanes. Thank you.

James Hogan, Hyde Park