Perhaps Marguerite Sutherland (Letters to the Editor, June 23) would better understand the rationale for the ICW reconfiguration if she thought of it as a safer alternative for pedestrians, cars, and, yes, bicycles rather than an effort simply to create a lane for bicyclists. I’m sure that Alec Langston, the young man recently struck by a car while attempting to cross ICW in a crosswalk, would agree. It is ironic that we complain about bicyclists hogging the road on East and West Mercer Ways, where there are no bicycle lanes, yet object to the creation of bicycle lanes on ICW when it might possibly inconvenience our commute. And while she argues that a four-lane arterial is vital, we shouldn’t forget that ICW presently becomes a two-lane arterial at S.E. 53rd Street, a situation we seem to have successfully managed since it was created.

Michael Burke