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Plans On Bike Lane Project In Canton Put On Hold

BALTIMORE (WJZ)-- Plans are put on hold for a bike lane in Canton and it lands the City in court.

This is about more than recreation. Bike advocates are determined, the mayor is disappointed, and the neighborhood is divided.

Orange barrels on residential Potomac Street mark the lane designated for bicycles.

The project calls for a 7-foot bike lane, a buffer, 7-feet for parking, a 15-foot travel lane, another buffer and curbside parking.

"No one liked it really. No one liked it at all," says one resident.

"I feel the worries about it are kind of nonsense to a degree," another person says.

Questions whether the travel lane is wide enough for fire equipment and issues with residential parking put the project on hold. That sent advocacy group Bikemore to court.

"They did not ask us to come to the table so we needed to go to court," says Liz Cornish of Bikemore.

"We're disappointed that they sued the city rather than wait to see the outcome would be because what we're focused on is making sure we protect the bike lanes," says Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh. "What people don't understand is we also have to make sure we protect the citizens of Baltimore as well that live in that area."

Bikemore obtained a temporary restraining order to ensure the project isn't scrapped.

"You can't say that safety and emergency response is more or less important than the safety of people who need to travel to work to school or health care on foot or by bike," Cornish says.

The hearing is June 28.

Mayor Pugh is asking everyone to be patient and work through the process.

The project is federally funded and Bikemore says the City could risk losing those federal funds.

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